We were recently invited to sample the new dining experience at Mosborough Hall. The hotel, which is situated to the south-east of Sheffield, transformed its Darcy’s restaurant during lockdown and is back with a new menu and new spaces to enjoy it in.

I’d wanted to have a nosy at Mosborough Hall anyways after several people on Instagram recommended it as somewhere to book for my (eventual) solo night away as a break from all things parenting. It’s a lovingly-renovated 12th century manor house, so has loads of kerb appeal and a lovely feel to it.

We booked in for Monday lunch and were greeted and shown to our table by the friendly team at Mosborough Hall. We were torn between the à la carte and tasting menus, as both were full of delicious-sounding options. In the end, we opted to go with the tasting menu so we didn’t have to make any further decisions!

The tasting menu is really great value at £45pp. There’s the option to add paired wine for £15pp too, but we didn’t do this so I can’t tell you any more about that! The menu has been created by Head Chef Alex Fretwell (you might recognise his name from Whirlowbrook Hall) and packs in seven delightful courses.

Yes, that sounds excessive for a Monday lunchtime, but we had booked the afternoon off work so could afford the time and the ensuing feeling of contented tiredness one sometimes has after a big meal!

We began with an amuse-bouche of smoked chicken roulade with Caesar and parmesan. This was a great warm up for what was to come. I love the flavours of a chicken Caesar so this was a nice little bite of summer:

Next, it was some bread while we waited for our starter. This was a yoghurt sourdough with smoked beef butter, and it was a delight:

The starter was the most beautiful-looking glazed goat’s cheese, pickled beets, shallot purée and a lovely sesame crisp:

For mains, we had mallard with dripping potato, carrot, kale and a maple jus. I was slightly apprehensive about what the maple jus would be like and if it would be too overpowering, but it was really nice and quite delicate:

Our pre-dessert of lemon & lime meringue pie arrived next and it was almost too pretty to eat. Just look at that perfect meringue dome!:

Hey, I said almost too pretty to eat; we, of course, managed it and it was gorgeous. A good palate-cleanser and that meringue was beautiful:

Dessert was a spiced date sponge, caramel sauce, toffee popcorn and yoghurt ice cream (basically a very good sticky toffee pud!). We were getting pretty full at this point but could not resist a lovely-looking pud like this one:

It was everything you’d want this dessert to be and, like the rest of the meal, tasted amazing. It was a very good portion size, too:

Finally, the cheese course arrived to finish us off (literally). We were stuffed, but who can resist a few cheese and biscuits when they’re placed, temptingly, in front of you?! An array of lovely Yorkshire cheeses, Henderson’s Relish chutney, fruit cake, jelly, grapes and crackers demand to be sampled:

We could not finish this cheese platter. If we’d have been staying in one of the hotel’s bedrooms (which look lovely!), I’d have probably asked to take the rest up to the room for later, as it was so good.

There would normally then be tea and coffee to end the meal, but we don’t drink either so wrapped up and headed home. Not before planning a return visit with the dog – Mosborough Hall is super dog-friendly, and provides the supplies your furry friend might need:

As expected, we were pretty full for the rest of the day but really enjoyed the chance to have a rare long lunch date just the two of us. The delicious food made it even better. Many thanks to Sarah, Sam, Chloe and the team at Mosborough Hall for inviting us along for this wonderful experience.