Edit History

3 hours ago, Tere said:

This was one of the best meals I have had in the 6 years I have been back in the UK and anyone in the UK should run, not walk there before it gets its second star. Wonderful display of fun, innovation, and great cooking - reminiscent of L'enclume and Story but with strong Japanese influences and a big kitchen garden full of interesting stuff. Plus foraging <3

 

I need to write this up properly so bully me mercilessly please. I also need to actually book Sat Bains. I debated chef's table this time and didn't. Next time I would. They change their menu every quarter and I can see this being a regular haunt. It's an hour and 20 away from us but I said I'd happily be designated driver, it's that good - the wine flight was fantastic as well!

 

http://www.ynyshirhall.co.uk/dining/?gclid=CNbUqNHrvM8CFRM6Gwod0fAB-Q

 

 

(No food pics as hubby was embarrassed and it was his birthday present so I behaved

 

I have the recipe for the pickled elderberries

 

More info - actually it was £85 for us a head since we had a B and B deal (the very generous pours of the wine flight were £65 and I think a very good deal). The chef's table is £130 a head, unclear as to what deal you can get with an overnight stay. Tonight I would have said 5 of the 8 rooms were booked - 4 couples were eating in and I saw another couple at breakfast. No chef's table (unless they were the other couple - there's a back route to some of the rooms from the kitchen I think).

 

Rooms themselves were very plush. Great mattresses. We stayed in Vermeer which was pre warned as might be noisy as it's right over the kitchen - kitchen staff were super professional though and actually quite quiet given that - the odd thump and bump but otherwise good. View was crap. Would probably ask for another room to try out the next time but it was nice.

 

Living room area was lovely and comfy and had a lot of serious cookbooks to browse - original Fat Duck, El Bulli, Noma, Sat Bains, several modern pickling books. Could have turned up early and hung out there for hours.

 

Now to the food. I'll try to describe as much as I can.

 

1. Not french onion soup - lightly cooked onion in a dashi - can't remember much more but very tasty - start of flight rose Moet.

 

2. Bread - a standout course - they prove their sourdough for 7 days then char in a hot oven. I need to know more - the bread was great. Served with homemade butter whipped with white miso and a cube of the "wagyu" beef dripping. The "wagyu" beef referenced comes from http://www.iforswelshwagyu.co.uk/contact.html who we'd encountered at a foodie event at Glansevern hall - judging by the taste while not real wagyu he is worth his money. The dripping was amazing - one of the nicest things I've eaten in ages. The miso butter was outstanding too. Nice to see a humble side showcased like that. Loved it.

 

3. We all I guess know mackerel with gooseberry. This was a slice of very lightly cooked mackerel, with a sour bramble compote, very light, and a scratching of the hard wagyu backfat. With good sake. Great.

 

4. The pork belly was cooked for 3 days (waterbath I have to assume) then blowtorched. With a quite acidic Riesling and large cherries, lightly pickled. The referenced bacon was on top I think. Very good but not the standout dish. Great crunch though.

 

5. Pollock was doused in ash and cooked quickly. Served on tongs. The pollock was so good I have forgotten what else was there. I know it was also good. Riesling matched this well.

 

6. I think at this point we got some classic Chardonnay from Burgundy. The rib was salted but had been cooked for a long time. Decent crunch. The shiitake was partly in crunchy chips but also in a shiitake soy glaze. It worked well, better than I thought.

 

7.Caesar was one of the stand out dishes for me. Lettuce puree, sliced lettuce, crumb of bacon and anchovy, buttermilk cream. 2 week old sugar and salt cured egg grated on top with excellent quality parmesan. I want to learn how to cure egg that well, it was like @rarerollingobject's but completely solid. Worked well with the Burgundy. Amazing.

 

8. Grouse was another stand out dish. Served with a hardcore Barolo (1997) and the age really helped. Grouse was waterbathed then seared, then served with elderberries 3 ways - elderberry compote, raw pickled elderberries (which were good enough I demanded the recipe) and pickled elderflower. Finished with 100% chocolate. Amazing.

 

9. Welsh lamb came 2 ways, with a jammier wine that was good but I have forgotten. First up, short rib waterbath, seared with shiso (perilla) until crunch. Ate greedily. Second course, pan fried but with discs of mint kombucha and preserved onion on top. I thought the accompaniments overwhelmed the lamb. A dish of two parts.

 

10. Bread no 2 was caramelised onions, gravy and some of the excellent sourdough with some more of the amazing wagyu fat. Nothing there to not like. I think this was the point we got served a Trappist ale.

