Mushroom Foraging at with Mrs Tee at Hotel du Vin Poole is a brand new weekend package which is set to run every Autumn. Last weekend I hosted a press trip to see what was in store...

Arriving on the Friday early evening we checked into our cosy rooms before heading down to the hotel’s bar for a couple of pre-dinner cocktails served with olives and nuts on the comfy leather sofas. It was hard to choose which cocktail to have – they all sounded so good!

Following our cocktails we moved into the bistro and set about ordering our starters and mains. Taking advantage of the hotel’s location close to the sea we dived into the wealth of seafood on the offer - Mussels, Scallops and Smoked Salmon served with a lovely white wine as recommended by our South African sommelier. Mains divided us between the Pave steak and the Red Mullet with fried oyster, white asparagus and a cream sauce.  

Desserts were ordered to share, but after a little rest we managed to try the cheese board (this is Hotel du Vin, it would be seriously rude not too)! The cheese board is huge and offers a great variety of local and international cheeses, no matter which Hotel du Vin or Bistro du Vin you visit, it never fails to impress. After copious amounts of cheese we headed to bed all too aware that we were being picked up at 8:30am, which meant we had to be up early…we didn’t want to skip our breakfast did we!

The next day, all set for our foraging, we gathered at the mini bus and set off for Mrs Tee’s house where we learnt which mushrooms we could pick and eat and which would kill us! This proved quite a hard task as nearly every edible mushroom has a deadly counterpart. After our consultation we headed into the dining room for a mushroom lunch – mushroom quiche followed by wild mushroom pasta. With bellies full we were all ready to head off into the pretty New Forest.

After a couple of hours foraging (during which we found a wealth of mushrooms including -  Bay Boletes, Puffballs and others whose names escape me) we headed back to the hotel armed with our bounty and there was just enough time for a long soak in the bath before the mushroom dinner.

The dinner started off  with champagne and mushroom canapés served in the Snuggle with its crackling log fire before being lead upstairs to the private dining room for a four-course dinner with matching wines. Starters of cepe soufflé and roast fillet of salmon were follwed by roast partridge, all dishes had mushrooms worked into the ingredients, even the dessert which was decorated with small, perfectly formed mushrooms made from meringue!

Coffee, homemade chocolate truffles and a lovely dessert wine (Banyuls, Domaine la tour Vieille) finished off the feast.

The next day, after another hearty breakfast, we took a brisk walk along Poole seafront exploring the rock shops before boarding the train back to London. Exceptional food, great wines and a lovely group of journalists made the trip a huge success. If you fancying trying the next Mushroom Foraging course it will run in Autumn 2012, however if you are looking for a gourmet getaway a little sooner Hotel du Vin Poole are hosting one of the famous Ecole du Vin’s in Dec 2nd & Dec 3rd. See the website for more details.

We travelled to Poole with South West Trains - Best South West Trains fares can be found online when you buy your tickets in advance. Visit southwesttrains.co.uk/advance or call 0845 6000 650 for more details.