Having been fortunate enough to have used the guide to select a considerable number of starred restaurants throughout Europe. I feel that the guide`s continuing failure to award this superb restaurant at least a star, is in my opinion perplexing, to say the least. For the third year in a row I have just enjoyed a wonderful meal of the highest standard, this restaurant meets all the criteria ambiance, staff, wines and above all the food which is innovative and quite simply superb fully merits.Chefs of this standard deserve to be recognised.The continuing failure to award a star to this remarkable restaurant is mistifying and must have an unjust effect on the business of this establishment. I can only urge others to sample this excellent restaurant themselves, you wont be disappointed.

The distance from home

A long time ago a friend of ours recommended a place to us called winteringham fields, we only got round to paying a visit this last wk, feb 2nd, for my husband's 40 th birthday, and basically we have not stopped talking about it since.I would give 5 stars to WF without hesitation for the following 5 reasons, on arrival we were greeted by a member of staff called kevin,(to whom i award my 1st star) who was so lovely,he was the absolute perfect combination of being utterly professional and so very warm and friendly. He showed us to our room ,which was the Lord fitz hugh suite, the suite was beautifully decorated throughout in deep reds and dark wood ,it had a huge 4 poster bed ,lots of comfy armchairs, a fabulous bathroom which could easily have fitted 3 more double beds in it and every toiletry you could possibly need and my favourite touch, a little jar on the bed side table containing imperial mints!! this suite and the mints will receive my 2nd star it was definitely home from home.Whilst we waited for our friends to arrive, we sat in one of the lounges, drinking the most wonderful hot chocolates . the log fire was lit, we read some of the many food/hotel guides they have scattered around, shrieked with delight when we discovered, that WF is actually doggy friendly, (we will definitely be taking our puggle poppy along next time!) within 10 minutes of arriving we felt totally at home and already we knew we never wanted to leave!!! our friends arrived and we all met for drinks in another of the many cosy lounges, kevin arrived again, he gave excellent wine recomendations then we then sat down for dinner .We were having the menu suprise, a 7 course menu , where each course is even more delightful than the last, i say 7 course , but actually we had 8 courses!! On hearing that it was davids 40 th birthday the chef prepared an extra course just for us ,which was a fois gras extravaganza that was just beautiful. the whole meal was absoloutely wonderful ,The cheese course was amazing, the service was impeccable, the staff glided round the room and everything was seamless, therefore receiving my 3rd star and at this point i need to mention the 4th star right away ,which goes to the Maitre D ,Sultan, who was without doubt one of the best maitre d's i have ever come across, if ever i set up a restaurant i would throw as much money as i possibly could ,to try and poach Sultan away to work for me. ( nb please do not worry Wf i have absolutely no plan to open any restaurant, and sultan spoke so highly of the ownwers of Wf he made me actually want to ask you for a job, for myself ,on the spot, you sound like dream employers and i dont think any amount of money could ever entice him away!!) during the meal the owner,colin, introduced himself to us, he was also very warm , very friendly and on realising what foodies , infact, borderline food geeks we are ,he invited us to have a tour of the kitchen where we met the chef who spoke at great length about the sheer delights we had just eaten but even more impressive than that, was the cleanliness of the kitchen, it was like a brand new shiney penny throughout, you wouldn't even need a plate to eat in there, you could actually eat the food directly off the kitchen surface it was that clean!! so finally my 5th star has to go to Colin and all his team who have created an amazing jewel of a retreat,that is so cosy,so relaxing - they made us feel like part of the family, we really didn't want to leave the next day, but when it was time to leaave we left with our tummy's alot bigger and a massive smile on our face , neither of which have gone down ever since!! we will definitely be returning soon!! Natasha Holland

when we had to leave!