Pembrokes at the Richmond Hill Hotel

Handily located for the park, the old, creaky & atmospheric Richmond Hill Hotel has a very pleasant bar. Pembrokes, its restaurant, is rather corporate & bland in comparison, but offers perfectly serviceable brasserie favourites (potted pork shoulder with apple chutney, or Thai fishcakes to start, with Caesar salad, steaks or grilled salmon with noodles & teriyaki sauce as main courses), plus a regularly changing set meal (perhaps lamb kofta followed by seafood linguini & Baileys cheesecake). Don’t expect any culinary miracles, but the staff are sweet, & there are plenty of private rooms useful for corporate entertaining (& a ballroom that’s much in demand for local weddings). Guests of the hotel would be wise to enquire about the attached spa, which has the most attractive pool for miles around.