Combe House - Devon

Get away from it all at this ivy clad Elizabethan manor house set in a 3,500 Devonshire acre estate complete with free running Arabian horses. The dining room makes a romantic setting with its well spaced tables covered with white linen and floral underskirts and walls painted with rural frescos. Master Chefs Hadleigh Barrett and Stuart Brown make good use of produce from the hotel's own kitchen garden in dishes such as confit rabbit and summer truffle terrine with soused beetroot salad and fricassée of Scilly Isles lobster, Cornish asparagus and garden sorrel. Unusually, the kitchen undertakes a lot of its own preserving, smoking and curing which might be reflected on the menu in a plate of cured salmon with pickled cucumber and sweet citrus dressing.