Terravina: Californian style informality in the New Forest

www.hotelterravina.co.uk

Terravina. The name itself was appealing to me as a lover of wine. "Terra" meaning land, earth or soil, depending on translation, and I am guessing we all know what "vina" is a reference to?!

It was a friend of mine that first brought this place to my attention, and it was with this same friend that we planned to visit to celebrate the start of our easter holiday and the one year pre-versary of my wedding. Before I launch into the experience we had at Terravina, I feel duty bound to mention the personal tailoring they offered on the menus. I had called to ask about the availability of a vegetarian tasting menu and was basically offered a menu designed around my palette. NEVER before in my history of dining has any place been this obliging. Thank you and I do not know how you do it!

The outside of Terravina Hotel and Restaurant.

The room where we had our predinner drinks. The room felt very cosy and pleasant, but I found the decor underwhelming for this calibre of place.

Printed menus (even my bespoke menu!!).

The WINE

The view of the restaurant from our table. Again, understated.

Tomato and cucumber tian. Very simple, very refreshing.

Crab, Mackerel, Tomato and Ginger Tian with red pepper gazpacho.

Beetroot salad with goats cheese and walnuts. This dish shone for me.

Lamb and black pudding with braised bok choi and minted mushy peas.

Pickled vegetables with pine nuts, chick pea
mousse and deep fried Boursin balls. Some lovely textures and flavours.

Chicken with tarragon gnocchi, olives, dried tomatoes and a lemon butter sauce. very nice. The chicken was perfect.

Halibut with oyster, samphire, rocket and shellfish sauce.

Squab pigeon, celeriac, onion and garlic. A delicious plate of food.

Poached pear with white chocolate mousse, raisin puree and almonds. I particularly enjoyed the white chocolate mousse.

The food was very good, the flight of wines very nice. The service was good and the company was good. All in all we had a wonderful evening here and would highly recommend it. The one thing I would say though, is if you are looking for an extremely chic and stylish experience, this is not exactly that. The place is very nice, but it is informal. Quite loud and no tablecloths... The kind of place you can pop inand have a bite in jeans and a tshirt or have a tasting menu with friends (this is also true of Hotel du Vin). Fair dues to the owners who had this vision of relaxed informality with great food and wine, because they have achieved that. I would be comfortable coming in here anytime. I like the accessibility and lack of pretentiousness. As a younger fine diner I also enjoyed not feeling patronized by snobby staff and sometimes even other diners!

If you are looking for sparkling glamour or want to "show off" your wealth then you are in the wrong place. This place is quite unique in being the ideal prowling ground for evolved wealth. Those who value comfort and personal care over bling and pzaaz. The kind of people who are comfortable in their standing and are accustomed to the finer things. I personally prefer a little more flashiness and song & dance, but I am young and still getting comfortable!