montague arms, beaulieu

[Gary Marshall]

Many on here have enjoyed Matt's food at his previous locale, the goose at britwell salome, especially the michelin inspectors who awarded him a star earlier this year, to add to his roux scholar award from a few years ago.

Unfortunatley well documented issues meant that matt left the goose and took over at the montague arms in beaulieu, i was hoping to visit a few months ago as i was in the area but unfortunately the menu wasn't yet matt's own, until the brigade was sorted he was utilising the existing menu which worked well with the limited resources he had available at that point .

(incidentally on matt's rec instead i went to his old employer ockenden manor for dinner which was superb), but it appears that all is now working smoothly and there is now a 'matt' menu which features some of the favourites from the goose as well as new dishes, reads very well to me so no doubt i'll be jealous of whoever gets in first to try it!

Starters

Ballotine of Organic Salmon wrapped in fresh herbs and served with Fromage Blanc and Avruga Caviar

White Onion and Parmesan Velouté with a Wild Mushroom Raviolo and Rosemary Oil

Slow Cooked Oxtail and Celeriac ‘Lasagne’ with

Celeriac Puree, Spinach and Horseradish Cream

Crisp Croquette of Free Range Pig’s Trotter with Smoked Ham Hock, Romsey Tomatoes and Caper Puree

Hand Dived Scottish Scallops with Braised Lymington Cuttle Fish, Lettuce, Broad Beans and Peas

Pressing of Free Range Chicken

Young Leeks, Prunes and Toasted Brioche

Main Course

Roast Leg of Cornish Lamb with Fondant Potato, Courgette Provencal and Caramelised Lamb’s Sweetbreads

Grilled Escalope of Line Caught Sea Bass with Jerusalem Artichoke Puree, Sauté Potatoes, Braised Roscoff Onions and Smoked Bacon Sauce

Pave of Wild Scottish Halibut with Sauté Wild Mushrooms, Hampshire Spinach,

Roasted Salsify and Cep Velouté

Honey Roast Breast of Beaulieu Estate Wild Duck with Sweet and Sour Cabbage, Confit Duck Hearts, Boulangere Potatoes and Madeira Sauce

Roast Beaulieu Estate Venison with Buttered Kale, Braised Red Cabbage, Beetroot Puree and Sauce Grand Veneur

Vegetarian ‘Assiette Gourmand’

A Selection of our Seasonal Vegetables and Garnishes with Saffron Pasta

Desserts

Milk Chocolate Mousse with Lavender Ice Cream, Burnt Orange Syrup and Cocoa Crisp

Warm Blackberry Sponge Cake with Liquorice Ice Cream and Blackberry Yoghurt Puree

Caramelised Lemon Tart with Blackcurrant Sorbet

Raspberry Soufflé with Rice Pudding Ice Cream and Raspberry Sauce

‘Assiette of Pennington House Apples’

with Butterscotch Sauce and Apple Crisp

Pineapple ‘Ravioli’ with Crème Fraiche and Mango Sorbet

A Selection of Farmhouse Cheeses from our Trolley

3 Courses £48

Coffee and Home made Petits Fours £3.75

[Gary Marshall]

congrats to Matt and his team, a superb write up in today 's telegraph, 9/10 from jasper gerrard, rating his 'lasagne' starter as one of his best dishes of the year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/re...-Hampshire.html

[Bapi]

Good man.

[david goodfellow]

congrats to Matt and his team, a superb write up in today 's telegraph, 9/10 from jasper gerrard, rating his 'lasagne' starter as one of his best dishes of the year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/re...-Hampshire.html

←

Unfortunately for me and I suspect for quite a few others,Hampshire is one heck of a trek,even in the Batmobile. At least four hours legal driving.I assume its quite a lot more for you Gary.

As you are aware on another post I, was determined to try Matts food when he was at The Goose .Things change of course.

