MY husband and I were invited to try a gourmet dinner at the Wolfscastle County Hotel last week.

At a cost of £39 per head we were expecting something special – and that’s exactly what we received.

After being seated in the dining area of the hotel we were treated to some cockle popcorn, which was a lovely start to the delicious food we were about to consume.

This was followed by canapes and then our chosen starter of smoked ham hock and asparagus terrine, toasted brioche, crispy duck egg. Everything was delicious apart from the pea and asparagus ice-cream, which wasn’t to our taste!

This was followed by a fish course, which consisted of wild sea bass, saffron pasta and langoustine cream, I chose summer vegetable ratatouille and goats cheese mousse (a vegetarian option) again both were beautifully presented with beautiful flavours.

My main course consisted of beef wellington, wilted spinach, pommes puree, morelle and madeira jus, my husband chose pine nutcrusted rack of lamb, pancetta and broad beans, parsley and caper crushed news, lamb and red wine jus. These dishes were our favorite of the night. They were both presented fantastically and tasted delicious, we were offered extra vegetables but simply could not fit them in. The dessert was white chocolate cheesecake, wild strawberries and basil, again a fine presentation of the food, not traditional at all.

The final course was coffee and petit fours.

All of the staff were extremely helpful and professional throughout the evening.

Although at this cost it wouldn’t suit everyone’s pocket this is certainly a great idea for a special occasion, in lovely surroundings.

KELLY MCFADDEN