Review: Murder at Nunsmere (From Northwich Guardian)

Reveiw of Supper Club at Nunsmere Hall Hotel

12:41pm Friday 14th September 2012 in News By Gina Bebbington

MURDER is one of those things that could easily get in the way of a well planned dinner party.

The shock, the mess, the mystery – all of these ruinous to the anticipation of a cordial evening.

Fortunately the guests at Nunsmere Hall Hotel’s latest Supper Club were made of sterner stuff and were not going to let a little thing like the murder of their host spoil the evening.

Of course, Lord Muck was not really murdered.

In fact, he only ever existed in our imaginations as we enjoyed the hotel and restaurant’s first murder mystery night.

The evening began with a drink in the bar while the four actors milled amongst the guests, fully in character as Lady Muck, her daughter Millie, the General and Millie’s fiance Timothy.

I must admit that this was a little unsettling as we did not know what to expect – but the larger than life characters took total control of the guests as the story of Lord Muck’s murder unfolded around us.

The actors led us into the hotel’s opulent but comfortable dining room and explained that they we would face a series of puzzles throughout our three-course meal and we would be given a vital clue for each puzzle we completed.

This created a great atmosphere as each table worked together to solve the whodunit, while enjoying top class food.

Our meal incuded gammon and pineapple with chunky chips and a delicious chocolate tart with raspberry ice cream.

Staff were very accomodating in terms of their guests’ tastes too – with my starter being quickly changed owing to my dislike of cheese.

The Supper Club has been running at Nunsmere since January, with each event having a different theme.

These have included guests paying what they think the meal was worth, a blind tasting night and a five-course meal with every course matched with wine.

Mark Huntley, the hotel’s general manager, said: “My brief when I came here was to open the doors and make Nunsmere more accessible.

“It’s amazing the amount of people I meet who live or work in Northwich but have never been here.”

The next Supper Club will be held on September 25 and is an evening of sabrage, where guests will be taught how to open a bottle of champagne with a sword before drinking it.

Tickets are £60, which includes the champagne and a meal of seared scallops, clams and crisp chicken wings, duck breast, confit leg and foie gras and mango parfait.

For more information visit primahotels.co.uk/nunsmere.