david goodfellow
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Posts posted by david goodfellow
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Not sure where to start on this, so I thought it best to post a photo of the place as we left, just to show how long our lunch had lasted.
Hillbark has a fascinating history which I will not go into now. I just want to give you a flavour of the place so to speak. The dining room is very comfy, cosy, but the decor is not to my taste. Worryingly it is to my wifes.
As some of you may be aware we have eaten Aiden Byrne's food at least four times,(perhaps five) but who's counting. All meals have been at the Church Green.
For some reason or another we have been a bit, well what can say, not blown away. Do not get me wrong he,s a bloody good chef, but we have not up to yet had the wow that we perhaps expected. Was that about to change?
We dined at Northcote Manor a couple of weeks ago and commented on Nigel's/Lisa's excellent quality and great value for money lunch offer. Then a couple of days later realised Aiden had a three courser for £22.50. Ok, not including coffee, and slightly dearer by a touch, so in fairness we had to try it out.
I oh so wanted to love this place, as Mr B has had his share of critics, some of whom would not know a bain marie from a barman. He's been to the school of hard knocks, and has worked in some tough kitchens including Tom Aikins, when he (Aikins) was cooking at his best.
As you may expect the lunch is short on choice, two, two, and two, simple, even I can understand that. What it is not short on, is quality ingredients, Lobster, Foie gras, Veal, and Jabugo Ham, to name but four.
Now Aiden was not in the kitchen, he was in France, ooh la la, sourcing some more prime ingredients to put on his menus.
He had no worries whatsoever on leaving his kitchen, as his Head Chef, Stuart Warner,and Sous Chef Jenny Thoden really turned up the gas, so to speak.A very talented team indeed, who have been with Mr B for quite some time including The Dorchester and Danesfield House.
THE A TEAM.
Now at this juncture, I have to apologise for my somewhat sketchy account, as I have just invested in a new, very expensive camera to replace my old point and shoot. As I am not really that interested in photography this new bit of kit is supposed to do everything the old one does, but with supposedly far better results. But it does not do the business on auto, much to my chagrin. So I had to mess about trying to get decent shots on different settings, whilst my food was getting cold.
So apologies in advance, this now may make a return to the shop, as, "not fit for the purpose"
The bread is very good. Its made daily on site, and was eaten with relish even by my wife who is not "a bready person". From memory, granary, black olive tapenade, and bacon and onion. I can not remember being served bread at the Church Green, if we were it was not of this quality I would have remembered. The butter is unsalted from? The salt is an award winning sea salt "Halen Mon" from Angelsey.
Whist checking my photos on playback our amuse arrived, a pleasant layered concoction, which distracted me from that pesky camera, so I dived in before I realised I had not taken a photo, still better late than never. Predominantly beetroot and chilled, it was lined with a vodka vanilla jelly, and another layer of avocado and lime. We both thought this worked very well.
Lobster ravioli with carrot, lemon grass and sweetened chickory.
The light was streaming through the window as my wife enjoyed her starter, "very pleasant" and I agreed.
White Onion and Parmesan soup with smoked Foie Gras. is in his book, minus the foie gras. Its very simple, but somewhat tasty, especially with the luxury of the foie gras. My wife bought his book for my birthday, a while back, but I have not cooked anything from it yet. That,s not too unusual for me I, have loads of gastroporn, just for viewing. After this meal though some grease splattered pages may appear in it.
On to the mains now. Both were tempting, and as is the norm these days for us, if we both fancy the same thing (which we always do) we generally take the fish course as an extra (paid) in betweener.
What is perhaps more surprising, being both joyous meat eaters is the very high quality of fish dishes on menus, and more and more I certainly am more inclined to be swayed towards a fish course, than a meat course.
Unmistakably Aiden Byrne's work Pan Fried Brill and Scallop.
This dish was F A B. Wonderful seared scallop, fresh as you like fish, sitting atop some pickled cabbage and a rich deep pool of veal sauce. The intermingling chervil and veal swirls are instantly identifying as his work. An excellent dish. Very good indeed.
This photo does not do justice to the complex plating of the dish, it should be more in focus and taken from above.
Loin of Veal, braised veal shin, with Sweetbreads and apple.
