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As you walk down from the highest point of Richmond Hill in Surrey you arrive at a spot famous for its view of the bend in the Thames as it meanders magnificently towards towards the capital.
Sit in the summer sun at the beautiful Petersham Hotel and drink in the scenery and blink because you are just over nine miles from London’s West End, the only reminder being you are sitting under the landing route for much Heathrow traffic.
Once you have walked through Richmond Park, as we did, you will no doubt enjoy a glass of wine while drinking in the views, though hardly an aperitif is needed here as lunch is the hotel’s second WOW factor.
The recently re-designed and refurbished restaurant offers panoramic views of the famous bend in the Thames, allowing diners to relish the view from every table.
Mauritian-born Head Chef Jean-Didier Gouges has transformed all the menus with his cooking which encompasses modern and evolving techniques.
His style is ‘all from the heart,’ and revolves around his passion for uniting flavour, colour, and history into every dish. Diners can expect dishes intrinsically connected through sight, smell, taste, touch and sound.
My partner chose a beef steak, whilst I ordered lamb cutlets with a delicious selection of fresh vegetables, washed down with a glass of Devon cider, it being incredibly hot for June.
As the sumptuous deserts were being served, we became aware of being watched, and then I had a blast from the past as two former colleagues from the Times newspaper, now silver-haired, waved to me and later joined us for a trip down memory lane, and the great days of Fleet Street, when many famous journalists and writers such as Clement Freud and actor Robert Marley based themselves in Richmond for its nearness to London and a Tube which delivered them to and from Fleet Street.
By the time we had finished the afternoon off, waiters were busying around as early-diners, started to arrive… And we walked up the hill to Richmond Park and all agreed it was a very pleasant day in the country. And lunch cost less than £40 each, including tips.
