Review: Smoke, Hampton-in-Arden

It being January and miserable, we took ourselves off to a country house hotel in darkest Warwickshire to do nothing but indulge. Recommended. And specifically I recommend Hampton Manor as a great place to unwind. It’s a big ol’ Victorian pile that has been given a warm country vibe with a mixture of big statements like the giant chandelier in the towering stairwell and little touches like the shuffleboard table in the bar and the vinyl decks in several of the common rooms. There’s even a boot room where you can pull on wellies to ramble around the grounds or the nearby countryside even in the bleak midwinter.

There are also two top-drawer restaurants vying for your attention. The very grown-up Grace & Savour, or the more down-to-earth Smoke. This latter occupies some old garden outbuildings made cosy but kept stripped back, and they’ve a mighty big barbecue grill in the kitchen to match the food to the name. It began as a bit of a summer pop-up but proved such a hit that they settled on the format for their 2nd restaurant, left chef Stuart Deeley in charge, and let me tell you all the smoke and flavour work very well on a cold January evening!

Two snacks kicked off the meal, a lovely little cheese tart in crisp and nutty beer batter and a crab taco with the pickled apple being just a bit forward. My starter was a very enjoyable salad of burrata and beetroot with a crunchy seedy furikake on top. Maureen’s was our first encounter with the grill: two big scallops with a really hefty and wonderful caramelisation on one side, splendidly chewy texture, bathing in a lovely veloute shot through with nibbles of jamon. Check out the photo – let me tell you inside those scallops the meat was still beautifully juicy and not overcooked. Nicely done. The maitake mushroom on the side was a good addition, doubling down on the chewy caramelised grilling.

Our main courses were very much the main event and both really knock-out dishes. I had a generous breast of guinea hen, smoked wonderfully so that all the flavour was fragrant rather than boorishly in-yer-face, grilled to perfection. The veg had also seen the magic grill; parsnips with blackened edges and excellent bite, cabbage with that uplifting charred flavour that makes scorched cabbage one of the best things in the world. Black truffle in the dark, silky gravy gave everything a hum of earthy decadence. Some chunks of delicately pickled root veg cut through the richness nicely. Maureen’s Iberico presa was, if anything, even better. Just an absolutely knock-out piece of pork, pink and soft and utterly packed with flavour off the grill. Juicy chunks of king oyster mushroom also carried that smokiness and another really generous grating of black truffle lifted the whole dish closer to heaven.

Very happy, we wrapped up with a piece of tarte tatin and a chunk of stilton. The tart was good, of the no-frills proper-chunks-of-apple variety. Paired very well with the cheese. The wine list here is focused entirely on natural wine makers, and every one of the four glasses we picked out (with the help of the deeply knowledgable and enthusiastic sommelier) were excellent.

The three course meal was £85 and that’s probably quite a high price point for the three taken together. But those main courses off the grill are already going to be on my “highlights of 2024” list and the location, the ambience and the service are all very special. It’s a proper occasion and I’d like to return.