Discover the delicious new Spring menu at the elegant Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Club, East Sussex.
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There’s nothing quite like escaping to a luxurious hotel in the beautiful UK countryside. It’s the perfect getaway when you want to shut out the stresses of modern life and just unwind.
Recently, I was invited to visit Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Club to sample their new Spring menu. The hotel is part of the Elite Hotels Group, along with The Grand Hotel in Eastbourne and Tylney Hall in Hampshire.
All three hotels offer the standard of luxurious surroundings and service that recall the elegance of travel in a bygone era. Each would be the ideal destination if you want to get away for a special birthday, an anniversary or just because you deserve a long relaxing weekend escape.
One Spring evening, I arrived at Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Club to the sound of bird song and the gentle trickle of a water feature. After a long drive from Shropshire, the peaceful surroundings immediately made me feel relaxed, and just look at that entrance!
Read on to discover what I loved about this elegant Sussex hotel, and which were my favourite dishes from the Spring menu.
Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Club
Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Club is near East Grinstead. It lies in the middle of the beautiful East Sussex countryside, but you can get there easily via the M25 or M23.
Like many country hotels, Ashdown Park was originally a private residence. At various points in its history, it has also been a convent, home to the sisters of Notre Dame, and a corporate training centre.
Luckily for us, it’s now an elegant hotel offering guests the choice of two restaurants and access to amenities including a golf course, fitness suite and luxury spa.
I took a quick look around at the end of my visit, and as you can see from the pictures below, the hotel’s decor gives it the air of the quintessential English country house.
Exploring the grounds
Ashdown Park is also surrounded by stunning grounds on the edge of Ashdown Forest. The grounds are perfect for guests to explore at their own pace, and you may even spot some of the local fallow deer. There are around 3000 deer living in the forest, one of the largest populations in England.
The rhododendron were just starting to bloom when I visited, and people visit the hotel just to see their breathtaking display each year.
There’s also a small chapel in the grounds, which apparently has stunning Art Deco style stained glass. I would love to go back to Ashdown Park simply to see that!
Ashdown Forest also inspired the ‘Hundred Aker Wood’ that was famously home to Winnie the Pooh and his friends. 2026 marks 100 years since A.A. Milne, a Sussex local himself, published the first Winnie the Pooh book.
Ashdown Park is celebrating the anniversary with a collection of special menus, events and packages in collaboration with Pooh Corner Tea Room and the Ashdown Forest Foundation. You can wander around one of the self-guided ‘Hundred Aker Wood’ trails, enjoy a ‘Hunny Pot’ afternoon tea or even enjoy an indulgent Honey Glow Facial.
A Spring Evening at Ashdown Park Hotel
Our evening started with a beautiful glass of sparkling rosé wine, courtesy of Rushlake Vineyard.
Did you know that there are at least 140 vineyards in Sussex, more than any other English county? Around a quarter of the land under vine in Great Britain is in Sussex, and around 28% of the UK’s total wine production originates here.
Rushlake Vineyard is one of the county’s newest vineyards, and it lies around 20 miles south-east of Ashdown Park. They focus on sparkling wines, and we were treated to a glass of their latest rosé.
Rushlake’s aim is to create sparkling wines that people will want to drink generally, not just for toasting or as an aperitif. If this rosé was anything to go by, they’re achieving that goal. The delicate, creamy bubbles felt wonderfully celebratory, while the fruit-forward profile was dry enough to feel sophisticated yet smooth enough for sipping throughout the evening.
This is definitely an English sparkling wine to look out for!
Chef Demonstration
While we sipped on our Rushlake sparkling wine, Ashdown Park’s Executive Chef, Andrew Wilson, showed us how to make an elegant starter: Steak Tartare. He made the classic version of the dish with beef fillet steak, but you can also make it with venison or lamb if you’re in the mood for something different.
As Andrew explained, you must buy super-fresh meat and use prime cuts to avoid any unpleasant sinew in your finished dish. If you don’t want to eat completely raw meat, you could also sear it lightly.
Andrew quickly sliced the meat into tiny morsels with a very sharp knife – you don’t want to rip the steak! It’s worth investing in a good chef’s knife – Andrew recommended Victorinox as a good starter brand – and then sharpen it weekly with a stone. Then you only need to give it a couple of quick swipes with a sharpening steel before each use.
