There are some meals that are just so distinct and exceptional that you find yourself dreaming about it for days after and my fine dining experience at Àclèaf, a 40 cover AA 3 Rosette restaurant located at the 5 Star Boringdon Hall Hotel was exactly that. Àclèaf is the old English word for oak leaf and you will spot this gorgeous oak motif really subtly in the golden branches of the lighting as well as some of the plates.
I had dined in this exact same spot a few years ago when it was previously the Gallery Restaurant, and this is where I first got to experience the incredible food by Head Chef Scott Paton.
The stunning restaurant is housed in the gallery of the historic country hotel with a bird’s eye view down into the Great Hall of the hotel. Boringdon Hall is just so full of charm and history around every corner that even on my second visit I found myself being captivated by it all over again.
We were kindly invited back to Boringdon Hall Hotel to experience Àclèaf, which is currently offering a four course tasting menu, with the option of a wine pairing if you wish. You can choose the main menu or the Vegetarian and Vegan menu, which is what I opted for whilst Amit went for the regular one. I was intrigued to see how it would fare in terms of the experience and let me tell you, I was blown away.
On arrival we were served some complimentary English Sparkling Wine from Gusbourne Estate, which was a lovely surprise, and one that every table experiences. From the moment you step into the restaurant you are all treated equally with so much love, care and attention to detail and you are all made to feel really special.
Some lovely homemade breads and nibbles arrived whilst we perused the menu. They were heavenly but I tried not to stuff myself too much as I was saving space for what was yet to come.
The tasting menu’s concept is really unique with a focus on ingredients rather than cooking techniques and how it works is you select one option from each of the choices for each course but the description of each dish is very minimal with just ingredients listed, so the dish that arrives at your table is a complete surprise. I really loved this idea as it really added to the excitement and anticipation of what’s to come!
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Now before I go into the meal in more depth I must caveat that I will be revealing some of the experience so if you’d rather leave the element of surprise to when you dine there please skip through. If you are nosy and want to have a taster of what’s to come please proceed!
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Even though it’s a four course tasting menu, there are so many twists and turns along the way so you are in for such a culinary treat and a novel dining experience! I love that there is such a big emphasis on local and seasonal produce within the ingredients used for the dishes too.
Though I am a blogger and try and capture as much of the experience as possible, which means I am often snapping 100 photos of each dish, I tried to enjoy the moment too through a lot of this meal and I am so glad I did as it was just superb.
For the Amuse bouche a gorgeous tin of Àclèaf Caviar arrived, but inside was not your standard caviar but a pleasant surprise, with fresh and fruity tasting notes. Amit’s option was crab.
For my first course I had picked Potato, Chive, Truffle as these happen to be some of my favourite ingredients. I was so excited to see what the dish that arrived would be and it was sensational. It was a dreamy Potato confit with garlic, chives and white truffles.
Potato, Chive, Truffle
Amit’s first course option was a Duck terrine with gooseberry chutney and elderflower, which he really enjoyed.
Duck, Gooseberry, Elderflower
For my second choice, I picked Gnocchi, lemon, pesto which I could not get enough of! It came with garnishes of fresh mini herbs and red amaranth and each mouthful was a flavour explosion and a very happy one!
Gnocchi, lemon, pesto
Amit’s second course of Crab, curry, mango was a work of art. I have never seen such a beautifully plated dish and I am calling it now – Àclèaf is so worth of at least 1 Michelin Star if not more as the level of talent behind these dishes is extraordinary.
Crab, curry, mango
It was made with local Brixham crab meat, chive oil, cardamom, lime, mango puree and micro herbs and a beautiful rendition of flavours.
My third course was Celeriac“cacio e pepe” and celeriac is not a vegetable that I would usually choose but my word – celeriac has never tasted so good and probably will never ever taste as good as this again!
Celeriac“cacio e pepe”
Amit had the Lamb, green olive, mint and this was another revelation. What arrived was a medley of different textures of lamb from the loin, braised neck, slow cooked shoulder to even a faggot meatball served with pomme chateau, dots of green olive tapenade and lamb jus.
Lamb, green olive, mint
The final course was dessert and I went for Strawberry, lemon, mint. This was freshly cut strawberries with a marigold mint lemon sorbet. The perfect seasonal summer dessert using the best of British strawberries.
Strawberry, lemon, mint.
I am rather ashamed to say I also stole Amit’s dessert which was Honey, milk, yuzu. I mean look at it!
Honey milk, yuzu
It was a Honey parfait with yuzu creme, honey and milk sorbet decorated with a honey tuile. I can confirm that it tasted every bit as sublime as it looks!
If after all this you still have room, there’s an optional cheese course where you can select from various locally sourced cheeses. We tried a small selection that we hadn’t come across before and they were all wonderful. I loved how the cheese trolley was fully stocked with a selection of crackers, chutneys and other accompaniments.
I don’t want to reveal more than I already have as I want you to go and experience this enchanting meal for yourself. It honestly won’t surprise me in the slightest if Àclèaf gets awarded a Michelin star as the quality of the food coupled with the innovativeness, creativeness, ambience, hospitality and service is all exemplary.
Get this one booked pronto!
Four courses £85. Wine pairing flight is an additional £50.
Àclèaf Restaurant, Boringdon Hall, Plymouth PL7 4DP
I was a guest of Àclèaf but all views, photos and opinions are my own.
oh wow! Binny this looks like a fabulous experience! Love that you chose the vege option (I always do this too!) it all looks incredible! Will definitely put it on my list!