If financial circumstances change perhaps I'll check out if they have a hellipad and zoom down there at will.

Matt I know you tune in to the site,keep up the good work its only a matter of time before I am able to sample your table delights!!

[Gary Marshall]

i think i 'viamichelined' it at about 4 hours from york, and yes have told matt how inconsiderate it was to move so far away from, well most things!

[Matthew Grant]

Having only had the opportunity to eat Matt Tomkinsons food at The Goose once before he left we felt compelled to head to The Montagu Arms in Beaulieu where he was recently awarded a Michelin star. A recent review from the Telegraph was glowing in terms of the foods and a little less complimentary about the décor. On the whole I would agree with the review on that score, the dining room has plenty of potential with its pleasant outlook over the small garden but could do with a bit of un update.

Matt put together a menu for us so we got a decent taste of the but would still need to eat here again to really do it justice.

We started well, an organic butternut squash risotto with new forest blue cheese, hazelnuts and truffle, good risotto with a nice saltiness from the blue cheese that did well not to overpower. The Truffle finished this off well, they still smell lovely.

A Boudin of Poached red mullet with baby leeks, crispy oyster beignet and oyster dressing appeared a little more technical, the boudin suffered a touch form being a little cold but overall this dish worked well, a low temperature cooked “sausage” of mullet served cold along side the crispy oyster beignet and dressing along with a little parfait of baby leeks. It had nice contrasts of texture and a nice acidity from the oyster dressing.

The 'Lasagne' of braised oxtail with celeriac puree, baby spinach and horseradish cream is destined to become a signature dish IMO. The Lasagne sheets being thin discs of celeriac sitting on the rich oxtail. A pleasant sweetness combining really well with slight heat of the horseradish cream. A really lovely dish.

We followed this with a grilled escalope of line caught seabass with organic Jerusalem artichoke puree, braised roscoff onions, saute potatoes and smoked bacon sauce. Again another lovely dish, though perhaps we would have been better having this before the oxtail. Good crisp skin on the seabass and good accompaniments, again a delicate hand with the smoked bacon sauce allowing the fish to stand out. Lovely onions as well.

I’m afraid I forget the cheeses we ate but they were in good condition.

A Caramelised lemon tart with blackcurrant sauce was a good test for the pastry chef and he passed with flying colours, a great filling and thin pastry. The final dish didn’t quite work for me. A warm blackberry sponge cake with blackberry yoghurt puree, dark chocolate and liquorice ice cream, whilst the ice cream and yoghurt puree were nice I found the sponge a little dense.

Speaking to Matt afterwards there are some exciting plans ahead (I’m not sure whether I am allowed to mention them here) which will make a return visit a must. Overall a very good meal, well worth its Michelin star and well worth a stop or even a special trip to the New Forest.

Edited March 16, 2009 by Matthew Grant (log)

[Gary Marshall]

the highlight of my recent little UK jaunt was a trip to the montagu arms at beaulieu, haunt of matt tomkinson, roux scholar 2005. We been threatening a visit for ages having only had sunday lunch at matt's previous haunt the goose, and 2 1/2 months of gardening leave meant that even an arch procrastinator like myself could actually get around to organising a trip, thus a plan was plotted, lunch at the kingham plough, dinner& overnight at the hand and flowers in marlow then on to matt's in beaulieu, the final leg was supposed to be then across country to the sportsman but we had to head home friday afternoon so that itch will have to be scratched shortly.

it must be said it is a great drive through the new forest to beaulieu and the hotel doesn't disappoint, standing grandly on a corner in the village of beaulieu, next door as the crow flies to beaulieu and the motor museum. After a quick catch up with matt and wary of filling ourselves up ahead of a tasting menu matt had been plotting for us we nipped to the brasserie next door monty's for a couple of 'corrie chicken sandwiches before heading off to the motor museum, somewhere i'd always wanted to go, although the £15 entrance was a bit of a shock considering we only had 2 1/2 hours left of the day it was enough to see all the car displays and the house and build up an appetite for dinner.

