A HOTEL in Cookham Dean recently launched its new Japanese-inspired menu to customers.
And this week, we were invited down to give it a try ourselves and we were even treated to an overnight stay.
Karma Sanctum on the Green, on the Old Cricket Common, Cookham Dean, spoiled us with its mouth-watering new menu at its restaurant, the Mole and Badger Pub and Shokudo.
On arrival, we checked in at reception where we were led to our hotel room, which was very clean and felt like a proper countryside pub.
The room was spacious and overlooked the picturesque driveway that leads up to the hotel.
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When we went downstairs into bar/restaurant area, which had a cosy open fireplace, we were warmly welcomed by manager Jack and assistant manager, Megan.
They both instantly made us feel at home, offered us a drink and Megan ran through the menu with us on which dishes she recommended we try.
Making it clear that I had a nut allergy, she promptly went to check with the chef on which options I could have.
When she returned to the table, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that all but one dish contained nuts, and that one dish could easily have the nuts taken out.
It’s certainly a very accommodating restaurant for allergens, catering for any dietary requirements.
To start, we tucked into the Chilli Squid (£9.00) which was served with wasabi mayonnaise.
They were crispy, flavoursome with just the right amount of kick to it and well-presented.
This portion was also more than enough to share between the two of us.
For mains, I decided to try the Chicken Teriyaki (£16.50) which was served with white cabbage, sweet pickled ginger and Japanese steamed rice.
It doesn’t mention it on the menu but it already comes with the rice, so there’s no need to order it as a side dish.
The taste of the teriyaki chicken was to die for, and the pickled ginger complimented it perfectly.
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And my partner tried the Chicken Katsu Curry (£14.40) which also comes with Japanese steamed rice, shredded white cabbage and pickled ginger.
He said the meal was perfect, very flavoursome and he had no issues with any of it.
Though we were starting to get a bit full by this point, we still made room for dessert.
Manager Jack highly recommended I tried the Mochi ice cream (£6.50).
If you’ve never heard of Mochi, they are cute little round buns made of soft and chewy rice and these ones were filled with ice cream.
Three Mochi flavours were served up, which were mango, chocolate and vanilla.
They were very tasty and were the perfect sweet treat to round off the whole meal.
And my partner nibbled on the Chocolate and Tofu Mousse (£6.50) which was served up with Coconut cream.
He said it tasted good but it tasted more like ice cream rather than a soft mousse, maybe it could have come out of the fridge a bit sooner.
To round off the night we stayed in the bar to enjoy some entertaining live music, which they do every other Thursday.
Overall, this hidden gem is a great getaway treat for couples with great service, live music and heavenly food that will leave you wanting to come back again.
The hotel is situated just six-minutes walk away from the quaint village of Cookham Dean.
Call 01628 482638 or visit the Mole and Badger website for more information.
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