The Holcombe review: so much more than just a ‘restaurant with rooms’

In the Somerset wilderness lies The Holcombe, which the owners describe modestly as a “restaurant with rooms”. This doesn’t get close to the truth. So if they won’t say it, allow me to: this is an excellent restaurant serving food that deserves an overnight stay on its lovingly restored 17th century premises.

Why come here

Husband and wife partnership, Alan Lucas and Caroline Gardiner, aren’t the first to trade the cauldron of the London hospitality scene for something distinctly more rural. But don’t let that mislead you into thinking this has given them an easier life.

It may have, had their motivations been different. But after spending time in Lucas’s infectious company I understood The Holcombe to be a tireless labour of love for the owners. Love for creating imaginative and progressive food that’s in conscious harmony with nature. In a climate like the West Country’s, that’s anything but easy.

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Lucas showed me around the restaurant’s sprawling kitchen garden that he’s gradually expanded over several years with the help of his gardener, Kirsty. It was an enlightening tour, where I discovered that almost nothing is wasted here and is often upcycled into something either delicious or beneficial to the same environment that nourishes Lucas’s menus, and then his guests.

The restaurant

The Holcombe’s dining room engulfs you in quality and comfort. Restrained period features add just the right amount of rustic charm, but this is a highly polished setting to relax, converse and eat some of the highest quality, low-imprint food you could wish for.

Every week, Lucas drafts a menu around whatever his garden gives him. Fish and meat, sourced hyperlocally, are in service to the fruit and veg. It’s made both proprietors embrace plant-based cooking and means there’s always plenty of thoughtfully conceived vegetarian and vegan dishes at any time.

The culinary philosophy may emphasise locality, but the flavours are anything but predictable. The starter – homemade ricotta dumplings with pickled and puréed carrots and garden chilli – was as beautifully balanced and presented as it was original. My companion chose the cauliflower pakora with Holcombe green tomato chutney and pickles, an adventurous collection of warming flavours conceptually from south Asia but sourced from the same garden I had walked around only a few hours earlier.

The food

Listen carefully when Gardiner, or one of her well-trained young floor staff, reads out the specials menu. It showcases Lucas at his resourceful best and both main courses for my table came from it. The chalk stream trout with warm tartare and mussels didn’t attempt to do anything other than allow a set of beautifully matched flavours speak for themselves, but that requires a high level of respect for them in the first place.

Across the table, the homemade tofu with wild garlic, choi and sprouting broccoli made me revisit everything I thought I knew about tofu. The Holcombe made it the memorable centrepiece of a magnificent dish that paraded the very best of the restaurant’s own produce and ingenuity. This was a dish I’ll talk about for years to come.

My dessert also came from the specials: baked Alaska. When I finally stopped staring at this voluptuous mound of carefully singed meringue, orange curd and homemade ice cream, delaying the vandalism I was about to do to it, I realised it was clearly large enough for two. That didn’t stop me from cleaning the plate without any help.

The wine menu is refreshingly taut and very reasonably priced. A perfectly smooth and aromatic 2021 Salon Létange Viognier accompanied our meal and was priced at less than £30 for a bottle. Few of the wines go much higher, which underpins the restaurant’s “affordable luxury” ethos.

The accommodation

The food is deservedly the main attraction at The Holcombe, but a lot of care and attention has clearly gone into making it an equally luxurious place to spend the night, too. I can’t think of many better ways to cap off an evening here than to climb the stairs and retire to one of the 11 tastefully designed rooms.

The walls are accented with a soothing shade of green from Little Greene paints. Intentional or not, it feels fluent with The Holcombe’s language of nature. Toiletries from Noble Isle add another touch of rural sophistication, and even the bed sheets feel reassuringly expensive.

A two-course breakfast is included. Even with straightforward classics, like granola, it sustained the impeccable standards from dinner that I was still thinking about when I woke up. Make room for their scrambled eggs, which has certainly raised the bar for what I will describe as “silky” in the future.

The verdict

The Holcombe will undoubtedly appeal to culinary tourists; the type who will travel far and wide to discover a unique food experience. Two AA Rosettes provide some validation and I wouldn’t at all be surprised if a third is soon earned. But I would encourage anyone who values ethical cooking and eating to plan a visit. On those credentials alone, The Holcombe is a best-in-class example.

Dominic Kocur was a guest of The Holcombe. Room rates start from £180 per night based on two sharing. Stratton Road, Holcombe, Somerset BA3 5EB; theholcombe.com