My dream is to be a food writer, so here’s my first review about my first michelin starred meal at The Cottage in the Woods.

If you know me well, you know that I’m obsessed with food. Although I’m currently working as a copywriter, I really want a career as a food writer. So I’ve decided that I am going to start writing restaurant reviews on top of the recipe and travel pieces, just to get a bit more experience in the area. I also just want to share some of the lovely food I’ve eaten with you. I know I won’t get many people reading this, so if you do, thank you so much. I really appreciate every view and like. This is only a hobby but I love it so so much.

Back in May 2021, after months and months of waiting, me and my girlfriend finally got to try the restaurant that we had booked as a Christmas present. The coronavirus pandemic had managed to alter our plans about 4 times, with constant emails back and forth with the (lovely) mangement staff about our stay.

We booked ‘The Cottage in the Woods’, a beautiful little hotel and michelin star restaurant right in the heart of the Lake District. It had always been a dream of mine to go to a michelin star restaurant, and because we were based near the Lake District it just seemed like the perfect choice.

We booked the ‘Treetops’ hotel room for a one-night stay. When we got there, the hostess was incredibly welcoming and led us up to our room, which was right in the eaves of the building.

The restaurant itself is relatively small, with a main dining room and then a conservatory. I think the hostess liked us because she definitely gave us the best seat in the house. We were sat right at the front of the conservatory with a view of the beautiful Lake District (the first picture on this post). It made me laugh because we were the youngest people at the restaurant by quite a long way.

The meal started with nibbles while we waited for the table. I can still remember the olives they gave us. They were green but tasted much more fresh and nowhere near as salty as normal olives. Honestly, they were the best olives I’ve ever eaten and I can’t remember the name of them.

The thing I most love about incredible restaurants like this is that they give you little nibbles of food that have clearly taken hours to create but get eaten in one bite.

The menu centred around different types of wildlife and wilderness: such as Lake, Garden, Woodland, Fells, Coast and Forest, and I think that was such a beautiful touch because we really were in the middle of a beautiful, natural countryside that was truly unspoilt.

These were the beautiful amuse bouches that we were first given by the lovely waiters when we sat down. If I can remember, they were chicken mousse in a cone with some onion seeds on top, a lobster and pea pastry and a pork cheek bon bon with a mustard sauce. Although these were literally just a bite, they was an amazing amount of flavour in each, and were definitely a highlight of the meal. Although none of the combinations were groundbreaking, the flavours worked so well, and I felt bad to eat this incredible work in one little bite.

After these little nibbles came the first course, came the most beautiful-looking plate I have ever seen in my life.

This was a cured trout tart, served with cucumber, roe, dill and an oyster emulsion. Oh my god. The pastry was as thin as anything, the trout was delicate and soft but paired perfectly with the little spheres of delicately cut cucumber. I had never had any kind of roe before and it was a really weird sensation. Think of a little salty pop in your mouth. It was incredible, though. And the plate was stunning.

The next course was called ‘garden’ and was a prawn with tomatoes, to put it simply. I’m going to be honest, I didn’t expect much from this course, it seemed so simple, but I was so, so wrong.

The prawn, first, was so delicately cooked that it tasted incredibly fresh. But in all honesty, this wasn’t the highlight of the dish. The tomatoes had been cooked in a way I had never tried before, but I have seen a lot of chefs do it on TV. I think they soaked the tomatoes in a tomato juice that had been flavoured, and they then served it with a ‘tomato water’. The only way I can describe it is that it tasted like the tomatoy-est tomato I have ever eaten. It was the star of the show. Me and my girlfriend still talk about these tomatoes. It truly is amazing what chefs can do to such simple ingredients and it really was a testament to the cookery skill.

They served this with a treacle loaf and the most luxurious butter. Although the portions were small, the bread was fresh and tasted amazing.

Next, came the ‘woodland’ course, which was seared venison, capers, pine nuts and a charcoal emulsion.

I’m going to be honest, this was the only dish that didn’t wow me. Don’t get me wrong, the cooking was perfect and the flavours worked well together. The smoked emulsion (the yellow dots) was just so overpowering that you had to eat it in tiny bites otherwise it left such a strong taste on the palate. I also think they used a charcoal flavouring for this, and you could really tell that it was a bit synthetic. If they had left this off the plate I think it would have been a better dish. I really loved every other part of it though, it is only a minor complaint.

After this course came the ‘coast’ course, which I was looking forward to the most because it was scallops and they are my favourite seafood.

You could absolutely not fault the plating of all these dishes. All of them made us wow as soon as they came out, which is such an important thing when you are paying a lot of money for a meal. The scallop was succulent and juicy, and the accomaniments complimented it perfectly. It was also placed perfectly within the meal because it seperated the two meat courses.

After this course came the main course, the ‘land’ course.

This was easily my favourite course. I have never eaten something so perfect. The lamb was soft and full of flavour. The asparagus was cooked to perfection and the little lamb shoulder and sweetbread parcel was something so unique and flavourful. I could not fault this dish at all and I still crave it.

Finally, after 5 incredible courses, it was time for dessert. The first was a light one that was designed to clean your palate. This was beautifully created blackberry ice cream with douglas fir and lemon. A really, really unique take on a palate cleanser and we both ate it very quickly. With all the richness of the previous dishes, it gave us a breather.

This last photo does not do this dessert justice. This was a hazelnut, cherry, chocolate and frangipane dessert which my girlfriend adored. I couldn’t fault the dish, I just really am not a fan of cherry and chocolate together. But with all the other dishes, I was spoilt.

For my first michelin-starred meal ever, this really was the most amazing celebration. The waiters were so kind and seem genuinely interested in their jobs. They were also so accomadating with any questions we had. This was one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had, and I would go back there in a heartbeat.

It is an investment though. The meal itself was £90 per person, which I actually thought was quite cheap considering we ate 7 courses, 2 sets of snacks and lots of bread. The drinks we had also cost a significant amount and so did the room, so its something you need to save up for. But if you love food and love beautiful views, this really is the place for you. It was worth every penny (and more) that we spent.

I think this will also be one of the most memorable places for me because it was one of the first experiences that my girlfriend and I did together because of the pandemic. I won’t ever forget the meal or the stay, and I really hope we’ll be able to go back there in a few years to taste their new menu and see if they have changed the place at all.

If you want more information, go and visit their website: thecottageinthewood.co.uk or read about them in the michelin star guide.