 

11. We diverted for cheese, and were surprised to be served an aged Auslese, but the aged Tunworth had been very lightly whipped and served with some herbs and a pickled cherry tomato or two. The tomato and the overall flavour profile was really ideal for the Auslese. It looked weird enough I actually called the sommelier back and queried him, but it really worked well. The best pairing of the night and I told him so. He was a definite addition to the meal - worked out we were serious wine geeks and very happy to geek with us

 

12. Lager and lime isn't my favourite flavour and I kind of zoned out here. I know they drizzled lager and there was a lime puree  but sorry, it was not for me.

 

13. Fruit and nut was more my style. It was served with an amazing ice cider from Devon and I nerded at them for a bit (I make applejack). It's a spoiler recipe so I probably shouldn't but I will just say I enjoyed it, one of the best dishes for me. I have a really savoury tooth and appreciated that the sweet dishes were either not overly sweet and / or were not too big. Overall I was very happy with the size of the plating and thought it was very well judged.

 

14. Tiramisu was deconstructed and very good. I think at this point we had got to the Tokajii and it was excellent. I would have actually put this as the finale if it were me as the blueberry/yogurt/syrup desert I thought lovely but my hubby thought too tart. Great match with the syrup though.

 

The extra was going through to the kitchen and getting lemon and eucalyptus foam from liquid nitrogen. Loved the showing off of the kitchen and the technique - eucalyptus was a bit overpowering for me. Loved the ambition though.

 

Overall, loved the Japanese touches, loved the food in general - at least 95% I thought was great. Some really good thoughtful service - for example, I am left handed and it's the kind of table service where they give you one implement at a time. It took two dishes for the server to realise I was left handed and present the dish accordingly. That's good. But what blew me away was they had remembered it and I got my yogurt presented the next day the same way too. That is attention to detail.

 

I'll be back. I'll take pictures next time

 

 

3 hours ago, Tere said:

This was one of the best meals I have had in the 6 years I have been back in the UK and anyone in the UK should run, not walk there before it gets its second star. Wonderful display of fun, innovation, and great cooking - reminiscent of L'enclume and Story but with strong Japanese influences and a big kitchen garden full of interesting stuff. Plus foraging <3

 

I need to write this up properly so bully me mercilessly please. I also need to actually book Sat Bains. I debated chef's table this time and didn't. Next time I would. They change their menu every quarter and I can see this being a regular haunt. It's an hour and 20 away from us but I said I'd happily be designated driver, it's that good - the wine flight was fantastic as well!

 

http://www.ynyshirhall.co.uk/dining/?gclid=CNbUqNHrvM8CFRM6Gwod0fAB-Q

 

 

(No food pics as hubby was embarrassed and it was his birthday present so I behaved

 

I have the recipe for the pickled elderberries

 

More info - actually it was £85 for us a head since we had a B and B deal (the very generous pours of the wine flight were £65 and I think a very good deal). The chef's table is £130 a head, unclear as to what deal you can get with an overnight stay. Tonight I would have said 5 of the 8 rooms were booked - 4 couples were eating in and I saw another couple at breakfast. No chef's table (unless they were the other couple - there's a back route to some of the rooms from the kitchen I think).

 

Rooms themselves were very plush. Great mattresses. We stayed in Vermeer which was pre warned as might be noisy as it's right over the kitchen - kitchen staff were super professional though and actually quite quiet given that - the odd thump and bump but otherwise good. View was crap. Would probably ask for another room to try out the next time but it was nice.

 

Living room area was lovely and comfy and had a lot of serious cookbooks to browse - original Fat Duck, El Bulli, Noma, Sat Bains, several modern pickling books. Could have turned up early and hung out there for hours.

 

Now to the food. I'll try to describe as much as I can.

 

1. Not french onion soup - lightly cooked onion in a dashi - can't remember much more but very tasty - start of flight rose Moet.

 

2. Bread - a standout course - they prove their sourdough for 7 days then char in a hot oven. I need to know more - the bread was great. Served with homemade butter whipped with white miso and a cube of the "wagyu" beef dripping. The "wagyu" beef referenced comes from http://www.iforswelshwagyu.co.uk/contact.html who we'd encountered at a foodie event at Glansevern hall - judging by the taste while not real wagyu he is worth his money. The dripping was amazing - one of the nicest things I've eaten in ages. The miso butter was outstanding too. Nice to see a humble side showcased like that. Loved it.

 

3. We all I guess know mackerel with gooseberry. This was a slice of very lightly cooked mackerel, with a sour bramble compote, very light, and a scratching of the hard wagyu backfat. With good sake. Great.

 

4. The pork belly was cooked for 3 days (waterbath I have to assume) then blowtorched. With a quite acidic Riesling and large cherries, lightly pickled. The referenced bacon was on top I think. Very good but not the standout dish. Great crunch though.

 

5. Pollock was doused in ash and cooked quickly. Served on tongs. The pollock was so good I have forgotten what else was there. The Riesling also matched this well.

