{Ad-Review} PR meal. All opinions are honest, as always.
Sometimes, my blog gives me the opportunity to try something really special, that I wouldn’t get to do ordinarily. Last week, I had the most delicious festive lunch at Paris House Restaurant in Woburn, Bedfordshire, with a lovey group of my blogger friends. I’ve never been before, and truth-be-told I was a little nervous it would be a bit posh for me. I needn’t have worried though, it’s a really relaxed, intimate restaurant, and not intimidating at all, despite these gates, the 3 AA Rosettes and Michelin recommendation!ย
You follow the picturesque driveway through the Woburn Estate up to Paris House – and isn’t it a beautiful building?
Paris House is set in 22 acres of deer park, and makes the most of the views, even on a very grey November day.
The History of Paris House
Our host Jo explained some of the history of Paris House, which was just as interesting at the beautiful building itself. It started off life as a pre-fab house, made to show off at the Paris International Exhibition in 1878, as a ‘typical’ English house. The Duke of Bedford at the time visited the exhibition and fell in love with it. So he had it shipped back to Bedfordshire (as you do!) and installed on his estate. The house was also a tonsil hospital, staff accommodation and a bolt hole for Winston Churchill when he was at Bletchley during the war. Quite a history!
The restaurant has had a refurbishment recently, and it’s as beautiful on the inside as the outside. The sumptuous dark colours and plush velvet make it inviting and cosy. There is even a lovely little Christmas tree at the moment, as we go into the festive season.
We got to have a peek into the kitchen, which was a hive of activity. Award-winning chef, and owner Phil Fanning and his team were busy prepping the lunch service.
As well as the cosy restaurant downstairs, there are two private dining rooms upstairs, for eight to 14 people.
Food at Paris House
I started with a delicious apple pie mocktail, which I really want to learn how to make myself. Then I had a wide variety of dishes, and really enjoyed trying new food. We chose from their new Sentaku a la carte menu, which has a lot of inventive, flavourful dishes.
We shared a selection of nibbles to start,ย including Beetroot, Goat’s Cheese and Canberry Macarons, mini Falafel with Tsatziki and a Bloody Mary. The Bloody Mary was delicious, and so refreshing.
The delicious home-made bread came with home-made Marmite butter and balsamic vinegar butter, and I loved them both.
Out came the most gorgeous red wine I’ve tasted, along with our starters. I chose Confit Celeriac, Black Garlic and Roscoff Onion, which was a lovely combination.
I chose Roast Loin of Venison for my main course, which was so tender and flavoursome, served with Black Pudding, Chicory and Hazelnut.ย 
For dessert, which is always my favourite course, I chose the Bauble. It was so festive and beautiful, it was a little bit sad breaking into it!
The bauble itself was made of ruby chocolate, with a delicious spiced orange and blackberry filling.
All too soon it was back to reality and the joy of the school fun. We managed to find a few minutes for a picture.
Left to right: Hayley from Southwood Living, Alice from More Than Toast, Sophie from Sophie’s Suitcase and Me.
On my way back down the drive, I noticed the deer were gathering in front of Paris House. Don’t they look gorgeous? I did feel rather guilty that I had eaten venison, I have to admit!
Paris House’s new Christmas menus are now being served. There are six, eight and ten courses available, starting from ยฃ54, with the option to add a wine flight.
