by Alex Tours

Created on: May 27, 2008   Last Updated: December 09, 2010

Dining at Charlton House's Sharpham Park restaurant in Somerset is an extremely enjoyable experience. The restaurant has everything that it takes to transcend the mechanistic act of eating into a wonderful evening out. Ambience, superb service and exceptional food: truly a great restaurant.

Charlton House is an English Manor hotel in Shepton Mallet in Somerset and is owned by the Mulberry group. It is within easy driving distance of both Bath and Bristol.

Its restaurant has become well known in the area for its fine dining under the stewardship of head chef Elisha Carter. Elisha is the winner of a number of local awards and is beginning to make a name for himself nationally, most recently by being the runner-up in the South-West heats of the BBC2 TV programme "The Great British Menu".

Despite its Englishness, the first thing you notice on arrival at Charlton House's restaurant is its strong French character. The senior waiting staff that greet you in the sumptuous restaurant reception areas are French, as are a number of others. All have impeccable manners and their welcome makes you feel like royalty itself.

In common with many fine modern restaurants Charlton House offers a discovery "Menu Gourmand" as an alternative to the "a la carte", enabling you to sample many of its top dishes in one meal. Clearly, the individual portions of the "discovery menu" are smaller than dishes chosen from the "a la carte" and, bizarrely, this disappoints some people. You shouldn't really expect full portions when sampling 8 food dishes, as opposed to the normal of no more than three! I can assure you that no matter what menu option you choose, you will not be hungry at the end of the meal!

The Menu Gourmand will set you back 68 CB pounds, with the three course "a la carte" being from 52.50 pounds. There is an extensive wine selection and the excellent sommelier will help you with your choice should you not wish to accept the restaurant's standard recommendation for the food you have chosen.

Anyway, there is plenty to choose from whilst you nibble the delicious, tempting aperitifs that have been brought to your comfortable nestling place in the lounge. Once your starter is ready your waiter escorts you to the dining room where the service continues in faultless fashion: attentive but not fussy.

My starter was an attractive platter that included meat and a quail "scotch egg". It tasted as good as it looked - and I'm still trying to work out how the chef sliced the perfectly soft-cooked

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