CHIC Eats

Links is the Royal Golf Club’s main dining outlet. Bright and airy, its mocha-coloured walls are adorned with golfing shots both contemporary and historic – giving a sense of time and place. Comfortable velour seating in shades of blue and coffee encourages you to linger over a long lunch or extended dinner. The bar is well stocked and inviting and the music gentle and unobtrusive. The star of the show is, without a doubt, the view. Along one side of the dining room, floor-to-ceiling windows look out on the course’s rolling greens, a small lake and the practice putting area. I’m almost tempted to put lunch on hold and head out for a round… but not quite. The restaurant also boasts a pleasant open terrace where you can enjoy the current cool weather. Chef Sudheesh comes to meet us and offers to prepare a selection of his signature dishes, to which we eagerly agree. And, before very long, we are served an impressive bowl of tempura prawns. The crustaceans are massive and encased in a piping-hot savoury batter. Alone, they are excellent, the flesh sweet, yielding and perfectly complemented by the crispy coating. Served with salty soy and sweet chilli mayo sauces, they take on a new dimension, the marriage of flavours working together to enliven our taste buds and keep us going back for more.

A warm seafood salad with generous helpings of calamari, mussels and shrimps follows with slivers of grapefruit teasing out the subtle flavours of the ocean’s offerings.