I visited the restaurant for the first time yesterday and it really is quite superb. As others have mentioned, Wilton itself is a beautiful small town and so my expectations were quite high but, even so, the atmospheric interior scheme was a very pleasant surprise. The downstairs area has a rather club-like bar with leather sofas and antique textiles, lovely antique rugs on all of the floors, what appear to be Indian alabaster bowls on a serving table in the centre of the main dining room, characterful sets of Hepplewhite-style chairs and long case clocks throughout. It is one of the most beautiful settings in which I have ever eaten.
The food is largely based around a revolving set menu which offers terrific value-£12.95 for two courses and £14.95 for three. Yesterday the available mains included smoked salmon fillet with mixed vegetables, prawn and chilli linguine, chicken pasta bake and squash and sweet potato vegetarian sausages with mash etc. Desserts included a fresh fruit salad, warm Alabama chocolate fudge cake, strawberry pavlova and a toffee cheesecake.
The portion sizes were very generous, the service was superb and I couldn't believe the quality of the meal considering the price paid. As someone who is used to grudgingly paying London prices for meals, this was a revelation, especially as the location of the Pembroke Arms-directly opposite the main entrance to Wilton House-suggests that it might be something of a tourist trap and charge accordingly.
I can't recommend the Pembroke Arms highly enough and will be returning whenever in the area. read more