Grimsdyke Hotel is a Harrow Weald landmark, being the former home of Gilbert who wrote Gilbert and Sullivan operas, which are still performed there. The hotel has turned into a Best Western, which we used when we lived in the USA, as it was a collection of individually owned places with joint marketing, always a surprise, a mixture of delight and occasional disappointments, rather than the blandly predictable and reliable chains. Gilbert's restaurant has always been an elegant venue for dinner, and has a long history of two star rosettes from the AA, as shown by the plates on the wall in the entrance lobby.
The hotel has periodic renewals which have to leave the fabric of the magnificent gabled building intact. Gilbert's restaurant is to the left of the main entrance. Since I last went there the interior seems to have been repainted with mixed results. I like everything clean. I am not keen on the brown colour scheme. I prefer clean white to contrast with brown beams. I once read that the fashion for black and white was Victorian, previously beams were natural brown rather than black.
I can't help it, I like lots of clean white. The napkins were white. The crockery was white. Some new incongruous overhead modern lights provided extra light. But the wonderful mythological animal carvings around the fireplace did not have the impact they used to have on summertime lunchtimes and I did not see anything about the history of Gilbert & Sullivan and the hotel in the restaurant menu.
What did I like most about my meal? The service was great. Helpful and friendly. Best of all, when I dropped a piece of cutlery, a new piece was presented wrapped with the handle in a napkin, no risk of the waiter's hands and perspiration going all over the handle - or worse, the part which touches your food, like at some other places, so well done!
Drinks by the glass which we tried included a red rioja, and my reasonably priced sparkling white Prosecco.
What Do Wine Labels Mean?
I was able to enjoy a consumer's discussion of Prosecco. One member of my family is studying for the WSET (Wine and Spirit Education Trust) diploma exam. I am shortly doing the first level, a one-day course. Diploma level is much higher, level four, taking two years, taken by sommeliers, wine suppliers and connoisseurs. (After that comes Master of wine, usually taken by people working in the wine trade.)
What Prosecco Means
Prosecco was originally both the name of a region in Italy and the grape grown in that area. This caused confusion to the consumer. As the Prosecco wine grew more and more popular worldwide, a rival to Champagne, like Champagne, the Prosecco producers wanted to protect their reputation. Wine growers and makers in the Prosecco area thought that growers and producers of wine from other areas could take the prosecco plant and pretend that the wine was produced in the Prosecco region. It's easier to change the name of the grape than of the region.
So if you were to buy a really old bottle, and read the label, both the grape and wine might be Prosecco. But nowadays Prosecco tells you the region. The grape is glera. If you are not into wine, you do not need to remember the name of the grape. All you need to know is that prosecco no longer identifies the grape, but refers to a region of Italy.
Chicken liver parfait. Delicious creamy parfait. The word parfait is French for perfect. It can mean a creamy pate (or a creamy cold dessert).
I liked the dinky little holders for individual butter portions. I typed in D inky and the spellchecker turned the word into K inky.
Note the candle on the table.
The white bread contains onion. Even better, the brown bread with walnuts. Top marks for the bread.
Beef with dumpling. Potato. Vegetable.
I loved the quilted, scented toilet paper.
You can get a loyalty card for lunch time.
I am a happy soul and I've tried to write a cheerful account of my evening out which I enjoyed. Unfortunately Mr Grumpy thought the meal was hardly better than a Harvester, hence my less than enthusiastic review on Tripadvisor. However, if you've never been to the Grimsdyke hotel and Gilbert's restaurant, you should certainly try it once. And it's the only decent place, in a grand historic hotel, for miles around which is conveniently open on a Sunday evening.
In The Area
Before or after your calorific lunch or dinner, in summer or on a sunny day you can see a fine view over London including the Wembley Arch, from the car park opposite the hotel.
You can also walk, stroll or jog (mind the tree roots and mud) along the centuries old Grim's Dyke way, an extensive pathway through the trees which is marked by sign posts and on maps.
More information from the hotel website: www.grimsdyke.com
