The entrance to Lainston House in Hampshire.
Look and feel
Set into the English countryside a handy ten-minute taxi from Winchester, this 17th-century country estate aims to be the perfect rural bolthole for foodies. Run by the boutique hotel group Exclusive Hotels it has a strong focus on food, making the use of its own kitchen garden and the benefit of great local produce.
You can walk the length of that long avenue of lime trees as far as the eye can see and that terrace is a great place to enjoy a drink when the weather's good.
The rooms
Although it looks cosy, this is actually quite a large hotel with 50 bedrooms and suites ranging in size from shoebox (their description) to a suite with its own hot tub out on the terrace. Our room - a heritage family suite - was a good walk from reception in the former stable block of the house. It was simply massive - bigger than the footprint of a good-sized London flat - with a bath so big it had columns and a shower capacious enough to fit an entire rugby team.
Our suite at Lainston House. It was absolutely massive.
Food and drink
Unlike some country house hotels who might pay lip service to their food offering, Lainston House really does go all out on the food front. There's a cookery school (two if you count the Big Green Egg alfresco version in the kitchen garden) and two restaurants with very different offerings.
Avenue
Avenue is the more formal restaurant in the main house. Right now it's been taken over by MasterChef: The Professionals Winner Tom Hamblet. He's here until 1 September serving up a menu that features versions of the key dishes that won him the title in 2023. There are two ways you can enjoy his food here - at the chef's table experience which takes you up close and personal with the kitchen, or in the restaurant proper which is what we did.
Here are some of the highlights of dinner there:
Poached lobster tail with ginger, chilli, mango, curried carrot - the start of his MasterChef winning menu.
Beef fillet with oyster mushroom, lovage, beef cheek, grelot onion, tartare and a separate poached oyster. This dish was praised by Marcus Wareing for its attention to detail and we particularly enjoyed that oyster too.
Olive oil sponge with fennel pollen and toasted fennel seed ice cream - " I love it, love it, love it!" was MasterChef judge Monica Galetti's take on this dish and we concur.
The Wellhouse
Out in the gardens you'll find Lainston House's second restaurant, The Wellhouse (which also plays host to the hotel's Season cookery school). This is all about dishes cooked over woodfire and there's a gentle hint of that wafting in the country air as you wander through the hotel's grounds beforehand.
Here's a taster of what we had:
Smoked Chalk Stream trout tartare, wasabi mayo, tapioca crisp (£6.50) - one of those really great starters that sets out what this kitchen can do.
Smoked black garlic beef brisket skewer, smoked garlic aioli (£12) - again, really showcasing what the restaurant can do with a deeply smoky dish.
BBQ smoked lobster linguini, preserved lemon, garden herbs (£30) - a fabulous pasta dish that rivalled anything we've had in London like this recently.
Smoked rhubarb and custard tart, garden stem ginger ice cream (£9.50) - look at the just-set perfection on that tart.
Things to do
If you fancy picking up a new culinary skill the hotel's cookery school features classes on everything from Spanish classics to Thai street food. They also run a special barbecue class outdoors using Big Green Eggs - perfect for the next time you want to impress your friends with your 'cue know-how.
During our stay we booked a kitchen garden tour with Lainston's head gardener Stef. She gave us a guided tour of the produce the hotel's kitchen enjoys - from the fresh asparagus beds to a polytunnel stuffed with tomatoes and cucumbers that was kept insect-free by the garden's extremely cute pet quail, Buddy. These tours run every Wednesday and last about 40 minutes.
Stef talks us through what's in the garden - and what you'll find on your plate in the two restaurants.
What's for breakfast?
Breakfast options depend on the day of the week. On Saturday it was an all-buffet affair with loads of amazing local produce - including cheese and charcuterie from nearby producers. On Sunday there was a buffet but the hot options were all cooked to order.
Croque Madame croissant with sliced prosciutto, Old Winchester cheese and a fried egg from nearby Lyburn farm.
Getting there
It's pretty easy to get here from London with regular trains to Winchester taking around an hour from Waterloo. From there it's a ten-minute taxi ride to the hotel.
Price
Rates start at £255 per night, on a B&B basis with two adults in a Classic Room. Our heritage family junior suite would be around £400 a night.
Overall thoughts
With two very different dining options it's easy to book a weekend's stay at Lainston House and not have to leave the grounds at all. We loved the food side of things here but it's also a great place to stay if you like gently mooching about in the country for a few days.
We appreciated being able to wander through the hotel's grounds, walking down the avenue of lime trees planted in the early 18th century, checking out the ruins of the 12th-century chapel in the garden and randomly bumping into celebrities like Miranda Hart and Richard Curtis. It's an easy place to recommend to London foodies.
More about Lainston House
Where is it? Woodman Ln, Sparsholt, Winchester SO21 2LT
How to book: book your stay online here
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @lainston_house
Hot Dinners stayed as guests of Lainston House. Prices correct at time of publication.
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