Stockbridge is a neat and attractive little town with affluent residents, and over the last few years it has seen the arrival of several up-and-coming eating establishments. Yet still in the heart of the town you can find one of the old-style hotels – The Grosvenor.
Advertising cheap meals on a nasty-looking board, the hotel was not particularly enticing, but on our arrival in town at 12.30 pm last week we found everywhere else full and so we went in to have lunch.
The dining room was delightful – wood panelled with pictures and poker-work of horses everywhere – and the menu offered a wide choice of attractive dishes at reasonable prices (main courses averaging £8 – £10 and desserts £4.99). There was not only the usual choice of gammon steak, beef & ale pie and lasagne but also a range of unusual burgers, curries and fish dishes. Vegetarians were well catered for, especially with the offer of a pumpkin and cheddar burger or vegetable curry.
We both had curries, and my roast beetroot and aubergine curry was delicious – served on wild rice with raita it was one of the best I have eaten for a while. The chicken tikka curry was acceptable, but not brilliant, however, and the nan bread that arrived with it even carried an extra charge, which we felt was a bit mean. The coffee was excellent and included a small piece of fudge.
If we had room, we would have been tempted by the very long dessert menu – especially the gingerbread, pear and caramel crumble tart or after-dinner mint truffle torte!
Overall, we did feel the management of the restaurant was a little lacking in professionalism – the waiter who greeted us was too stressed to cope and had to be rescued by another one, and no-one seemed to be in charge.
