BEING slightly too keen we arrived for dinner at Burnham Beeches Hotel a whole 30 minutes before the restaurant had even opened.

Situated in ten acres of beautiful gardens in the peaceful Burnham Beeches it seems a 100 miles away from bustling life, yet it is only minutes from the M4 and M40.

As a result we got there far earlier than expected but it was not a problem as we sat having a drink and some nibbles of roasted nuts, vegetable crisps and beautiful plump olives.

Suzy Nemethova served us throughout the evening and took our order before the restaurant even opened and at 7pm we were sat at the table with our starters in front of us.

The Rosette Awarded Gray's restaurant is in the original Georgian mansion of the four star hotel.

The dark wooden panelled walls and exquisite décor makes for quite a venue- it was a quiet Thursday evening and being incredibly early we were the only ones sat down to start.

The menu, which they change every three months, is deliberately simple with seven starters and seven main courses and five desserts. I went for the salad of home smoked chicken breast, crispy pancetta, soft poached quail eggs and baby gem lettuce (£8.50).

It was a great recommendation by Suzy, who was attentive and knowledgeable, as it was divine dish.

It had slithers of the delicately smoked tender chicken along with thin, crispy pancetta. The three quail eggs were beautifully cooked with a runny yolk and the lettuce was fresh and crisp, served with a light creamy dressing.

My colleague, James, had Crotin Chavignol goat’s cheese wrapped in filo pastry, heritage tomatoes, shallot and herb dressing (£7.40)

He said compared to other goat's cheese starters he has sampled through the years, this has to be up there in the top four or five. It was lovingly prepared, looking immaculate in shape and aesthetically pleasing.

Other starter options included courgette flowers, Dorset crab and a tomato and basil salad.

I was concerned the main would not live up to excellent starter, but I needn't have worried. I had the honey roasted breast of Gressingham duck, croquette of rillettes and port wine sauce (£17.95).

The duck was served pink and although this phrase is over-used, it was melt in the mouth. It was so tender and perfectly cooked. The croquette of rillettes was amazing with shredded duck packed into a breadcrumb casing. It was served with mashed potato and a smooth, light sauce.

James went for the ribeye steak, spinach and parsley puree, potato rosti, button onions and mushrooms (£19.85).

It was very well done, as requested and was ebbing juiciness and taste tingling qualities from the outset. It was a tough task to finish, despite not looking like a vast meal to begin with. He couldn't quite manage the whole dish but this was no reflection on its quality, which was high.

Mains also included sea bream, salmon, lamb and a vegetarian pasta dish. There were a choice of five desserts, and cheese.

We both wanted the chocolate soufflé with vanilla ice cream (£6.95), which takes 20 minutes.

In the end James had it. He said the spongy pudding created a cocoa crammed cacophony of chatter and it was soft and easy to snaffle up.

I went for the Tuile basket of vanilla ice cream filled with fresh fruit and served on a red fruit coulis (£7.85).

It was a very simple dessert but all done well. The ice cream was creamy and went very well with the sweet coulis.

The fruit was a selection of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries and were all fresh and tasty. The other desserts were a candied puff pastry, pavlova and a jelly.

James sampled the Rooibos bush tea, a descendant of South Africa. The caffeine free hot drink was a good way to round off quite a heavy intake of food, he said, and highly recommended.

I was very impressed with the quality of the food, including the clean flavours and the quality of the produce. It was all so well done and mixed with the beauiful surroundings it is a very special restaurant.

For more details go to http://www.corushotels.com/burnham-beeches/bar-restaurants