Ludlow's latest contender in the fine food stakes is Fishmore Hall. It's a small hotel on the outskirts of the town about a mile from the castle and market place and has been open for business just a short while. The setting is semi rural with views to the nearby hills as well as the town itself and the building is Georgian, a smart and sensitive conversion of the crumbling residential school housed there in its previous incarnation.
The hotel has just 15 bedrooms. Mine was spacious enough for a suite. The bed could have hidden another four persons, the bath and shower ditto. I could have washed away the journey's effort with smart Molton Brown soaps and shampoos then watched the news on a huge telly. The smart open-plan lavatory bowl was my only reservation for I am not convinced that the business done there isn't better achieved with doors either side no matter how good the ventilation
My principle reason to visit was not the toilet arrangements however but the food on offer. Ludlow has a special place in the eating hierarchy as well as in my personal history. It has without doubt some of the best food shops of any town in the country. The comparatively tiny population of 10,000 has previously nurtured and supported three or four ambitious, and consequently rather pricey, restaurants at a time, one of which belonged to my wife Anja and myself.
There has, though, been a relative exodus over the past couple of years. We closed our own Michelin-starred place, Merchant House, in 2005, and Hibiscus with its two Michelin stars shifted toward Mayfair in the middle of last year. Both departures were caused by a desire to move on after 10 or so years not by any lack of support from the good citizens of Shropshire. Only Mr Underhill's on the banks of the Teme keeps the gastronomic flag flying for the original restaurant musketeers. Merchant House is a family home once again and la Becasse has taken on the premises and aspirations of Hibiscus in the town centre.
So what of the newcomer? The chef is Marc Hardiman, a young lad - young compared to me anyway - with pedigree as former runner up in Gordon Ramsay's scholarship competition. He can undoubtedly cook and has assembled a menu that centres on the area's fine food sources. It's not particularly cheap at £46.50 for the three-course option or £55 for the set Shropshire tasting menu, but that's not to say it's automatically poor value. Ingredients like the turbot and venison are expensive and there are nibbles, amuse bouches and pre-desserts on offer as you meander through your menu choices. But the price range brings with it high expectations and leaves little room for mishaps or misjudgements.
The canapés were in fact particularly good. A lilliputian scotch egg with soft-boiled and still warm quail's egg at its core was especially fine. This, some goats' cheese jobs, mini kebabs and a glass of kir royale set a good tone to the evening's main task, eating dinner. Not too tough. Champagne, by the way, comes in gold and silver goblets rather than the traditional flutes. I found them more eye catching than practical as drinking vessels – difficult to see what's left in the glass and the cassis at the thin end struggled to mix with the fizz. Looked pretty though.
First courses were comparatively substantial, a nicely cooked and presented quail for me and a tapenade crusted piece of salmon for Anja, again skilfully cooked so that it remained juicy and soft under its Mediterranean stuffing. The meal moved at a good pace, plates whisked away by the attentive Austrian waiting crew as soon as the last mouthful went down. Suits me for I prefer to survey the uncluttered table and the other diners than the debris left from whatever I've eaten. In fact I rather enjoy the cabaret of a dining room, the half-heard snippets of conversation, spotting those who have dressed up and those who have dressed down for the occasion. The gentle murmuring here had no rowing couples or outrageous outfits on view, just the noise of those enjoying a quiet meal.
The centrepiece of my meal was a rump of lamb that came alongside a cassoulet of the same beast cooked out slowly with haricot beans. It was a neat idea, combining the good texture of pink roast meat with the more intense flavour of slow braised cubes of lamb. The cassoulet itself could have done with a little more salt for my taste but was otherwise a good foil to the rump.
Anja's turbot dish was similarly well conceived. The fish sat on a bed of vinegary braised onion, offset by some oxtail ravioli. The dish was expertly cooked but the oxtail in the ravioli a touch under seasoned. The dish reminded me of the recent television programme on the Queen where she was talking about a similar dish. Bryn Williams, the chef from Odettes, had cooked the fish course for her that had won the Great British Menu competition. It was turbot with oxtail and cockles. Poor Mrs Windsor evidently dislikes cockles so would have been happier I suspect with Hardiman's take on the combination. But she wasn't there that evening I'm afraid.
I had cheese, a roulade of Shropshire Blue with port which was excellent and Anja had a chocolate fondant with bright green basil ice cream.
A bottle of first rate New Zealand pinot noir, a couple of brandies and a quick visit to check on our daughter who lives just a couple of hundred yards down the road rounded off the evening nicely. Good luck to Laura Penman on her venture. I'm sure that it will work out well for her and her chef.
Further information
Fishmore Hall, Fishmore Road, Ludlow Shropshire, SY8 3DP; +44 (0)1584 875148. Room rates range from £140 for a standard room to £250 for a luxury room.
Christmas packages
Throughout December chef Marc Hardiman is serving a festive lunch and dinner menu for £30, for three courses and coffee. Overnight party discounts are available of 25% off for a bedroom.
Between Christmas and New Year pay £99 per room for bed and breakfast, or £163 per room including dinner, bed and breakfast. Valid between December 26 and 30, based on two people sharing a standard double room with wet room or double shower en suite (includes full English breakfast
and VAT).
New Year's Eve dinner and dance costs £95.00 per person, including Champagne reception, canapés and seven course menu. £80.00 per person for meal only.
