Spotlight on: Napier Restaurant at The Queens Hotel

Location: Napier Restaurant, The Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1NN

Leaving Town along The Promenade, you are presented with the stunning and imposing facade of The Queen's Hotel. It's big, bold and gorgeously finished in the Regency style that Cheltenham is known for. Tucked inside this well-appointed Cheltenham hotel is the Napier Restaurant; a fabulous foodie find that's within moments of the town centre.

Stepping across the plush carpet, you are greeted by an entirely apt quote from Virginia Woolf "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well". What a great start, and we have to say meeting the chef and tasting the food did not disappoint!

Arriving for our experience, we were immediately welcomed by Ovidiu the Sommelier, taken to the table and effortlessly looked after for the whole evening. Napier itself is beautifully furnished and has successfully ensured that it does not feel at all like an hotel restaurant, with an almost city style and feel, far removed from the rest of the hotel. When sat in the conservatory, the chairs are extremely comfortable and the general atmosphere makes you want to stay forever. 

Of course we were not just here to relax, but had the very important task of meeting the executive chef Marius, who joined us at the table for a chat. He is an exceedingly localy man and it was a real pleasure to talk to him and learn all about his career, his family and his ambitions. Marius is from Lithuania and now lives in Pittville in Cheltenham with his wife Zi who is an architect and has just started a new job in Gloucestershire and their two children - Vyta their daughter and Emil their son and both obviously his pride and joy. We learned that Vyta really likes to cook with her dad and that at 3 Emil is ready to take on the world. Professionally, Marius began running the Napier restaurant as Executive Chef in November 2017 and tells me he is really loving the role. His career has taken him around the world and he was for a time based in Cardiff before taking to cruise ships to run his own galley. He also reminisces of his time working in a top hotel in Lithuania which was a brilliant experience where there were 32 rooms and a brigade of 22 chefs – everything to perfection. We suspect this helped him develop his eye for the excellent attention to detail we experienced with our meal later on.

Marius is one of three children, all of whom are working and living in the UK, while his parents are both still living and working in Kaunas - the second biggest city in Lithuania. Apparently, they have yet to visit Cheltenham but understand that they can’t wait having heard so many good things about our town from Marius and his family. Of course, we asked Marius his favourite thing about Cheltenham and his instant reply was ‘the people’ - he says the whole family has been bowled over by how happy and welcoming the people are and he says it’s a dream for all of them. 

Of course, we were here for the food, so we asked what he likes to cook best and he replied that his greatest pleasure is working with good ingredients. Suppliers are local and he is spoiled for choice with the quality and variety of their produce. We discussed the current menu and asked if he had completely changed it when he arrived? It’s a rolling project as there are some expected dishes which of course he can put a twist on and that there are some very creative ones which they are trialling and seeing how popular they are. Marius says he is not afraid to experiment and loves trying new things for example the very on-trend individual dessert available which is a Green Matcha Tea Creme Brulee served with Cardamon ice-cream - a real flavour explosion we can attest.

We talked about his ambition and it’s to get even busier and to stay very hands on. He has a team of five chefs of which he is one and has three KP’s. This means no two days are the same team and everyone is involved in the experience they deliver. When you're stepping into an established kitchen and trying to add your own twist, its important of course to think about the future too, so we put him on the spot and asked him what he thinks his legacy is? He said it is simply the same as the Chef who taught him and that is to train young enthusiastic people to be the chefs of the next generation – wonderful.

We of course can't judge the food while the chef who cooks it is sat at our table, so Marius then left us to go back to the kitchen and we were left to order. It was at this stage we found out all about Ovidiu – wow! Ovidiu is the Somelier at the Napier and he recently came to Cheltenham from Sevenoaks. He is originally from Romania and then he revealed he entered a competition in 2016 and was named one of the top three Sommeliers in the country and we can clearly see why.

He made his recommendations from the menu and in truth we really struggled to choose as it all sounded so enticing. They offer a range of 'nibbles' which are slightly lighter starters including things like Salt and Pepper Calamari with aioli, Pulled Pork Fritters and crispy breaded Scampi with lemon mayonnaise. There are of course traditional size starters too, with choices like King Prawns & coriander wantons with pak choy and soy – my companion had this and said it was gorgeous – through to Truffle Arancini with a tomato relish, Ox tail Ravioli with a parmesan jus or Goats Cheese Mousse with beetroots which I can attest was delicious.

On to the mains and what to choose from? Traditional meals like Pan Fried Chicken Breast through to a Grilled Cod fillet, Duck Breast, Salmon Fillet or Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi. The signature dish is Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb and there are also a range of steaks with sauces from the grill. The menu clearly defines what is Gluten Free and Vegetarian and they will of course cater for any dietary requirements.

One of us selected duck breast which came perfectly pink and presented on apparently ‘the most flavoursome’ butternut squash puree, balsamic beetroot and Amarena Cherries, while the other chose the signature dish of the lamb rack served with truffle potatoes and a leek and mushroom compote which had at least four different mushrooms included. It was during these two courses that we were totally spoiled by Ovidiu who recommended which wines we should drink with each dish. He selected the ones for the starter with an explanation for each and as he presented them he told us where they were from including country and vineyard, the year, the aBv and the likely flavours we would experience with them. He was not wrong once. When he saw we were really interested in what he had to say (of course!) he brought his Master Wine Aroma tasting kit over and proceeded to take us through how we could use our smell and palate to recognise the different parts of each wine. He presented these in the order of subtlety and how we would have experienced it and he was, of course spot on. He then chose the red wine to accompany the main course and we were astounded by just how well the flavours complemented the food!

The pride both Marius and Ovidui both have in their work for their customers comes through and you can see how passionate they both are to make sure that each and every guest enjoys their time there. We certainly won't hesitate to recommend the restaurant, nor to visit again ourselves or take others with us. It's also fair to say the experience was unexpected - don't make the same mistake we did and mark The Napier as 'just a hotel restuarant' - you have no idea just what you will be missing!