 

6. I think at this point we got some classic Chardonnay from Burgundy. The rib was salted but had been cooked for a long time. Decent crunch. The shiitake was partly in crunchy chips but also in a shiitake soy glaze. It worked well, better than I thought.

 

7.Caesar was one of the stand out dishes for me. Lettuce puree, sliced lettuce, crumb of bacon and anchovy, buttermilk cream. 2 week old sugar and salt cured egg grated on top with excellent quality parmesan. I want to learn how to cure egg that well, it was like @rarerollingobject's but completely solid. Worked well with the Burgundy. Amazing.

 

8. Grouse was another stand out dish. Served with a hardcore Barolo (1997) and the age really helped. Grouse was waterbathed then seared, then served with elderberries 3 ways - elderberry compote, raw pickled elderberries (which were good enough I demanded the recipe) and pickled elderflower. Finished with 100% chocolate. Amazing.

 

9. Welsh lamb came 2 ways, with a jammier wine that was good but I have forgotten. First up, short rib waterbath, seared with shiso (perilla) until crunch. Ate greedily. Second course, pan fried but with discs of mint kombucha and preserved onion on top. I thought the accompaniments overwhelmed the lamb. A dish of two parts.

 

10. Bread no 2 was caramelised onions, gravy and some of the excellent sourdough with some more of the amazing wagyu fat. Nothing there to not like. I think this was the point we got served a Trappist ale.

 

11. We diverted for cheese, and were surprised to be served an aged Auslese, but the aged Tunworth had been very lightly whipped and served with some herbs and a pickled cherry tomato or two. The tomato and the overall flavour profile was really ideal for the Auslese. It looked weird enough I actually called the sommelier back and queried him, but it really worked well. The best pairing of the night and I told him so. He was a definite addition to the meal - worked out we were serious wine geeks and very happy to geek with us

 

12. Lager and lime isn't my favourite flavour and I kind of zoned out here. I know they drizzled lager and there was a lime puree  but sorry, it was not for me.

 

13. Fruit and nut was more my style. It was served with an amazing ice cider from Devon and I nerded at them for a bit (I make applejack). It's a spoiler recipe so I probably shouldn't but I will just say I enjoyed it, one of the best dishes for me. I have a really savoury tooth and appreciated that the sweet dishes were either not overly sweet and / or were not too big. Overall I was very happy with the size of the plating and thought it was very well judged.

 

14. Tiramisu was deconstructed and very good. I think at this point we had got to the Tokajii and it was excellent. I would have actually put this as the finale if it were me as the blueberry/yogurt/syrup desert I thought lovely but my hubby thought too tart. Great match with the syrup though.

 

The extra was going through to the kitchen and getting lemon and eucalyptus foam from liquid nitrogen. Loved the showing off of the kitchen and the technique - eucalyptus was a bit overpowering for me. Loved the ambition though.

 

Overall, loved the Japanese touches, loved the food in general - at least 95% I thought was great. Some really good thoughtful service - for example, I am left handed and it's the kind of table service where they give you one implement at a time. It took two dishes for the server to realise I was left handed and present the dish accordingly. That's good. But what blew me away was they had remembered it and I got my yogurt presented the next day the same way too. That is attention to detail.

 

I'll be back. I'll take pictures next time

 

 

3 hours ago, Tere said:

This was one of the best meals I have had in the 6 years I have been back in the UK and anyone in the UK should run, not walk there before it gets its second star. Wonderful display of fun, innovation, and great cooking - reminiscent of L'enclume and Story but with strong Japanese influences and a big kitchen garden full of interesting stuff. Plus foraging <3

 

I need to write this up properly so bully me mercilessly please. I also need to actually book Sat Bains. I debated chef's table this time and didn't. Next time I would. They change their menu every quarter and I can see this being a regular haunt. It's an hour and 20 away from us but I said I'd happily be designated driver, it's that good - the wine flight was fantastic as well!

 

http://www.ynyshirhall.co.uk/dining/?gclid=CNbUqNHrvM8CFRM6Gwod0fAB-Q

 

 

(No food pics as hubby was embarrassed and it was his birthday present so I behaved

 

I have the recipe for the pickled elderberries

 

More info - actually it was £85 for us a head since we had a B and B deal. The chef's table is £130 a head, unclear as to what deal you can get with an overnight stay. Tonight I would have said 5 of the 8 rooms were booked - 4 couples were eating in and I saw another couple at breakfast. No chef's table (unless they were the other couple - there's a back route to some of the rooms from the kitchen I think).

 

Rooms themselves were very plush. Great mattresses. We stayed in Vermeer which was pre warned as might be noisy as it's right over the kitchen - kitchen staff were super professional though and actually quite quiet given that - the odd thump and bump but otherwise good. View was crap. Would probably ask for another room to try out the next time but it was nice.