Another fabulous dish, little nuggets of intense flavour taking your taste buds off in all different directions. I was too busy chomping my way through it to want to analise the dish, I just wanted to devour it, which I did with some haste.
One of the quality ingredients, apart from the Veal that is, was Jabugo Ham, from pigs fed on acorns, no less, now thats something you are not going to eat every day is it?
We had a pre dessert of another layered, and very tasty combo. Earl Grey Panna cotta, Caramelised milk mousse, and a layer of lemon jelly.
No photo, sorry.
Desserts next, and they did not disappoint either Honey Parfait, granola and Fig. was my wifes choice.
"What do you think?"
"Really good"
Say no more, but can I have a taste next time, please.
By the time I had finished messing with my camera the ice cream was beginning to melt on my dish of Apple and Marscapone cheesecake with bayleaf icecream. I missed the subtle bay leaf in the ice cream. It was as you may expect, delish and satisfied my sweet tooth to round off our meal.
I have saved the best image to the last, the Petit Fours. This was the icing on the cake for me (get it?)
The bubblegum macaroon took me back to an age when I had no money and no sense. The others went over my head, they were described, but the memory that I had in my bubblegum days is long gone.
Well, what can I say, finally, we were bowled over by the quality coming out of the kitchen. This could now be the place where Aiden Byrne is going to be awarded that Michelin star.
By way of comparison, we dined at Helene Darroze at The Connaught, last week. She of two Michelin stars in gay Paree and one at the Connaught in London, and the meals were comparible from my wifes point of view and Aiden,s food just nudging it a bit for me. And yes she was in the kitchen, unlike Aiden Byrne who was in France
Which of course proves, more than ever the terrific quality of his two guys in his kitchen. If this meal is now representitive of the very high quality coming out of the kitchen on a regular basis the North West finally has another "Michelin" under its belt. Sadly though it may just be too late for this year as the new guide is released in about seven weeks time.Must just mention the excellent front of house service, attentive in every way.
This is a whopping, bargain lunch, easily comparable with Northcote, quality and price wise, which perhaps proves in a cash strapped economy, dining at this level need not break the bank.
Highly recommended.
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There is a huge range of Belgian specialist beers. They are quite expensive in the UK, where quite a few, but nowhere near all are available.
Up until perhaps a couple of years ago we used to have a mini holiday of sorts, by hopping over the English Channel into France, on one of the very cheap car ferry deals.
France has a huge range of Belgian beers in their hypermarkets, at prices a lot lower than the UK ,so it made sense to fill the car with Belgian beers and French wine.
Another favourite, (out of the many) are some of the fruit beers, although they are a bit of an acquired taste. Kriek- Lambic is a black cherry concoction which I particularly like, but could not drink more than one or two 33cl bottles.
I may just have a look again at that "Booze Run"
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" Stella " as it is referred to in the UK, is very widely available over here. Most pubs stock it and its all over the place in cans.
Hoegaarden is a favourite of mine. As is Leffe although I prefer the Blonde and my wife prefers the Brune.
More and more pubs are stocking the above, however as they are both premium products I expect the local beers will outsell them by quite a margin.
As they are all quite strong our consumption is mostly at weekends
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Yep, some really nice photos there, they convey such a lot more than words.
Its my aim to produce that kind of standard myself
Just to shut up some of the whingers 
Btw, do you use photoshop ?, as I do not, and perhaps think that I should.
Back onto the food, was the "regular lunch" normal size portions? and did it take on the same sort of presentation?
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I would begrudge the money at these rip off restaurants.
Whem I spend money eating out I expect to pay for skill and a new experience.
Whilst on the subject of "new experience" did you sample Michael Wignall,s food at Pennyhill Park?
Back on topic, the steak at Hawksmoor is better than I can buy, and eat, at home. It is a premium product, and not at all out of kilter with say Turbot which cost us £24 at St John, its possible the steak costs the restaurant more to buy in, than say the turbot does.
The steak was all the better for cooking on a Josper Grill which you will not get in any domestic kitchen, certainly not mine.
Its nice to eat six days a week at home, but hey life is too short to eat their 365 days a year. Besides which, with the capital outlay these guys put on the line, a bit of profit seems to me to be in order.
