After 20 years on TV, Great British Menu still attracts the hottest culinary talent from across the UK and has made household names out of chefs like Tom Kerridge, Aktar Islam and Angela Hartnett.
Alongside winning a Michelin star or securing a glowing review from a national restaurant critic, it seems to be the most sure-fire way for a restaurant to secure a boost in bookings.
I recently read Sally Abe’s excellent autobiography where she talked about the increase in reservations that she saw at the Harwood Arms and the Pem during her appearances on the show.
One contestant to put in a respectable performance this year was Nicholas Balfe, a self-taught chef from Yeovil, who previously founded the highly regarded Salon and Levan in London before moving back to the Somerset village of South Petherton in 2021 to open Holm.
Representing the Southwest, Nicholas made it through to the regional finals with some delicious looking food.
Coincidentally, a friend of ours had suggested a trip to Holm the week before Nicholas appeared on the show, at which point I’d never even heard of it. Fast forward a week later and I was biting their hand off for us to get booked in.
Located in a former bank in the heart of the village, clearly a lot of love and dosh has gone into stripping Holm’s building back to its bare bones and furnishing its dining space and seven bedrooms with high end furniture, beautiful fabrics, and chic art.
It’s undoubtedly one of the most stylish and comfy places I’ve stayed in the UK.
But, enough about the interior design, let’s talk about the food. With a focus on seasonal and local produce, Holm’s cooking is contemporary yet not too fussy.
When we arrived, a pair of squidgy chocolate and sea salt cookies waiting for us in our room got things off to a very good start.
Included in our well-priced £357 dinner, bed and breakfast rate was a multi-course tasting menu for two, which would normally set punters pack £85 a head. There’s also an a la carte available if that’s more your bag.
During the evening, we worked our way through a few lovely bottles of wine including a Pierre Chainier Cremant de Loire (£52), a Ciu Ciu organic Pecorino with a nice touch of oak (£45) and a clean Les Cadoles Macon Chardonnay (£54). Slightly disappointingly, despite having a compact wine list, a couple of other bottles we wanted to try were sold out.
A quartet of snacks to kick off the meal were all very good indeed.
Treacly crusted warm sourdough was excellent with silky whipped butter.
A bright and summery green gazpacho hummed with cucumber, garlic and green herbs.
A leaf of green vegetation was the vehicle for delivering flakes of trout and savoury and citrusy anchovy mayonnaise to my mouth.
Golden cube-shaped Westcombe cheddar fries had a good poke of cheese and tang of pickled walnut. But, I do like a melty ooze when cheese is involved, and these were just a little too firm in texture for me.
Onto the first course proper, and slices of meaty cured sea bream were bathed in a palate-livening ponzu dressing and topped with slices of zippy pickled radish and sweet cicely leaves. However, I wasn’t a fan of a definite back note of fishiness to the dish.
Next up was a very good pasta dish. Agnolotti pillows were filled with creamy herb-flecked ricotta and bathed in a potently rich and cheesy pecorino sauce punctuated with the occasional sweet pea. Golden cheese crisps provided very good texture contrast.
Onto the meat course, and a chicken breast and lightly crumbed piece of chicken thigh were served with a piece of charred hispi cabbage topped with a wild garlic salsa verde, a glossy chicken sauce and a blob of punchy wild garlic mayo. However, I must admit that I struggle to get excited about chicken breast, even when it’s cooked as well as this.
The cheese course (£10.50 supplement) divided opinion. I was a fan of soft and creamy Yarlington topped with a big dollop of spiced apricot chutney and fennel seed cracker sticks. Others felt that the cheese was slightly dominated by its accompaniments.
Dessert was one of the standouts of the meal. A scoop of smooth milk ice cream was accompanied by fragrant macerated strawberries.
The knockout centrepiece was a warm strawberry frangipane sponge with a soft almondy crumb dotted with pieces of fruit. Someone really knows how to bake at Holm.
Petit fours were very good too. A dark chocolate salted caramel was reminiscent of a luxury Rolo whilst airy honeycomb was the gift that kept on giving as I was still picking bits out of my teeth for a good while later.
After an excellent night’s sleep, we had a superb breakfast the following morning. Somerset apple juice was accompanied by nutty homemade granola with thick yoghurt and spiced apple compote.
Thick slices of oak smoked trout were joined by homemade hash browns, fudgy yolked eggs, and more of that excellent sourdough.
If breakfast wasn’t already generous enough then sticky yet not too sweet cinnamon buns were offered for dessert. Whilst Mrs G guzzled hers there and then, I boxed up mine for a mid-morning snack.
We had an excellent stay at Holm and I’m very glad that Great British Menu led me to its doors. Whilst we had a few minor quibbles with dinner, it’s a charming destination and unquestionably one of the most stylish getaways I’ve had in the UK.
The Details:
Address - Holm, 28 St James's Street, South Petherton, Somerset TA13 5BW
Telephone - 01460 712470
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