Bybrook Restaurant at The Manor House

The landed gentry had all the best spots to pick from in the old days, and this lovely medieval mansion has one of the most beautiful locations of all. Fast-forward a few hundred years and The Manor House is now an atmospheric hotel and Michelin-starred restaurant, complete with its own well-stocked kitchen garden – so head chef Rob Potter has impeccably fresh produce at his fingertips. He takes full advantage of this good fortune, melding home-grown pickings with livestock reared on-site to create a menu that celebrates the best of contemporary Anglo-European cooking: slow-cooked Manor House duck egg with duck ham, shimeji mushrooms, Wiltshire truffle and Parmesan salad; loin and breast of Downland lamb with provençal vegetables, crisp Ortiz anchovy, sheep’s curd, basil and jus gras; Caraibe chocolate ganache with cherries, feuillantine biscuit and Morello cherry sorbet. Alternatively, a proper Sunday lunch in the classic dining room, followed by a stroll around the grounds and Castle Combe village is as quintessentially English as we can imagine – real chocolate box stuff.

There are few restaurants that can claim to be situated in as beautiful of a location as Bybrook restaurant. Tucked away in the village of Castle Combe, that is a tourist destination purely for it’s quintessentially British feel, is The Manor House, where the restaurant calls home. The interior is homely with carpeted flooring, a cosy dining room feel, and stylish features such as exposed brick walls and large windows allowing light to flood through. But this is not a case of style over substance, as Bybrook has earned itself a Michelin star for its delicious seasonal dishes, which are enhanced by fine wines paired by an expert sommelier.
Ingredients come from a mixture of local suppliers and the kitchen garden where gardeners work hand in hand with head chef Rob Potter to create the menu. Using raised beds, poly tunnels and orchards, the team are able to grow a variety of vegetables, fruits, and even create a microclimate to germinate seedlings.
Able to cater to meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans alike, the Bybrook focuses on what’s in season, to get the most out of each ingredient. Guests are able to enjoy a tasting menu with six courses and an optional wine flight. Think dishes like laminated brioche with cultured butter, Cornish wild turbot with white asparagus, Petrossian caviar and seaweed butter, and Herdwick lamb, morel, wild garlic and kohlrabi. For those who like something a little sweeter, you can expect immaculately presented desserts that showcase the best British fruits on offer at the time. With executive chef Rob Potter at the helm, it comes as no surprise that this restaurant has been able to gain a Michelin star in 2017 and keep it ever since, as well as an admirable 3 AA rosettes. There are already plenty of reasons to head to this picturesque part of the country, but Bybrook restaurant may just be one of the best yet.