The Burlington

[hot trotter]

Thought it was about time i managed to get some info up on the meal we ate here a week or so ago. They seemed to be pretty busy.

Three courses from the alacarte was £65 each. But we got plenty of extras.

Canapes;

White aparagus pannacotta with morels and some truffle and parmesan rissoto balls.

The canape was served in two parts.The first served in a modern small pot/bowl. The pannacotta was lovely and light, it was topped with a morel jelly and pickled morels. Delicious. The Risotto balls were deep fried and served warm. They were served on a small stone and topped with grated parmesan and truffle. Again theese were delicous, really moist.

We were given an appetiser of haddock and potato soup wich had a bit of mustard ice cream in it and some cress. We think it had an egg yolk in it as well, but we are a bit hazey on this however. It was the first time ive eaten an ice cream in a soup and i was realy surprised i liked it to be honest.

Starter.

We both went for the scallops,

Which was served with celeriac puree, smoked eel apple and truffle. This dish was stunning. Two really fresh large scallops perfectly cooked., the acidity of the apple and slight smokiness of the eel worked really well with the celeriac and scallop.

Mains

I went for the beef, and the missus the lamb.

The beef was smoked and served with a parsley risotto, snails, onions and a piece of braised meat. which i think was either cheek or shin. All of which was lovely. The flavours were really clean and again i thought this was a great dish.

The lamb was with wild garlic and broccoli. there was quite a bit of lamb offal on it. the missus thought it was fab. I was too busy eating the beef to be worried about the lamb.

Desserts.

we got a little taster befor the real dessert.

Earl grey cream with lemon thyme.

It was served ina little glass, the cream was topped with a lemon jelly and then topped with a lemony foam. Again this was really good.

I had an apple pie parfait, which was served with blackberries and an apple sorbet. Agsin this was lovely, the missus had the tiramisu. Which was really nothing like a tiramisu, but a re working of the main flavours. It had parfait on it an ice vram a jelly and a foam, all served in a bit of a tower...

Petit fours were good and we got another little glass filled with buttermilk, bloodorange and rhubarb...

All in all we had a great evening and the food was as good as we have eaten in a long time. Certainly as good as anything we have had at simon radley and more enjoyable than Fishers or Northcote.We were quite surprised , we were expecting it to be good but not really expecting it to be as good as it was....

[Pam Brunning]

Sounds good - which Burlington-Dublin?

[hot trotter]

No, Yorkshire at the Devonshire Arms.

[BertieWooster]

If they got the service a little better, they should be rising two (or do I mean rising one...anyway 1 1/2); but the service does let the place down. Probably would have got the two if Mr Wignall hadn't left on cooking alone. Now, all they need to do is get in a proper Maitre' D and some serving people who speak English, and they'll be sorted...

[hot trotter]

We thought the service there was really good. when did you last eat there Bertie?

[Tastymorsel]

This place has lost its magic since Michael Wignall left for the Latymer at Pennyhill park!

My wife and I have visited the Devonshire arms, Bolton Abbey twice previously and both times were truly exceptional. How standards have fallen.

In September 2011 we decided to return to rekindle memories of our Honeymoon in 2003.

We have absolutely no complaints about our room but our special evening in the Burlington restaurant was an absolute disaster.

After a short time looking at our menus we realised we had each been given a different one. The Maitre D apologised and returned with the correct menus. After browsing we made our choices and politely requested an alternative to the Foie gras which neither of us are particularly keen on.

We shared a glass of champagne at the bar and also ordered a bottle as a prelude to our much anticipated special meal.

We were led through the elegant and luxurious dining room, where we had eaten on our previous visits and shown to a brightly lit table in the conservatory with very uncomfortable seats and cushions. Our table was one of many set up military fashion in a line and packed tightly together with very little space or privacy between any of the diners.

After being seated we were informed that our Champagne was not properly chilled and we would have to leave it in the ice bucket situated between ours and our neighbours tables. This meant we had nothing apart from water to drink with our first course. Our meal continued and surprise surprise.... we were both served the Foie gras dish that we had clearly told the Maitre D we didn't want. Once more apologies were offered and the correct starters were served.

Apart from the sweets the food was pretty tasteless and forgettable. This was accentuated by the fact that we had eaten the previous evening at another 4 AA starred Restaurant Martin Wishart's in Edinburgh which was simply on another level both taste and service wise to the Burlington.

A number of times we attempted to joke & converse with the table staff but found them quite disrespectful and standoff-ish. I desperately looked for the Maitre D a few times but he was rarely around the whole evening which I thought was unbelievable for such a supposedly high class establishment.

Some other incidents include having to wait long periods before our drinks were re-filled, being interupted by staff while conversing with fellow diners and the waiter pouring our water with his back turned away from us.

Foolishly, the following morning we decided to go for breakfast which was once again served in the conservatory. We were served by one of the previous nights waiting staff who whilst chatting to my wife, to my utter disbelief described me as "him".

It pains me to say but the Burlington restaurant in the Devonshire arms used to be one of the finest in the UK but judging by our last visit it's not even one of the best in Yorkshire. Regrettably, we will not be back.

Edited January 23, 2012 by Tastymorsel (log)

[Tastymorsel]

No-one else been to The Burlington lately ? I'd love to hear what my fellow foodies think of the place.

[RDB]

Why? From the post above you will not be returning, so what function will someone elses opinion serve for you?

[Tastymorsel]

For the same reasons you were looking forward to seeing Adams review of Restaurant Sat Bains.