On Monday, Jeff had Labor Day off, but the kids still had school. What to do? Why, go out to lunch, of course! We took the opportunity to eat a "civilized luncheon" at The Orangery Restaurant at the Bedford Lodge Hotel in Newmarket, Suffolk.
The restaurant looks very nice in the photo, but is actually a little worn down inside. Also, the hotel's proximity to the Newmarket training courses makes for an interesting smell on the patio, which would otherwise be a delightful place to eat lunch.
We ate lunch inside the restaurant, given the smell factor. The service was very friendly and the food was pretty tasty. Contrary to intuition, the bar menu offers a lot more selection and inviting options than the lunch menu. Jeff had the steak sandwich with horseradish mayonnaise and I had the brie, parma ham, basil and tomato ciabatta. Both sandwiches came with very yummy fries...the big steak kind that seem like they're fried not once, but multiple times. For dessert, we had that British perennial favorite, sticky toffee pudding. It was well-made, but there was no flair about it. (The Merry Monk, for example, serves their STP with lots of coconut ice cream. This came with vanilla.)
I guess I was hoping for an almost-romantic lunch experience, and I was a little disappointed. Perhaps the hotel had about it a somewhat depressed air, which can only be present on a Monday. I will probably return to the Orangery, but with my kids in tow and we'll sit outside on the patio.
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