Bapi

So how was this meal Erica?

You are welcome Rian. I am tempted to go - but in all honesty- your Tasting menu did rather scare me. I would like to look at the a la carte if possible thanks as that may be a better choice for us. Although rather hypocritically, a recent similarly challenging a la carte meal at L' Enclume ,made my wife and I think we would have been better opting for their tasting menu. Of course we will go at some point- living only half an hour away I would be an idiot not to try it. I am begining to worry though. What was I thinking about when I got into bed last night? What did that poor chap Norman Kember have to suffer? When will Blair retire as PM? What's it like to be snuggled up to Kylie? Nope- "Beef Fillet and custard tart- what's that like then?"

I have always been keen to try Campbell's food and nearly managed to do so on honeymoon, whilst he was at Lords of The Manor. But the Cheltenham Festival scuppered that trip as the place was fully booked. (Ironic really as Foot and Mouth then hit the country and the Festival was cancelled). Anyway- whilst that venue seemed very pleasant- the one reason that The Vineyard has never been on my wish list is because of the Dynasty/ Footballer's wives look of garish ostentation alluded to by Jay. Now, having also seen that frankly staggering mark up on a not particularly good year for Chateau Musar- it is even less likely we will ever dine there.

Way too much information Mr Lynes

You have simply reaffirmed the same misguided prejudice without attempting to vitiate a single issue, nor have you proffered any evidence to substantiate your claim. Perhaps you would like to instead of offering us spurious conjecture.

Rian that is superb- many thanks for your post. Rather scarily -I was asking the missus whether she wanted to go to Juniper just as I was logging this evening on and lo' and behold there was your post ! I have to say that the Beef fillet and Custard tart is a quite insane combination. But the turbot dish looked excellent.

Just got a copy of OFM- delighted to see both Hibiscus (roll on Julyand September) and Anthony's flying high. And I was also pleased to see our vote for the Best Sunday Lunch counted towards the The Millbank being included in the Best of the Rest section. Just returned from a Mother's day lunch of rare roast beef and yorkies. I am a happy man.

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Jesus - How many stamps did you have to use Andy?

Spot on Hallie. Le Gavroche is pure old school haute cuisine with the odd innovative flourish. It knows what it does well and sticks with it- which is admirable in this day and age. If you have never been- I would think this would be a good bet. The service is faultless- and pure theatre to watch. Note - they do still have the the ridiculously antiquated rule that Gentleman must wear their jackets at all times; even in the sweltering heat of summer.

Not unless he has a Delorean that travels at 88mph

That is a wholly facile generalisation about the North. I am not arguing that the problem you refer to doesn’t in some way exist here, but it is positively naïve to think that this is a problem prevalent solely north of the Watford Gap. Having lived in North London for eight years until last year, it appalled me that the residents of Southgate and its environs swarmed to places like the Hungry Horse and Harvester pub chains; which they trusted to be the epitome of reasonably priced dining.Worse still were the self -proclaimed intelligentsia who descended in droves upon Café Rouge every weekend in search of a “good meal“. What did Jonathan Meades refer to them as- “MacDonalds for the middle classes” ? I would rather eat my own testicles- thank you. If anything, the problem is national and one of inherent laziness being inculcated into the masses who simply can’t be bothered to search out a well-cooked meal in decent surroundings; and who instead opt in favour of a chain pub. Quite depressing really.

Hi Hallie. Long time- no hear. For an intimate dinner -I would opt for Le Gavroche too. I have never eaten at Sketch but of the three people I know who have eaten there- none have had any inclination to ever go back.

Looking forward to a romantic night away Gary? No? Good -make that a table for four please. My Green Card has been stamped. ............And don't expect a present.

Just noticed that Darren Smith from the Warehouse Brasserie will be doing a demo at Thom's Northern Restaurant and Bar show next Tuesday. Slotted in between Andrew Pern from Harome and Shaun Hill.

Winot- that does sound like very good value. Especially the choice of wine. But isn't the above dish you tried becoming a little dated? It's very subjective I grant you - but I see no way that these two ingredients can work on the palate successfully.

My type of gal. Nice one Helen.

What a lovely gesture, I'm welling up! ← It was rather nice actually. But rather oddly, some other friends bought us our aperitifs at Sharrow Bay the night before too. Must do better at being a curmudgeon. I would agree with Punjuna's assertion too. I think the only way to understand and indeed enjoy Rogan's vision is to opt for one of the tasting menus. I would hazzard a guess that those like Rosie and myself eating from the a la carte are in a minority.