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Jake,
I so nearly bought the Canon S90 as its so pocketable and has great reviews. A few people steered me towards the Sony and it is a great step up from my old point and shoot. I will persevere with it, as its a done deal now. I took some shots over the weekend at three restaurants on different settings, without flash and some are quite a bit better than others.
Not one complaint ensued from staff, chefs, customers.
Long may it continue. I would rather post a photo, as my vocab is not what I would wish for.
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Don,t know why it has taken us so long to try this place out. It would seem that I always have some excuse or otherwise as to not go. Perhaps I don't fancy offal on the day, or its too hot for gutsy food, or I,m not too hungry, or I just fancy some other place a bit more.
So finally we arrive to the most nondescript exterior ever. Inside its more inviting, with a bakery straight in front of you, and a casual dining area. To the left is a bar.
Everything seems a tad worn and in need of a touch up, including the dining room proper. I did not bother with a photo as it was quite dark in there given the low lighting.
Now we did not have a "rocky table" thankfully, but we did have a dodgy floorboard, which needed some slight underpinning. Everything is given the whiteout treatment except the bentwood chairs, even the said floorboards are worn white.
The menu is everything that I expected, with eleven starters, nine mains, and eight puddings, plus the famous madeleines in half or one dozen size.
A separate list of sides totalling five, includes, welsh rarebit, and cheese.
Surprisingly, little offal was on the menu, only Calves liver, chitterlings, and? well I think that was all from memory.
We expected the bread to be good, especially as its baked on the premises. It certainly looked the part with the swiss cheese holes in it, but it was a bit too thick on the crust and slightly too chewy for my liking. Butter was fridge cold and again a bit of forethought could have corrected this annoying occurence.
Celeriac Soup and Snails (£7) was thoughtfully plated in two bowls by the kitchen, as we told our waitress we would be sharing the dishes.
It did have a wonderful depth of flavour, and some bits of celeriac were left chunky in the soup to add texture. The snails played their part adding a chewy burst of, well, snail.
Next up was Beetroot, Boiled Egg and Anchovy (£7.20) and that folks is exactly what it was. Simple, simple, simple. It did have some spinach leaves through it, plus a reacurring dressing of shallot, and baby capers. Jolly nice it was too.
We just simply had to try the Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad (£7). Now we had to try this dish, because its a signiture dish, and we wanted to make a comparison to the ones we ate at Hawksmoor, a couple of weeks ago. And as good as they were, they were no where near as tasty as the above mentioned. The parsley salad was refreshing, again having the mild baby capers, adding a bit of zing.
I looked at the Middlewhite Pork loin, White beans and Seabeet (£23.50) but was put off by the price. Yes I know its a rare breed, but come on, its too pricey especially when Turbot, Fennel and Green Sauce (£24) is only fifty p more.
This was a good bit of cooking, full of flavour, meaty fresh fish, served on the bone for more fishy flavour. Ok, it was a bit more work, but worth it, if you can put up with the bones. The fennel of course worked really, really well, and the "green sauce" which included, marjoram, lemon thyme and the those ubiquitous capers, split the other two components by adding a teasing note. Highly enjoyable.
Mallard and Artichokes (£18.20) Was worth its price tag, perfectly pink bird, nicely seared and seasoned. Earthy artichokes and peppery rocket were just right. The addition of braised shallots was welcomed.
Sprout Tops (3.60) and New Potatoes (£3.60) were ok, I personally did not like the texture of the tops, but Mrs G did.
We were full by now, but under normal circumstances we would have shared a pudding, for " research purposes " only, however nothing much tempted us, so we refrained.
"Did you say this place had a Michelin Star" proclained the other half.
"Yes it has" said I.
"Why"
We enjoyed St John, its been on my hit list for an age. It is a must visit for any foodie, a bit like the Fat Duck in that respect. Would we dash back?
I don't think so, the food is good, without a shadow of a doubt. Service was just, well OK. But it really is hyped to the rafters. And as for the Michelin Star.
Please don't get me started on that one.
Our bill with a 10% tip came to £95 which included the food above, plus three glasses of Grenache/Syrah at £15.30. No coffees,Thames tap water, no service charge is levied.
