Horn of Plenty or The Castle

[wgallois]

I would be very grateful if any egulleters have thoughts on The Horn of Plenty in Gulworthy or The Castle in Taunton as possible lunch venues.

Thanks a lot.

[Andy Lynes]

I had dinner at The Castle last November I think it was. Richard Guest is a talented chef who knows his own mind, a very nice man but I don't believe his talents are being best served at the Castle. Althougth the restaurant has a Michelin star, it doesn't really feel like a star experience. Front of house is very young, the service has an amatuer feel to it, there is no sommelier and a short wine list. The dining room, although comfortable enough is decorated in a very busy fashion, with losts of patterned fabrics. Perhaps it was just not to my taste, but I didn't enjoy the surroundings. The room was less than half full and lacked atmosphere the night I dined.

The food is well concieved but I got the feeling that the kitchen wasn't quite up to executing it (Richard was not in the kitchen the night I dined). An example would be crab lasagne with shellfish sauce : too thick pasta, an underpowered sauce and not vast amounts of crab, not a patch on Philip Howard's original version or indeed Jun Tanaka's take on it at QC restaurant. A vacherin of rhubarb was the highlight of the meal, a take on Eton Mess which worked very well.

[wgallois]

Thanks a lot Andy.

[tutti_frutti3]

Now THAT is fascinating.

[Andy Lynes]

Well, I do my best to be interesting......

Care to elaborate?

[Andy Lynes]

Jan Moir has reviewed The Castle here. She didn't exactly like it.

[peterpumkino]

In the 'old' days the Horn Of Plenty had a special 'theme' night (I know it sounds tacky but it was actually good) whereby they centered on a specific area in France. For example I ate at the 'night at a Brassiere in Lyon' - the menu had a drawing on the cover of, yes you guessed it, a Brassiere in Lyon - and the food was typical of a.....right again, and the wine was that as served in a ........yes, you've got it! Actually it was a neat gimmick that worked very well but I honestly don't know if they still do it.

Incidentally Wgallois, I tried to email you back but something was wrong with the connection. I just wanted to say that I dealt with...... His Excellency Sheikh Faisal Bin Khalid Bin Sultan Al Qasimi (whew!) in Sharjah, know him?

I'm sorry, I've just realised that both paras above could be construed as April Fools Day jokes. Unfortunately they're not.

Edited April 1, 2003 by peterpumkino (log)

[Vanessa]

the menu had a drawing on the cover of, yes you guessed it, a Brassiere in Lyon

v

[peterpumkino]

Glad you appreciated it Vanessa!!