Gulp- I forgot to get a bloody card for her, let alone attach my Romantic head. On the whole I have to concur with what has been written before. L’Enclume is a remarkably original restaurant and Simon Rogan a real talent. We arrived a little early after a visit to Sharrow Bay the night before - and although I had resisted the temptation of their full English Breakfast in favour of some superb Cumberland Ham and Poached Eggs, neither the bintage nor I thought we could manage the Introduction menu that was on offer. Partially due to the time consideration of needing to get back home in good time; which on reflection was a bit of a shame. We opted for two glasses of Champagne to start whilst sat in the small conservatory and were offered canapés of a black olive tuile, a spiced tomato extract, a delicious marinated olive and a parmesan biscuit. Very pleasant. Having listened to what had been recommended- and upon deciding on the a la carte menu; we decided just to have a glass of wine to pair with each course. Or rather I did. The onset of a cold meant the she took pity on me and decided to drive back. Now while we were chatting to one of amiable hosts, Rosie and I had the strangest feeling we had met him before. I enquired as to whether our French host had worked in England before and it transpired, as we thought, that it was indeed the genial Frank Deletang, formerly of Michel Roux’s- White Hart in Nayland -Suffolk. A very pleasant surprise to meet him again alongside the rest of their well drilled team. Our first amuse was - Parsnip and Tonka bean cream, grains of paradise and a malt extract biscuit. The sweet parsnip was given an additional hint of sweetness by the Tonka bean, which sat at the top of the “cream”- read silky smooth veloute. The grains of paradise is apparently a fiery Jamaican pepper which off-set the sweet parsnip perfectly. An additional texture and flavour was provided by the malty biscuit. A nice start. Next up was another amuse -Glazed Pork cheeks. This was served on a polenta puree, around which was pooled a rich jus. On top of the cheek sat a slice of pink grapefruit and some borage leaves, which gave an astringent kick to counteract the rich flavour of the cheek. Excellent. We argued, fought, bickered, hissed and sneered at each other- just as one is supposed to do on an anniversary jolly away, and then decided that we would both go for the Foie Gras Cubsism to realism, Lemon cake, Star Anise and Verjus reduction. Quite superb- Rosie noted that the Foie gras melted on the palate at the same rate as the lemon cake. Flavoursome and perfectly balanced and my favourite dish. With this, I was again recommended glass of Jurançon to complement the foie - which incidentally, happened the night before at Sharrow Bay. Infinitely preferable to Sauternes , which is so often mooted as a partner to Foie Gras. Rosie opted Monkfish with a picada crumb, prunes and basmati, citronelle emulsion. Four slices of monkfish encased, in the picada crumb, which were interspersed with two er, moist balls of rice and sweet prune, a roasted red pepper and a round of pasta inside which sat a shellfish mousse. She enjoyed elements of this dish, but thought that the flavours fought against each other and that the mousse itself was a little too gelatinous. A softer texture to this would have better complemented the density of the monkfish . I opted for 24 hours shoulder of lamb, feta cheese and flageolet beans, with a cardamom milk. Interesting, but it didn’t grab me by the gonads and swing me around the room as I was hoping it would. The shoulder - whilst packed to the rafters with flavour , was not as meltingly tender as I had expected it to be. I also found the cardamom milk (which was strangely orange in colour), far too overpowering for the rest of the lamb. I am not sure where Mr Rogan’s inspiration for this dish lies. But what I found interesting, if a tad confusing ,was that the flavours juxtaposed influences of how lamb is cooked in different countries. For example, the addition of the flageolet beans along side the lamb reminded me of France. The deep fried Feta encased in batter along with lamb obviously reminded me of Greece; and the lamb with the cardamom reminded me of my Mother’s curries, redolent with the same aromatic spice. For dessert , I went for a chocolate delice with a lip-smacking mint and lime jelly. A wonderful Valpolicella was an unusual, but perfect foil for this dish. The Mare went for Poached rhubarb, muscavado ,ginger and sweet brachen. This was sat on a five spice biscuit , which was the only element she didn’t like. Sadly there was no time for tea or coffee as we had to get back to relive Granny from her satanic child baby sitting duties. But both of us agreed that this is a place that requires further consideration later this year and the Menu Gourmand is beckoning large. Granted, neither of us was entirely blown away by our main courses on this occasion, but we both saw a decided talent on show to certainly warrant a second visit. Re your wine recommendations. Apologies if I haven’t managed to recollect them terribly well. I pride myself on the fact that I am attempting to turn into an ageing, irascible, over-opinionated git. This obviously hasn’t filtered through to my Best man and his missus. As when we were presented with the bill, we were given a note saying that they had taken care of the wine bill as an anniversary treat. Note to self- must be more polite about his frumpy wife in the future .

There is only one person to answer this question...... .....circeplum

Thanks all. Off to the lakes now. Eating at Sharrow Bay tonight- where the food is wonderfully traditional and a world away from the cuisine at L'Enclume. It will be interesting to have to consecutive meals that are from different ends of the culinary spectrum. And I suppose as it's our anniversary - I had now better go and find my romantic head. Thanks again. B

sorry, you're right, what was i thinking ← You don't do Thai food ? Since when? But I thought you were helped to your star by your signature dish of Tom Yum Gung veloute I may have to reconsider our booking. Back on topic - isn't there another place in Kenilworth too? -Bosquet(sp)?

Cheers again. You homed in on my concern exactly. I wasn't sure that a single glass would marry well, with three or four consecutive dishes. That and the fact that it's a lunch, so we wont be going too mad consumption wise. Plus I am driving back home otherwise the journey home would be a four hour Driving Miss Daisy stylee pootle, if the missus was in charge. I think we will just opt for a decent half bottle. It does provide one with a quandry though, doesn't it? Ordering wine for a Degustation menu - when you are not too sure exactly what is going to be served up. Thankfully, such odious tasks as choosing the most complimentary wine at places like Hibiscus are best left up to people like Claire and now Simon, who know what's coming out of the kitchen. Thanks for your help. Will write it up next week.

Phillip, Many thanks for your response. The chap I spoke to when booking did state that the Introductory menu would be available at lunch. I have to say I am very tempted to try it at this point. My only concern is that we are staying at Ullswater, for our Anniversary, the night before and I know from experience that the breakfasts they serve there are positively gargantuan. So I may well struggle to get through the entire Introductory menu. But then again- sod it- you only live once May I ask -what are the best options for wine pairings if we do opt for Introductory menu? The wine section of the website doesn't seem to be operational, so I couldn't ascertain whether they have glasses to partner the various courses. Cheers again. B

Fuck me Bas- I know George is a good looking lass- but are you so hard up for ingredients in Padstow that you have started serving up the staff? Judy- Apologies if you thought my response was rather terse. In all honesty, I hadn't seen your post when I responded yesterday - just Basil's. But as Basil writes - associations such as -Rick Stein- to Padstow and Fawlty Towers to Torquay are what draw readers in. And then pedants like myself can pick up on the fact that they have done so. Cheers B