 

Living room area was lovely and comfy and had a lot of serious cookbooks to browse - original Fat Duck, El Bulli, Noma, Sat Bains, several modern pickling books. Could have turned up early and hung out there for hours.

 

Now to the food. I'll try to describe as much as I can.

 

1. Not french onion soup - lightly cooked onion in a dashi - can't remember much more but very tasty - start of flight rose Moet.

 

2. Bread - a standout course - they prove their sourdough for 7 days then char in a hot oven. I need to know more - the bread was great. Served with homemade butter whipped with white miso and a cube of the "wagyu" beef dripping. The "wagyu" beef referenced comes from http://www.iforswelshwagyu.co.uk/contact.html who we'd encountered at a foodie event at Glansevern hall - judging by the taste while not real wagyu he is worth his money. The dripping was amazing - one of the nicest things I've eaten in ages. The miso butter was outstanding too. Nice to see a humble side showcased like that. Loved it.

 

3. We all I guess know mackerel with gooseberry. This was a slice of very lightly cooked mackerel, with a sour bramble compote, very light, and a scratching of the hard wagyu backfat. With good sake. Great.

 

4. The pork belly was cooked for 3 days (waterbath I have to assume) then blowtorched. With a quite acidic Riesling and large cherries, lightly pickled. The referenced bacon was on top I think. Very good but not the standout dish. Great crunch though.

 

5. Pollock was doused in ash and cooked quickly. Served on tongs. The pollock was so good I have forgotten what else was there. The Riesling also matched this well.

 

6. I think at this point we got some classic Chardonnay from Burgundy. The rib was salted but had been cooked for a long time. Decent crunch. The shiitake was partly in crunchy chips but also in a shiitake soy glaze. It worked well, better than I thought.

 

7.Caesar was one of the stand out dishes for me. Lettuce puree, sliced lettuce, crumb of bacon and anchovy, buttermilk cream. 2 week old sugar and salt cured egg grated on top with excellent quality parmesan. I want to learn how to cure egg that well, it was like @rarerollingobject's but completely solid. Worked well with the Burgundy. Amazing.

 

8. Grouse was another stand out dish. Served with a hardcore Barolo (1997) and the age really helped. Grouse was waterbathed then seared, then served with elderberries 3 ways - elderberry compote, raw pickled elderberries (which were good enough I demanded the recipe) and pickled elderflower. Finished with 100% chocolate. Amazing.

 

9. Welsh lamb came 2 ways, with a jammier wine that was good but I have forgotten. First up, short rib waterbath, seared with shiso (perilla) until crunch. Ate greedily. Second course, pan fried but with discs of mint kombucha and preserved onion on top. I thought the accompaniments overwhelmed the lamb. A dish of two parts.

 

10. Bread no 2 was caramelised onions, gravy and some of the excellent sourdough with some more of the amazing wagyu fat. Nothing there to not like. I think this was the point we got served a Trappist ale.

 

11. We diverted for cheese, and were surprised to be served an aged Auslese, but the aged Tunworth had been very lightly whipped and served with some herbs and a pickled cherry tomato or two. The tomato and the overall flavour profile was really ideal for the Auslese. It looked weird enough I actually called the sommelier back and queried him, but it really worked well. The best pairing of the night and I told him so. He was a definite addition to the meal - worked out we were serious wine geeks and very happy to geek with us

 

12. Lager and lime isn't my favourite flavour and I kind of zoned out here. I know they drizzled lager and there was a lime puree  but sorry, it was not for me.

 

13. Fruit and nut was more my style. It was served with an amazing ice cider from Devon and I nerded at them for a bit (I make applejack). It's a spoiler recipe so I probably shouldn't but I will just say I enjoyed it, one of the best dishes for me. I have a really savoury tooth and appreciated that the sweet dishes were either not overly sweet and / or were not too big. Overall I was very happy with the size of the plating and thought it was very well judged.

 

14. Tiramisu was deconstructed and very good. I think at this point we had got to the Tokajii and it was excellent. I would have actually put this as the finale if it were me as the blueberry/yogurt/syrup desert I thought lovely but my hubby thought too tart. Great match with the syrup though.

 

The extra was going through to the kitchen and getting lemon and eucalyptus foam from liquid nitrogen. Loved the showing off of the kitchen and the technique - eucalyptus was a bit overpowering for me. Loved the ambition though.

 

Overall, loved the Japanese touches, loved the food in general - at least 95% I thought was great. Some really good thoughtful service - for example, I am left handed and it's the kind of table service where they give you one implement at a time. It took two dishes for the server to realise I was left handed and present the dish accordingly. That's good. But what blew me away was they had remembered it and I got my yogurt presented the next day the same way too. That is attention to detail.

 

I'll be back. I'll take pictures next time