Once Andrew had prepared the meat, it only took a few minutes to finish the dish. Andrew mixed the meat with a few flavoursome ingredients and plated it up using a presentation ring. Topped with a raw egg yolk and a few drops of dressing, it’s a simple but elegant way to start a meal.
Amuse-bouche
We all received a small amuse-bouche of steak tartare in an espresso cup. Unbelievably, this was my first time trying steak tartare, and I really enjoyed it. I would certainly order it again, especially if I knew it had been prepared by a chef as skilful as Andrew Wilson!
Once we had enjoyed our amuse-bouche of steak tartare, it was time to head over to the beautifully-dressed tables for our meal. We would be enjoying a tasting menu of three starters, main courses and desserts, giving us a comprehensive experience of the Spring menu at Ashdown Park.
Starters
Of course, we began our tasting experience with samples of three starters. They were all beautifully presented and created a buzz about the rest of the evening.
Our meal started with a fabulous vegetarian starter of whipped goat cheese with malt loaf and rhubarb. I absolutely love goat cheese, and this whipped dish was light, creamy perfection. It was the most mouth-watering start to a meal, and heightened my anticipation for the dishes to come.
The second starter was a delicious combination of blood orange cured salmon and soft-shell crab. The addition of cherry alongside was an intriguing flavour combination which I thought worked really well.
The final starter was an intriguing twist on the classic Caesar salad, this time featuring guinea fowl and a tangy pickled ranch dressing. I really enjoyed this salad, especially the guinea fowl, which was very tender and delicious.
I would probably choose the Guinea Fowl “Caesar” as my favourite starter. Having said that, I can’t get that whipped goat cheese out of my mind…
Main courses
Moving on to the main courses, we enjoyed three exciting options featuring some of the best of Sussex produce.
This dish was a pure work of art. Roast South Coast halibut was cooked to flaky perfection and served with a light cream sauce, razor clams and spring greens. The saltiness of the bacon and caviar offset the sweet halibut beautifully, and the dainty hash brown was a perfectly crisp accompaniment.
This was a truly stunning dish, and many of the people on my table rated it as a favourite.
But for me, the halibut came in for some stiff competition from the delicious saddle of roast Sussex lamb. I always find it hard to resist lamb on a menu, and this sweet Sussex lamb was cooked exactly as I like it. The accompanying Cheddar dauphinoise and pea puree were also delicious, and I think I would have ordered this as my main course.
I feel slightly guilty for overlooking the vegetarian option of tempura jackfruit with sesame-roasted sweet potato. Served on its own, it would make an exciting main course, but my mind still lingered on those stunning halibut and lamb dishes.
Desserts
I don’t always finish my meal with dessert, as I usually prefer cheese or just a coffee. But when desserts look as good as this, who can resist?
Each of the three desserts I sampled was imaginative, delicious and perfectly presented. I’m not a big fan of passionfruit, unfortunately, so the passionfruit sorbet and creme weren’t completely to my taste. However, chocolate is a totally different matter, and I loved the crisp cocoa tuile and chocolate soil served alongside.
Of course, rhubarb and ginger are a classic flavour combination. Although I’d have liked the rhubarb to be a little more tender, this dish would make an excellent end to a meal.
My favourite dessert was this delicious light pavlova served with basil sorbet and compressed strawberry. As with the passion-fruit dish, the basil sorbet was the perfect consistency, and its intriguing scent and flavour complemented the sweet strawberry perfectly.
I could very happily have eaten a full-sized portion of this dessert!
Dinner at Ashdown Park: My Verdict
There’s a lot to love about dining at Ashdown Park. The hotel’s elegant decor and stunning grounds make it the perfect spot for celebrating a special occasion or simply treating yourself to a wonderful meal.
I enjoyed learning about the excellent local produce used in the Anderida Restaurant’s delicious Spring menu. The staff are clearly proud of the standard of their food, and with good reason.
Everything I sampled was of the highest quality, and I was impressed by the imaginative taste combinations and beautiful presentation. It’s hard to pick a favourite dish, but the lamb and halibut dishes were both hard to beat.
As I left Ashdown Park and slowly made my way back out to the road, a small group of fallow deer crossed just in front of my car. It was a magical sight and the perfect end to a wonderful evening.
The details…
Many thanks to the staff of Ashdown Park for a fabulous evening!
Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Club
Wych Cross, Forest Row, East Grinstead RH18 5JR
www.ashdownpark.com
01342 824988