Happy eating.
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John,
As you will only be twelve miles from Birmingham, it would be a real shame not to try at least one of their three Michelin starred places.
We have dined at all of them, and whilst perhaps Purnells is my favorite, Simpson's and Turners put a smile on our faces also.
They all do bargain price lunches that will not break the bank.
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This is an interesting thread and you may be interested in what is happening in the UK.
There does seem to be a trend of late for restaurants to invite bloggers to review, and take photos of their food, for publication on said blogs. The meals are complimentary.Some of the reviews are not favourable, as in the case of Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester which currently holds three Michelin stars.
Most, if not all restaurants here, embrace food blogging and photography.And accept the good with the bad, safe in the knowledge that they are reaching a wider audience.
From a personal point of view, we dine out quite a lot and always take photos and never once has anyone expressed disdain or asked me to stop. I should of course stress, I never use flash, its simply too intrusive.
We dined at Helene Darroze at the Connaught,recently, and as the lighting was low I struggled to get decent photos. The maitre'd suggested that I switch to flash, which I declined.
Things seem to be a bit different over here it would seem. Long may it continue.
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I'm looking forward to a return here, as our first meal was a bit of a mixed bag. Although in the scheme of things, and because we live a long way out of town, another new (or otherwise) place, inevitably tempts us, in another direction.
Its quite some time ago since our visit, and as is now the case, some of our meals get overlooked for a number of reasons, but I knew sooner or later I had to make some comment. I am really surprised this thread is so quiet given the importance of the chef.
Just over four months ago we had a weekend table booked here and also the following day at Viajante. They both took skillful planning as both were very hot indeed and needless to say I was looking forward greatly to both.
Out of the blue, my dream car, which I had ordered three years earlier, arrived from the docks to the dealership. As I had waited so long for it I was prepared to wait a few more days before I got my grubby little hands on it.
Then bang out of the blue again, we receive an invite to a cookery demo at my local car dealership featuring Jean Christophe Novelli with a meal afterwards at my favourite premiership football club. Well we just had to go. So we cancelled.
OK so whats the connection ? Well it turns out on our meeting with Mr Novelli, that he is mates with Bruno Loubet, and wants me to thank him again, for the meal in Oz, that Bruno put on for him at his restaurant when JC was visiting the country.
Job done, I will do.
As it turned out I had a great time at the event, even cooking a bit of food with JC who is one of the nicest people on this planet, he truly is a bloody nice bloke, in fact he is a bloody, bloody nice bloke.
So eventually we re-book and its during England's abysmal football fiasco so I need cheering up a bit.
A very friendly greeting on entering the restaurant does not result in a good table, as the one we are seated at is too close to the bar with a slim walkway, resulting in quite a few people brushing past on their way through. Thankfully our attentive M'Aitre D spots the inconveniance and pleases us with a good window table affording a view to the open kitchen.
Bread was served in a flowerpot, and was a bit, well, ok I suppose. Perhaps a bit too chewy for my liking.
From a choice of seven starters on the paper menu, we started with, Guinea Fowl Boudin Blanc (£7). Now this was fantastic, a thing of beauty. Sitting on top of leek fondue and and a moat of chervil sauce, flavour wise it was the dogs goolies. Nice caramelisation on said sausage made it all the more visually appealing, (as opposed to some we have eaten recently).
Mauricette snails and Meatballs with royale de champingnons (£8)
This is a signiture dish named after his mother.
Now again this was a stonking dish, a big plate of comfort food, perfectly seasoned, great depth of flavour. It may not look photogenic but by golly if looks were deceptive. For me this dish is Bruno Loubet.
There was a special of the day, Atlantic Cod. (£17.50).Salt cod brandade, fennel, and piperade, with the gentle heat of red chilli running through it. Again big on flavour, fresh as a daisy fish, flaky translucent centre, good texture in the red peppers, tasty sauce. Of the sea taste, with not too much salt.
Of the seven mains on the menu we plumped for Confit Lamb Shoulder (£16), this was served with white beans and preserved lemon and green harissa.
Now this was good, but not as good as the previous three dishes. In honesty the lamb was a bit dry and stringy and it needed the wonderful sauce to help it down. It was not quite in the same league as before but blimey they were hard acts to follow.