Matt had emailed me the menu to see what sarah could and couldn't eat and although i was expecting one tasting menu for the two of us, what they actually produced was two different tasters which pretty much covered the entire ALC , good job as it would be hard to pick just a 3 course meal from the menu!

after a drink in the bar before dinner accompanied by some fine gougeres we took our seats in the dining room, although the room has its critics, it's a very pleasant space and at lunchtime the views into the garden are excellent .

sarah's first course was a vivid green warm leek and potato soup with gloucestershire smoked eel, baby leeks and pink fir potatoes, whilst i had croquettes of hampshire beef brisket and tongue with roasted beetroot, homemade mayonaise and quails egg. A good pretty dish with good balance.

next up for sarah were some spiced diver caught scallops with cauliflower puree, apple corriander and cumin veloute plus a crispy rice cracker iirc! she was very pleased with this dish as i was with my taste, whilst i had home smoked organic clare island salmon with crispy oyster beignets, tartare potatoes and creme fraiche plus a blob of caviar, this was a very well smoked piece of excellent fish, i seem to be having some good salmon of late it's good to see this fish regaining its quality status again after years of abuse, this was a very fine piece of smoking with a well judged garnish, especially the saltiness of the caviar with the smoked fish.

next for me was an excellent fillet of john dory with razor clams, and other shellfish, all very neatly arranged in the shell, at which point i remember commenting that although matt's cooking is gutsy and strongly flavoured, the presentation shows a lighter touch, they were all very attractive plates. Sarah had i think sea bass but i have to say my iphone photography is not doing the cooking justice and i can't place the rest of the dish with accuracy!

After that little lot we both moved onto one of the more anticipated dishes, the oxtail lasagne, it lived up to its billing the soft oxtail, al dente celeriac and horseradish quenelle all melding together brilliantly. a dish that on paper reads like you want it and doesn't disappoint on a plate!

meat course next which for me was a slow cooked fillet of aged hampshire beef, with smoked mashed potatoes and braised ox cheek bourguignon. If ever a dish had my name on it! The potatoes had the smokiness but the texture of robuchon potatoes, the braised cheek was almost a meal in itself, a textbook bourguignon with some lovely lardons adding saltiness. The beef was cooked sous vide, but finished in a pan. We'd had the usual sous vide discussion at lunchtime and matt's view is that it has a place in certain dishes and sometimes works better than a pan, they'd tried this dish both ways and decided it was best this way, and it was a good piece of beef, that looked like it had been pan seared and rested well, no blood oozing, with a nice sprinkling of salt. Sarah meanwhile was devouring a plate of new forest pannage pork with braised cheek, stuffed cabbage , confit belly and roast fillet quite a plate, which barely lasted long enough for me to grab a swift pic of it!

Cheese next and a really nice touch was a plate of pasteurised cheese for the mrs and the good old bacteria ridden stuff for me, including some stinking bishop and my favourite vacherin mont d'or iirc.

desert time followed banana souffle for me, whilst sarah had a new dish which was from memory a green marzipan dish, which despite my crap memory was a good one! I do remember her second desert a selection of apple dishes, tarte tatin a jelly and an ice cream a good finish, ,whilst i went out with a bang , the daddy, the dark chocolate delice with salted butter caramel, coffee ice cream and seasame tuile, the waiter delivered this with a knowing smile 'chef's given you extra caramel there!' it was as the description suggests a gooey caramelly salty affair, perfect!

with only one drinking i managed a bottle of 2004 ladoix blanc from claude chevalier which had enough depth to cope with most of the dishes with just a glass of red required for the beef. Wine list is intelligently sorted with some well priced wines, unfortunately the bargain DRC had been snaffled before we got there!

All in all a lovely evening, certainly obvious that it's one star cooking but 2* looks a realistic achievement given time.