The Avenue — Restaurant in Winchester

This is by far the best restaurant I've visited for a long time - it's really up there. I enjoyed every minute of it and it really pushed the boundaries of what would seem like just a hotel restaurant.

Just to make this clear from the off, this is a proper 3-course meal sit-down restaurant and it will be expensive, so if you'd prefer a more relaxed meal that's not like that and you're staying at the hotel, try the menu for the Cedar Bar and Lounge, where you can get burgers etc. for a lower price.

I ate here on the Friday night so the menu was the ordinary 3 course a-la carte dining menu for dinners. We were acquainted with some drinks in the bar before ordering from the comfort of our own seats, and then escorted through. We had some light canapes but I didn't care for them, but others would have rated them:

Canapes - 7/10

The first amuse-bouche was a Mushroom Cappuccino with pepper croutons accompanying it, it was very exquisitely presented, however the taste was slightly lacking flavour.

Amuse Bouche - 4/5

The second amuse bouche we were served was a bread basket. As far as bread baskets go, I'm not rating it because although it was fantastic, all restaurants that provide them are not going to do them badly, so...

The starter, that we ordered and was not set and I went for the Hand Dived Orkney Scallops with chicken in pastry and celeriac. I myself don't eat scallops, but the rest of the meal was fantastic, and I know that the other starters my family had were absolutely great as well, and the choice of starters was extremely good and imaginative compared to conventional ones.

Starter - 10/10

We were soon with our chosen main course, which for me was venison as I am very partial as a meat-eater. They balanced the 4 choices so that you could have different types of fish or different types of meat, and therefore you had 4 different but similar choices at the same time. So choice in comparison with presentation and taste of the venison (which was cooked medium by default and seasoned with ragout and garlic)

Main - 49/50

Between this course, we had a small passion fruit jelly with a sour creamy yogurt underneath and meringue on top. I thought it was very nice and not really much more to say about it.

Third Amuse Bouche - 4/5

The final course was chosen to make it that we were being given a balance of a set menu and choosing but it was available as a six course tasting menu for an extra charge. I really loved my chocolate ganache but was too full to finish it but it was extremely well presented and made from the first impressions. But, the reason why I could not finish was because it was very rich, but then I guess they should be.

Dessert - 18/20

Overall Score = 94/100 A fantastic meal and would recommend it thoroughly. Just note that 3 courses are £62, 2 are £52, and drinks are not included. Also, children must be over 11 and there is no kid's menu although the portions could be smaller and certain extras or sauce could be...

We had a fantastic dinner here. The quality of food is worthy of the price tag; it is not cheap so definitely recommend for a special occasion/weekend away. In addition to our three courses, we were given three different complimentary amuse bouche, as much warm sourdough bread as we wanted and a palate cleanser before dessert. All of these were delicately balanced and delicious. The meal itself was of an extremely high quality; the bounty bar was the best dessert I’ve ever had. As well as superb food, the service was excellent - professional, warm and the waiter was knowledgeable about each dish brought to the table. A memorable...

Beautiful and delicious. They're using lots of vegetables from their own garden, the dishes are appealing and tasty. We went for the 3 dishes menu and it also came with more appatisers, bread and pre dessert. We came with our crawling baby and got a separate room that allowed him to freely play around us. Thanks for a...