Quail and pistachio Dodine (£18.50) was a dish I lusted after when I saw it on the website, however again it did not sing. Perhaps if we had started with the mains and finished with the starters we would have been happier. As I say the first three dishes were superb, a real hard act to follow. All of the components including the spinach and egg yolk raviolo were good. I just fealt that the quail did not have the depth of flavour it perhaps should have, I should know, I used to keep some, they have a distinctive aroma. I bet if I ate this dish as a stand alone, without comparison I would like it a lot more.
We shared a dessert Yoghurt mousse, passion fruit and ginger lamington (£5.50) This was a waiter recommend, and it was just ok I,m afraid I,m sure there are better desserts on the menu, still,
Bruno Loubet is a real talent. I have tasted his food before and loved it then, as I do now. He was not in the kitchen on the day but I was introduced to him by Richard Vines when we dined at Koffmanns.
Richard and Bruno had just left the kitchen after speaking to Pierre Koffmann and dropped by our table to say hello.
( It should be remembered Pierre Koffmann was Bruno Loubets mentor.)
Finally I was able to pass on the message from Jean Christophe Novelli.
As you can gather we were on cloud nine three dishes into the meal, we thought them amazing, big gutsy flavours, our type of cooking. The other mains were almost, but not quite up their, but hell they were still good, and the overall quality of cooking is very high indeed.
Its just a shame its so far away and in a City with so much temptation.
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There is more on this story in the Daily Mail.
I just wish they would get all of their facts right though, Its, HELENE Darroze at The Connaught, not "Hilhne".
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Looks like L' Autre Pied was another on the list.
Greedy B'stards.
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I like the sound of Earle, John. Been meaning to give it a try for a while.
Does Simon Rimmer actually cook during the week (if at all) ? Or does he leave it up to his chef ?
There is a bit of money sloshing about in Hale and environs, bet its packed at weekends.
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Congratulations and happy birthday Prawncrackers, its been an enjoyable read, and you have put Birmingham on the map.
Good to see a photo of egulleters, Nickloman and Hannah, too.
It will be nice to have someone else cook for you this week, after all your hard work.
I'm looking forward to your restaurant reviews. I understand L'enclume is one, hope you take plenty of photos.
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Looks like Aiden has introduced a good value a la carte at £35 for three courses. I think he has covered all bases with the varied choice.
The Menus
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Oh, go on then it was acting. Either that, or the knife was blunt.
My next visit will reveal all, trust me
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For those who don't trawl the newspapers as much as moi.
The Independent have this interesting article to tickle your taste buds.
Personally I can not wait. Bring on January.
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When we went to l'Enclume we stayed at the B and B next to the shop in Cartmel. We were recommended the sticky toffee pudding by the B n B owner and by golly it is amazing.
Will you still speak to me now you are famous Mr Crackers
Keep up the good work
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Just found that one John. There are about three threads on Northcote. I thought it best to follow one of its own, especially as you started it
Seems they run these offers fairly regularly, all the better for we foodies.
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Not been here for quite some time, it was to eat Nigel's Great British Menu, cooked by Lisa Allen, who chatted to us after the meal. I intended to write the meal up but as is sometimes the case, other stuff just seems to crop up. Still whilst this is hot in my mind, I shall try to make amends.
As November is a quiet month in the restaurant business, they have an excellent value lunch offer, which has a voucher saving of £5 per person on the already good value lunch. Its here . With the voucher the meal becomes superb value at £20 for three courses and coffee is thrown in too. For me this has to be top spot in the UK, as apart from Michael Caines Abode, where the portions are smaller, and the Arbutus, Wild Honey, Les Deux Salons group not much else gets close. We are of course in the North West so nothing remotely close can compare, given the high quality. So London apart this gets my vote.
We had an amuse of Goats cheese mousse topped with tomato powder, with home made Lancashire cheese crisps in the lounge whilst choosing what to eat.
There are three choices at each course but you can, presumably eat just one, two ,or three as they are priced at £4.50, £13.50 and £4.50.
Bread was temptingly presented with good choice of white, brown, onion, and cheese. Minus two which my wife plated before I had decided to take a photo.
