The expanding empire of self-styled 'super chef' Gary Rhodes, has spawned not one, but two, restaurants in Christchurch. This one is in the grounds of the newly chi-chi Christchurch Harbour Hotel (formerly Avonmouth Hotel). It is in a great location overlooking the harbour towards the beach huts at Mudeford, where you can watch the egrets feeding in the shallows. It's a modern wood and glass structure, and the Bentleys and Rolls in the car park don't bode well!
But the lunch menu, at least, is straightforward classic stuff - gazpacho, salad Nicoise, etc. I had grilled mackerel to start, served with pickled beetroot, goat's cheese and cress. Our mains were chicken pot roast with braised little gem lettuce (a current favorite with chefs) and gnocchi; and grilled black bream with confit tomato tart, pesto, rocket and parmesan salad. It was all cooked to perfection, unfussy and used good flavoursome ingredients. There's no pretentious chef speak in the menu descriptions, and the cooking has a few imaginative twists, without ruining or overdoing things. There's no excuse not to have the freshest fish, as the fishermen land their catches at Mudeford Quay a few hundred yards away.
For pud we had a 'deconstructed strawberry trifle' - a platter with a glass with vanilla creme topped with red jelly; swiss roll; strawberries; ice cream. Simple, effective, different.
We had coffee outside under the parasols, where you can eat as well if the weather is good enough.
Service was adequate, but not of a standard consistent with the level the restaurant clearly aspires to.
A bit pricey, for a lunch, as the bill for 4 came to £134 (£33.50 per head). The set lunch menu prices are £19.95 for two courses; £24.50 for three.
No hooray Henrys the day we were there. Recommended for a special occasion.
EDIT AUG 2010: This restaurant is now no longer anything to do with Gary Rhodes, and renamed The Jetty. The press release said he was no longer able to devote enough time to it. But more likely it wasn't meeting his standards, and was devaluing the Rhodes brand. A recent dinner there suffered from variable cooking standards and poor service. Starters (two of us had sweetbreads, one had red mullet, and another a special of 6 oysters for £8) were superb, to be fair. But the main of monkfish tails with seafood risotto was a fail. Cooked in an upmarket charcoal oven from Jospers, it was not cooked enough, and anaemic in look and flavour, despite the promise of being cooked with herbs. The risotto was bitty, with a token mussel in each serving. Puds were good. They were busy, but even so a restaurant that aspires to this standard (and prices) should be better able to cope - service was inattentive, and slow. Still a lovely venue, but needs a surer hand in the kitchen, and a decent maitre d'
EDIT MAY 2011: This restaurant now has a chef to match the high standard of the building and location. Alex Aitken (formerly Le Poussin) has a passion for local ingredients, coupled with a deep understanding of classic cuisine. A recent lunch was tip top - starters were milky, melting mackerel fillets on toast, and a cheese souffle, followed by perfect duck confit with wild mushrooms, and for my partner a Mediterranean risotto surrounded by mussels, with a sea bream fillet on top, with lovely crisp skin. Puds were Eton mess, limoncello brulee, and an excellent rice pudding with rhubarb.
Not cheap - £118 for three people & three courses, with wine and service. Lunch set menu is £17.95 (2 courses) £21.95 for 3 courses. Highly recommended. read more