A Night On The Town

A few months ago Laura and I were at a quiz night. Not only did our team win, but we also won a prize in the raffle, which was a voucher for a free night's stay at The White Lion Hotel, in a four-poster suite. Well, since I had this week off work and the voucher had to be used before the end of May, we figured last night would be an opportune time to use it.

We planned on checking in first and then going out to dinner. The room was lovely and Kris was very helpful in getting us into the room with baby Rosie and her stroller.

Rosie tests out the bed.

Travel cot provided for a small fee.

Seems good to me!

I had a Café Rouge voucher for 25% off, and so we went there for dinner.

One thing I love about Cafe Rouge is the decor, the lighting and the generally relaxed atmosphere. First we ordered drinks - we stuck to tea and coffee as we were going back to The White Lion and would have a drink there.

I ordered the special - Sausages Toulouse. These exquisite French sausages are usually made with pork, smoked bacon, wine, and garlic. There were two whopping great sausages, caramelised onions, a pile of mash and a red wine gravy to die for.

Laura had the Poulet Breton, which consisted of strips of chicken breast, leeks & mushrooms sautéed with fresh herbs in a cream & white wine sauce served with herb mash. Very nice (she let me taste a bit).

We weren't sure whether to have dessert but eventually we thought, yeah, why not. Laura chose the Chocolate Ganache which is served with creme fraiche.

I had the Crêpe au Chocolat et Banane which I've had before. It is simply too good not to repeat.

After dinner we had a wander round the town and then repaired to the Hotel for a nightcap. Laura chose a small Rekorderlig cider (Swedish cider - who knew?) which is on tap at the bar, and I had a large whisky - a Monkey Shoulder. Monkey Shoulder is a mix of three different Single Malts - Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie. It's very smooth and easy to drink.

After a pleasant night in the hotel room we went downstairs this morning to partake in the complimentary breakfast. One can either choose from the breakfast buffet - a selection of cereals, fruit, juices, yogurts etc. or have a cooked breakfast made fresh to order. We both plumped for a full English, she with fried eggs, I with scrambled.

Now, I don't want to complain about the food as it didn't cost us anything, but I must nitpick a little bit.

First, why are the beans in a bowl? When I've had baked beans on a full English before they weren't in a bowl - it's superfluous.
The sausage - well, it was hot, it was cooked but it had no seasoning - no flavour.
By contrast, the scrambled eggs had a bit too much pepper.
The tomatoes were perfectly grilled, but they weren't ripe enough and therefore not very juicy, too firm and a bit bland.
The bacon, beans and mushrooms, however, I couldn't fault. Laura said she felt the bacon was too salty, but I found it OK.

Overall though, we found the White Lion a good experience. Pleasant and friendly staff and prompt service.

Café Rouge though, lovely food, friendly service, and a definite 4.5 yums out of 5. I've reviewed them before on this blog and they are very consistent.

Kooshti sante!