My partner and I arrived at The Squires Restaurant at Bedford Lodge on a Friday evening, situated a stone's throw away from Newmarket Racecourse.
Coming up the driveway to the hotel and restaurant certainly had the wow factor, with its historical 18th century Georgian features but with a contemporary feel to it.
The award winning two times AA Rosette Restaurant welcomed a new executive head chef Lee Cooper, who has created a menu brimming with locally sourced produce.
We had a choice from the a la carte menu and the Roxana bar menu. The bar menu included snacks, small plates and sandwiches for more of a lighter option perhaps if you were visiting at lunchtime.
We were promptly served a light beetroot miso bread to start accompanied by whole grain mustard butter whilst we decided on our starter.
I was tempted by several dishes on the al la carte menu to start with and I decided on the torched mackerel with granny smith apple, kombu jelly and sweet dill ketchup whilst my partner had the Jerusalem Artichoke Risotto with mushrooms.
The food arrived swiftly and was presented beautifully with a contemporary flare to the dishes.
The torched mackerel had a lovely delicate flavour and was elevated by the accompaniment of the crunchy granny smith apple which gave the dish a lift of sweetness and was a very refreshing note to start with.
Meanwhile my partner had a very generous serving of the artichoke risotto which was topped with mushrooms and crispy fried mushroom strands. It was a very decadent and creamy risotto with smoky notes running through the dish.
For our main courses I decided on the Sutton Hoo Chicken and my partner went for the dry aged 10oz sirloin steak. My chicken dish was accompanied by seasonal asparagus, wild garlic, homemade gnocchi and girolles mushrooms.
It certainly didn’t disappoint; this dish was a homage to the Sutton Hoo chicken having been presented in different ways and topped with crispy chicken skin.
Overall, it was a very hearty and thoughtful dish and the portion size was just enough to satisfy your tastebuds but to keep you wanting more from the dessert menu.
My partner ordered a medium rare steak, and it was cooked to perfection, alongside an optional extra peppercorn sauce to accompany the steak.
The dish also arrived with hand cut chips, vine tomatoes and duxelles. As a bit of a steak connoisseur, he thoroughly enjoyed his main and particularly the duxelles to accompany it.
The Squires restaurant age their own beef in house, prices range from a 650g for £65 right through to a large sharing cut of beef 869g for £75 accompanied with chips, vine tomatoes and duxelles.
My partner’s 10oz steak was £37 however cheaper alternative dishes are available such as a beef and bone marrow burger on the bar menu comes in at £21.
The Sutton Hoo chicken was priced at £27 which I thought was a fair price for this dish.
On to dessert, I was intrigued by the chocolate and caramel on the dessert menu, I wasn’t too sure what this was therefore I asked the front of house team who were very helpful and knowledgeable about all the dishes we tried as well as drinks.
It was a luxurious chocolate-covered dessert filled with caramel which finished off the meal perfectly.
My partner went for a classic sticky toffee pudding which came with tonka bean ice cream, caramel sauce and ginger crumb. As sticky toffee puddings go this one was decadent in taste but not too heavy like others.
Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our meals, the service was exceptional and new executive head chef Lee Cooper has certainly created a winning menu.
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