Lumière, Cheltenham

Cheltenham is home to two exceedingly good restaurants, Le Champignon Sauvage with its two Michelin Stars, and Lumière, the lesser renowned. I have now been to Lumière twice and only have good things to say.

The staff have both times been helpful, and polite, offering advice on wine, and benefiting from regular tastings of their cellars. The position is delightfully central and the interior minimal yet comfortable. One of the very few complaints about the restaurant I have is the poor view out of the window onto the Cheltenham ring road, however should you be with entertaining company the meal will appear in no time and then your attention is entirely focused upon the manna on your plate.

I have with my two visits endeavoured to sample a wide range of dishes, and all are cooked to an equally high quality. The fish was just right and filleted expertly. The meat was cooked to the perfect level, and all the flavours balanced yet discernable. One of the most special aspects of the meal was the freshly baked in-house bread which is indicative of the level service one receives here.

With the Lunch time offer of pudding on top of your first two courses I would strongly advise taking it. The Pineapple Sorbet with spun sugar and chilli was fantastic, while the cheese was a delightful selection of local offerings, with some more of their amazing bread. After all this however one is feeling quite full, but I would further advise their coffee and Petit Fours if you could possibly manage it. They are simply to die for.

The damage of this meal with a bottle of New World White for two was £80. Now for lunch £40 per head seems relatively high, yet I would still say it was worth it. And if you feel like you wish to save a little more 2 courses is only £18 a head. A steal if ever I have seen one.