08 Apr 2025
James Cameron explores the delights of the hotel’s refurbished brasserie…
Regular readers of this column will know what a fan I am of the food and drink offerings at Sopwell House, having previously been besotted by their Asian-themed restaurant at Omboo (my restaurant of the year for 2024) and besozzled by their Quality Street-inspired cocktails over Christmas in the Octagon bar. So I was delighted to be invited to the re-opening of the Brasserie.
Before we progressed to the Brasserie we were entertained in the Octagon bar, where head bartender Adam Jobson provided us with some of his trademark supremely finessed cocktails.
To showcase the range of his abilities I started with a clarified Pina Colada (the guy really does love to clarify), taking all the classic flavours of the ‘80s favourite but making them more sophisticated. Think Milk Tray Man rather than Magaluf Man. I followed this up with an Ale, Ale & Honey, a tribute to the Benedictine history of Sopwell House which cleverly reduces ale to make a cordial-like syrup to mix with whiskey. Needless to say, it was delicious.
Whilst we were enjoying our drinks the director of food and beverage, Fabrizio Russo, talked to us about Sopwell House’s very own house vodka and gin.
In a frightening level of attention to detail, which characterised the night, they have designed their own recipe and in the case of the gin they have used botanicals from their own estate to create an absolutely unique product.
After our drinks we were led through to the brasserie itself. This has undergone a complete renovation, using the same architect who redesigned the rest of the hotel. Beginning with the spa area they have renovated each part successively, maintaining similar concepts and materials to create a unity of theme as you transition from one part to the next.
The overall feeling is of classical charm, with shelving units stacked with interesting objet d’art to satisfy the gaze. It is possibly less formal than Omboo, creating a relaxed atmosphere which would not overwhelm you if you were breakfasting here, but neither would it underwhelm you at dinner time.
The menu is similarly classic, and gives a good contrast to its Asian sibling. Whereas there you might see more experimentation, here the focus is on a well thought out selection of traditional English dishes. This has positives and negatives, people have clear expectations and it means there is nowhere to hide, so both quality of ingredients and execution need to be flawless.
Luckily, they deliver on both these fronts.
For my starter I went for Goat’s Cheese Croquettes.
These were perfectly crispy and perched on a sea of roasted pepper sauce that was possibly my favourite part of the dish. Amusingly when I first stuck my fork in I was greeted by a small spurt of cheese from the middle, reminiscent of nothing so much of the squirty cheese in a can that was part of kitchen staples in the 1980s but which has thankfully since diminished. I hasten to add that though visually similar the taste was significantly better.
For my main, per the guidance of executive chef Gopi Chandran, I went for the Slow-Cooked Beef Cheeks, served with Mash and Red Wine Sauce. These were absolutely exquisite, full of deep, rich and unctuous flavour but with a delightfully soft texture like the emperor’s baby food.
Apparently when they tried to remove this dish from the menu before they faced riots, and I have to say if they tried again I’d be first in line with my pitchfork.
The table shared a range of sides, including some super crispy chips, green beans and my personal favourite, broccoli fried with chilli and shallots. This gave some nice crunch to the otherwise smooth main and I would recommend the pairing.
After the main courses we were invited to tour the kitchen, seeing all the exciting ingredients and gadgets including the Mibrasa Grill, sort of like a super-charged Josper to ensure the perfect cook on the range of steaks available.
available. It was a privilege, and one of the high-points of the evening, to speak with Marilena Ungureanu, the head chef of the Brasserie. Her passion for both the cooking and the enjoyment of diners was uplifting.
The kitchen was open plan, and I always thought that this was to allow us to gawp at the chefs as they prepare the food, and maybe try to guess if the dishes being laid out were ours, but it works both ways. Marilena revels in seeing the enjoyment that her cooking brings to the diners, and similarly if anyone looks less than satisfied she can be out in a flash to find out why.
We were next offered dessert, probably to try and coax us out of the kitchen so they could get on with their work again. I was somewhat overwhelmed by the range of classic British desserts on offer, including Sticky Toffee Pudding, Bakewell Tart and a vegan Blueberry Cheesecake, so instead went for the cheeseboard, as you can’t go wrong with a cheeseboard.
They certainly didn’t go wrong here, serving up four hefty slabs of a range of cheeses, all carefully picked to compliment one another. As well as a hard cheese, there was a goat’s, a gooey and the best of the bunch, an ash-rind cheese. Grapes, crackers and lovely slices of quince jelly completed the package.
As you would expect the wine list is expertly curated, and features organic and natural wines. Being a Philistine, though, I just went straight for the beer.
Luckily they have one of my absolute favourites, Tring Brewery’s Pale4, as well as a variety of lagers.
Although very ready for bed after all this fine dining, I could not resist when they offered to take us around the rest of the hotel. It should come as no surprise to anyone that’s made it this far that the Spa area was both luxurious and restful, with layout and facilities carefully planned out to ensure not even the hint of an annoyance would ever breach their careful defences.
What really impressed me though, which might not please them given the obviously vast amount of money spent on this area, was how proud both Fabrizio and Gopi were when showing us around, and how they had put so much planning, effort and passion into ensuring everything was absolute perfection.
Those readers who are also premier league footballers will clearly have their rooms already booked out for the season, but for the rest of us I cannot recommend enough getting along to Sopwell House.
We all deserve to treat ourselves, apart from if we’ve been very bad, and you could not do better than putting yourselves in their very capable hands. Until May 2 you can get three courses and a glass of wine at the Brasserie for £29, which seems the very definition of affordable luxury. They are also open to non-residents for breakfast as well as lunch and dinner.