A bottle of Crianza on the crisp white linen table.
Crispy Chilli Squid sat on a mound of pureed avocado, wispy bits of spring and red onion and tiny flecks of red chilli ran through the tower.
Mrs G,s Cockerham Goat Faggot sounded like an insult, it was not, far from it, it was a massive compliment, and was gob smackingly tasty. A good helping of sauce to wash the creamy mashed potato and faggot down, helped no end. It was artfully topped with parsnip crisps. Villeroy and Boch plates show the food off to great effect, this is a wonderful design.
We shared the next dish, an extra course, which we added to our meal.Monkfish Roasted on the bone, and all the better for it of course, getting more flavour into the fish. Potato cake topped with a clove of roasted garlic and caramelised shallots lay to the side, "garden" savoy cabbage ( and bacon ) was presumably from their own garden. A classic and plentiful sauce held it all together.
Bread wrapped Sika Deer mulled baby leeks, beetroot, and black cabbage was for the lady.
This was a complex dish that I only had a couple of mouthfuls of (shame that) We both thought it to be wonderful. It had my beloved puy lentils in it too. I must mention the beetroot, it went great with the dish, and again perhaps fresh from the garden. Bags of flavour.
More my kind of dish than the wifes Slow cooked Bowland Beef Cheek was a blacky, brown hunk of flaky beef, perfectly cooked and seasoned ( as all of the dishes were ). This tower of strength was built on Saltbaked Swede, and annexed by another tower of smoked marrowbone topped creamy mashed potato holding up some caramelised shallot.
Lots going on in my dessert Scotch Bridgets Apple and Toffee Sundae. Too much perhaps, it was intricate and intriguing, the meringue was crisp and I liked the ginger biscuit, but my teeth were slightly on edge with the sorbet.
In truth I fancied my wifes dessert Creamy Rice Pudding, toffee, quince, toasted hazelnuts, but ever the gentleman I let her choose first and though it would be a shame not to try the other dessert as I like to give a better picture of what is on offer. Don't get me wrong both were good, and on tasting the other halfs one I did not change my mind.
We had a couple of coffees and a baby eccles cake each (which were included in the price)
This meal was a very pleasant way to while away a few hours, its not local to us, mores the shame, because for £20, food of this standard needs appreciative customers and we are certainly that.
The offer runs until the end of the month, take advantage while you can.
Service was good, friendly and efficient. We had a fine table in the large bay window overlooking the garden.
As has been mentioned we had an extra course and a bottle of wine so this pushed the bill up a bit. No service is levied, we paid £75 plus a tip of £10, but you could if you were mean and had tap water have a meal for two for £40.
Incredible really for food of this standard.
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Anyone else been here recently?
What about you Pam?
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Just to set the record straight L'Enclume do a three course, no choice seasonal lunch for £25. Its not on their website but a quick call today confirmed as much.
Pretty good introduction to Simon Rogan's food on a budget.
I think they need to get it up on the website, they could be missing out on business.
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They were at L'Enclume tonight, and I'm going for the first time next week so I watched with great anticipation. I corpsed, i belly laughed for a solid ten minutes whilst the pair of them were doing the impressions.
This is a very surprising unique fusion of fine-dining and comedic genius.
I bet your taste buds are tingling after watching that lot.
Looking forward to your review, I,m sure it will live up to, or even exceed expectation. -
This is very funny stuff, quite a bit better than the last episode. I missed it last night but caught up with it on BBC iplayer. Here is the link.
Looks like the same team as when we were there. Franc is an excellent and assured maitre d, and it was good to see Simon Rogan and brigade in the kitchen.
Sorry to nit pick but does the bread look hard work?
Also £180 clearly does not include service, and working the bill out at the cheapest £65 menu plus wine times two is pushing it a bit. Unless of course prices have gone up in between.
In any event very good for business as foodies, myself included will perhaps pencil in a visit.
Aiden Byrne at the Hilbark
in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining
Posted
When I booked the table on Monday I asked the same question, and was told "About a month".
Back in August I was told "It will be up soon".
Hmmm.
I love looking at menus on websites, just to get an insight, and get the juices flowing, and sometimes choosing what I want to eat.
Come on Hilbark, get it sorted.
Please.