Perched on a cliff-top on Dorset’s UNESCO World Heritage Jurassic Coast at Lyme Regis, sits the Alexandra hotel. With beautiful private gardens, the hotel has direct access to the wide-sandy beach below, overlooking Cobb harbour and Lyme Bay in Dorset. The famous harbour wall ‘The Cobb’ featured in Jane Austen’s novel Persuasion and in the novel and film version of The French Lieutenant’s Woman.
The hotel’s restaurant is all pastel blues and greys, calming and charming in appearance. For dinner I tried a moreish cauliflower and thyme soup to start, followed by a perfected Lyme Regis catch of the day (haddock) – just because we were by the seaside. I tried the pan-fried gnocchi, which was set off nicely by its porcini mushroom bedfellows.
A dark chocolate fondant pudding almost then finished me off, save for being able to enjoy it in the comfort of our wonderful room on my request, as tiredness had set in. Nothing was too much trouble for Bogdan the restaurant manager, whose humour and attentive service was second-to-none.
We also learned the hotel offers a rather enticing lunch menu, at just £20 for two courses or £25 for three, plus currently hold the prestigious Taste of the West Winner – Gold Award 2017, for four consecutive years. Head Chef Tom Holloway is passionate about using ‘local to Lyme’ ingredients from family-run farms, artisan producers and the hotel’s own kitchen garden, which shines through in his cuisine.
A newly-launched Midweek Menu (£20 pp two courses/£25 pp three courses) includes seasonal dishes such as Braised Chapel Farm Pork Belly, creamed potatoes, roasted carrots and braising juices or Poached Chesil Beach Smokehouse Haddock, crushed Cornish potatoes, creamed leeks and wholegrain mustard sauce. The winter-warming puddings will focus on traditional British favourites such as Apple crumble with homemade custard.
Leila Stocker was hosted by the Alexandra Hotel and Restaurant in Lyme Regis, Dorset. Call 01297 442 010 (hotelalexandra.co.uk).
Address: Pound St, Lyme Regis DT7 3HZ
