Plenty of happy, smiley, people at a full lunch service yesterday.
I tried for a table,a week ago and this was the first available.
We were lucky again to park virtually outside the restaurant again, however, beware the parking meters in Birmingham, on three separate occasions we have had problems with them resulting in a ticket last week(not here) making our lunch an expensive outing.
Nice olives in the lounge/bar area whilst waiting for our table. We were pleasantly surprised when a party of four backpackers entered, and were shown to a table.
Good to see they have their priorities right
Lets talk tables first.As you may (or may not) be aware its a pet hate of mine to be seated facing a wall,I'm nosy you see and also enjoy the animation, and of course you can watch the food arrive at the tables,yum,yum
We were given what turned out to be 10b which normally I would have asked to change, however I was not fussed today as I could catch sight of Mr P at the pass as the staff went backwards and forwards into the kitchen.
In future I may ask for 9 or 14b.
We opted for the still excellent value lunch menu, 2 courses £21 or 3 for £25. This now includes coffee and petit fours.
Salad of Quail-smoked ham hock-slow poached egg yolk-celeriac-wholegrain mustard.
Or
Ballotine of Mackerel-beetroot textures-natural yogurt foam.
We both went for the Quail,we used to buy it whenever we went to France and sadly do not have a local supplier, so we were really looking forward to it.
As it was a starter, only the leg was served, sitting atop some pea shoots? The egg yolk perched on the celeriac, and a couple of discs of ham.
Unmistakable flavour of Quail, melded well with the ham and egg,the celeriac was a bit mild in taste. Pretty decent start this
Bread was by the way, wholemeal and focaccia served warm, we both preferred the latter.
Blade of Beef-Puy lentils-creamed onions and baby leeks-marinated shallots-onion puree
Or
Sea Bream- Foie Gras-vanilla and parsnip puree-Savoy cabbage-pear.
As always I guessed what the wife would have, it was a bit harder for me as I fancied the fish especially with the foie gras element to it.
As it was we both opted for the Beef ( I knew we would )but requested the fish as an extra course, at a supplement.
Sitting on top of the Puy lentils with just a tiny puddle of sauce,the Beef was decorated with a baby leek, a couple of red potato crisps, and a tiny ring of marinated shallots. to its side was the onion puree, and to the other side was the onions and creme fraiche with a smattering of rock chives.
It looked smashing, but I was concerned with the lack of sauce,as I assumed the beef may be a bit dry-ish.
I was of course completely wrong, no hint whatsoever of dryness, it was a delight to eat and oh so moist. A winner.
The Sea Bream dish was terrific, a decent size chunk of Foie Gras teamed up with the crisp skinned, and perfectly cooked fish, The savoy cabbage was a delight, vanilla is used quite a bit by Mr P as is pear, and for me they added to the overall effect of the dish.
Coconut parfait-slow cooked banana-chocolate sorbet
Or
Pavlova- blueberry jam- blueberry jelly & iced yogurt
Desserts were ok, nothing special, although we have been spoilt on previous visits, so by way of comparison , they did not hit the heights so to speak.
Coffee was excellent and petit fours, (peanut butter,marshmallow,sourcassis)a good ending to the meal.
To sum up.
Its quite a few months since we dined here,and as we all know time just flashes bye. I'm glad everything is as good as we remember it to be on our previous visits.
Service as always was excellent,Jean Benoit, in particular was well on form, Mr P and his seven merry helpers put some highly enjoyable food on our plates, long may it continue.
Nearly forgot
2 x 3 course lunch £50
1 x extra course £10
1 x Bottle El Paso £20
Service charge £10
Severn Trent water FOC
