Moody Goose

Only the scrunch of gravel on the drive disturbs the peace at this 12th-century, honey-coloured former priory. Lovingly restored, it still has bags of character, with inglenook fireplaces, flagstone floors & oak beams aplenty, while outside there’s a delightful garden. Decor stays true to the building’s antique charms, but modern watercolours hint at the contemporary nature of the unfaddish, fine-tuned cooking on offer. The kitchen focuses on seasonal local ingredients bolstered by pickings from the Old Priory’s ‘potager’, & the results are spot-on. For a picture-perfect start, sip a pre-dinner drink in the cosy beamed lounge; then adjourn to the dining room for pan-fried sea bass given a Mediterranean spin with chorizo & saffron cream, before & a high-octane Valrhona chocolate plate served with rum & raisin ice-cream. A post-prandial nightcap back by the fire should finish things off nicely.