English Countryside Charm: Holbeck Ghyll

I'll be sharing about the two Michelin restaurants I brought my family to during our Summer road trip in UK last year (Part II coming up!).  I had been to both before with my own group of friends in Easter of 2013 and decided that they would make great stops for the family when they came up to visit.

I much prefer the Michelin restaurants outside of London because they are the perfect excuse to take a day trip out to enjoy what the English countryside has to offer, and their meals are generally very value for money without being too theatrical or pompous.  Just good ol' fresh ingredients, cooked really well and served in decent portions that would keep the men happy.

Date of Visit: 31 May 2014

First up is Holbeck Ghyll, the Michelin restaurant in a small hotel of the same name seated atop a hill with lush and tranquil surroundings.  It's the perfect kind of place for a getaway and to have the full experience of warm British hospitality.  It's also the one place that I confidently recommend to friends who are making a trip down to the Lake District, because I know the quality of their food and hospitality is consistently good.  If I were having my future wedding in the UK this would definitely be a top contender but too bad I have no such budget for that haha.  Okay enough talking, time to share the good stuff!

The winding road leading up to the hotel grounds

Den Gouden Harynck, Bruges

Date of Visit: 25 March 2014

One of the lower-key restaurants with very simple and cosy decor.  We might have missed it and not known it was a Michelin-starred restaurant if we had just happened to walk past.

I loved how the table layout and space between the tables made the place come across as very unassuming and understated high-class.  You don't have to pull out the bells and whistles to impress when your food and service can speak for themselves.

Quite amusing to be the only young Asians in a restaurant full of Westerners who looked like they are retirees or about to retire.  I guess we got an authentic local experience!

I much prefer this kind of Michelin restaurant than the more well-known ones that everyone and their parents and best friends have seemed to already made their rounds at.  Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in London is one such example.  The downside of such places is that the menu seems to lose its novelty after many people have posted photos of the signature dishes like tipsy cake and meat fruit.  The excitement and surprise element are no longer as strong.

They had a menu that was simple to understand and fuss-free!  The kind that I like very much :)

We chose the lunch set menu (€39 per pax) which was basically a 3-course meal planned by the chef, so that meant we couldn't choose the courses.

LP+Tetsu Singapore

Date of visit: 12 December 2013

This fine-dining restaurant is a collaboration between one-Michelin-starred Chef Laurent Peugeot and Singapore's F&B Lifestyle company Food Junction Holdings Limited.  K and I celebrated our anniversary here and we were glad to have found such a gem in Singapore that restored our faith in the local fine-dining scene.

Simply LP+TETSU

6-course menu

$98 per pax

L'Enclume

Date of visit:  4 April 2013

L'Enclume is a Michelin two-starred restaurant helmed by Chef Simon Rogan located in the quaint Cartmel, Cumbria.  My group of friends and I planned our Lake District vacation around two Michelin restaurant lunches.  

This was the first Michelin meal of our trip and we had it the day after climbing Scafell Pike.  It was a welcome change from being in the middle of beautiful unexpectedly snow-covered peaks and a wonderful reward for doing well on the climb!

The reward:  Feeling on top of the world :)

The beautiful contrast between colours of the ground, snow and the clear blue sky.

Our six-course lunch menu, consisting of two appetisers, mains and desserts each

I found this dining style refreshing as the other Michelin restaurants I'd been to so far all had quite a few options to play around with.  I would sometimes be quite overwhelmed by the many enticing names and descriptions, but for this meal I could just sit back and enjoy whatever the team presented to us.

According to the service staff, this lets them serve us the freshest produce from their garden for that day and I personally feel it lets the chef show off his planning and presentation skills to great effect.  I for one was more than happy to let the chef take charge.

Chez Bruce

Date of visit:  15 February 2013

Early this year, two friends of mine and I went to Chez Bruce for a nice lunch to celebrate Valentine's Week.  I know it's only meant to be Valentine's Day, but when celebrations of love are in order, why not extend it to a week, especially since there's going to be good food and company?  ;)

The three of us unanimously agreed that it has to be one of the most value-for-money Michelin meals we've had.  It may have only gotten one star in the Michelin guide, but good food doesn't have to be expensive and/or come in tiny portions.  It was a bonus for us that the restaurant is located between Zones 2 and 3, so it was somewhat a half-day trip out.  It provided some respite from the hustle and bustle of Central London and a short break from the rigour of our university course!

Exterior of the cosy restaurant