We had expectations that were not met; perhaps we were too optimistic? We arrived 15 minutes after booking courtesy of tractors.
We were seated promptly by a friendly host. Tap water offered promptly and drinks order taken to coin the American term, lickety split.
We both chose the chicken liver pâté starter. It came on a very lightly toasted brioche bread with edible flowers and a dollop of chutney but no discernible pickle.
This was smooth, light whipped and delicious. An impressive start taste wise but the portion as light whipped was adequate rather than generous.
Our mains: my wife's well done beef was 'pretty ok but not great'. The wine jus was real good. There was carrot on the plate with a Yorkshire pudding that was solidly dry. There was no give when pinched and when you can tap a Yorkshire pudding on the side of a plate and get a hollow thud it's gone badly wrong.
Oh and the menu advertised horseradish with the beef which was invisible.
I chose cod in chorizo and chickpea stew with saffron aioli. The skinless cod was a good portion, thick but not super fresh, perfectly cooked but the chorizo was overpowering and it spoiled the dish. I ate the fish but noted had it been real fresh the skin would have been on and crispy fried. I left most of the stew. I couldn't detect a scintilla of aioli nor saffron by taste, smell or appearance - there was a yellow mayo atop the cod but it had no discernible taste.
The side vegetables were warm roast potatoes; these were not roasted but fried in vegetable oil; really delicious mashed potato spoiled by being served lukewarm and uninviting because the chef thought it a good idea to plank the 'roast' potatoes into the mashed potatoes as if bowls were in short supply. In a separate bowl came cauliflower cheese without a spoon to serve which was nevertheless stunningly great tasting.
A glass of wine was about £10; a 200ml
Coke Zero £4.40 and a cappuccino £5.50. I offer no comment on £5.5 for cappuccino and similar.
So where are we then; at the £35 for two courses per person price it's really borderline three star. This pricing isn't even caused by Trumpflation which is coming down the line quicker than you can say GBU - 43/B.
Food that's meant to be hot must be served hot. Yorkshire pudding is never solid - just ask any cook in a toby carvery - and only the chef here will know why they were happy to put a sub par pudding on a plate and send it to a customer.
If you've all the ingredients which in the case of a Yorkshire pudding is four; eggs, plain flour, salt and milk, a really hot oven and beef dripping oh and a dish, a fresh almost cake - like divine pudding takes under four minutes with small bubbles that shouldn't have much stretchiness.
Cod should be real fresh or if not put it in fish pie or cakes. Good aioli is pungent and flavourful. Even chorizo won't overpower it so it wasn't served. If it's on the menu it must be proper and on the plate.
Finally the stunning flavour of the starter, the mash, and the cauliflower cheese which were all faultless prove there's a chef here who knows what they're doing, conversely that's a bad thing for all the reasons rehearsed herein.
I anticipate management will respond here and gainsay our opinion or propose remedy? read more