This time it wasn't just for drinks! Was trying to impress a Welshman who doesn't know that he's a foodie, but he is. His love for food surpasses the long standing affair I have had with food... and that's saying something! I will admit, I was a bit confused, as there is the Wine Bar and Restaurant serving tapas menu, but there is The Garden Room Restaurant which, according to their website, serves "top quality menu, serving all the favourites..."
I made reservations the night before and we showed up a little early to have a drink beforehand. The staff were very attentive, very friendly... not pretentious. They brought us hot rolls while we looked over the menu. The only problem is while I was looking over the menu I left part of the roll to eat after we ordered, but it went rock hard because it had cooled down.
You can order a la carte, or you can choose 2 courses for £16.95 or 3 courses for £18.95... add a couple extra quid for the Sirloin Steak and the Fillet Steak. We decided to go for the 3 courses... I was a little disappointed that 3 out of the 5 starters had stilton cheese... not only am I not a fan of it, but I'm also lactose intolerant (some dairy products affect me more than others...). I ended up having the Baby Chicken Caesar Salad, while the Welshman had the Grilled Portuguese Sardines. From some of the tables (one of which we were sitting at) you can clearly see into the kitchen and watch the chef at work. Normally this might make me a bit nervous, but this was actually nice, it was like watching an artist at work.
The Baby Chicken Caesar Salad was nice, would have liked a touch more dressing and some more of the fabulous fried croutons. The Welshman practically inhaled the sardines, but before they disappeared, he let me have a taste. I've never been a fan of sardines because all I can think of are the ones in a can that I find repulsive, but these were delicious and it is possible that I could order this on my own upon another visit to the restaurant.
For our mains, I had the Minted Breast of Lamb while Mr. Welshman had the Prime Sirloin Steak. I have had just about every other cut of lamb, but never breast, then again I've never seen it on a menu. Food came out and it was truly beautiful and smelled wonderful! My advice to anyone that has never had Breast of Lamb before... it is rolled and it is a thin layer of meat lined with fat, so rather than cutting straight into it, try unrolling it. I don't think I would order Breast of Lamb again, however the meat that I did have (and some of the bits of fat) were so tender, but it was quite a bit of work. The mash, cabbage, and bacon with the jus was fabulous! Mr. Welshman's steak with chips, tomatoes, mushrooms, and onions looked wonderful and by the way he was devouring it, it had to be good. He put a piece on my plate to try... he ordered his steak rare and, well, I was a bit hesitant to try it, however, the meat just looked so beautiful and there wasn't any blood. So I gave it a go. At that very moment, I became jealous of him and his steak. It was gorgeous.
After our mains, we decided to just order one dessert to share. Of course we went for the Soft Chocolate Pudding. It does take longer than the other desserts to prepare, so you have been warned. We also decided to have a bottle of the house white after finishing a bottle of the house red. I will be honest, I have almost always preferred a white wine to a red wine, but in this instance I preferred the red and after a couple of sips, we had wished we had stayed with the red wine. The chocolate pudding came out... it smelled lovely. It came with ice cream with white chocolate bits in it and a raspberry compote. Honestly, it didn't need any of that, maybe just a bit of cold double cream to help cool down the chocolate pudding, but it was very good. We sat for awhile, trying to finish the white wine, and I saw some of the tapas dishes go out... I'd like to go back and try that menu too!
Overall, it was a good dining experience and I'll definitely be back again! read more
