Margot's Bistro, Padstow

[Basildog]

250 miles for me.How long you had that picture Marlene?

[Marlene]

Hmmm 5 years maybe? 250 miles. Hmm, maybe we need to stay closer. Who wants to eat in London anyway?

[Basildog]

I,ve been in Margot's kitchen for 11 years today.see site for the full story

[Basildog]

You know when your bored when you start counting how many guests are booked to come ...700 people are booked to come from April 1st untill end of July.

[Basildog]

We had a visit from The Brothers Grim

[chefsimon]

We had a visit from The Brothers Grim

←

yes and it seems they liked it very much!!good show

[Duncan]

For what it's worth, I've scribbled down some impressions on my blog of our meal last night.

It was wonderful, thanks again Bas.

We went for the tasting menu (which in effect is three starters+main and dessert). The squid and asparagus starter was cooked just right; next was Basildog's chorizo and mushroom risotto where Judy reckoned the chorizo was quite delicately spiced whereas it can be quite harsh. The mackerel and cucumber salad was unusual in that the cucumber actually had flavour. For main course we had sea bass straight off the boat and for dessert Judy had a large (I thought it looked large, for all I know it was a reduced size portion) sticky toffee pudding, and I had the famed[*] poached pear, muscat jelly and clotted cream.

[*]If it isn't famed it jolly well ought to be.

Edited to add more detail which was omitted first time round because Judy was telling me it was time to get ready for dinner: see future post.

Edited June 8, 2007 by Duncan (log)

[Pweaver1984]

Basildog, whats your background in catering before you bought Margots?

Are you a Cornish lad through and through?

I really want to get down to Padstow, being saying it for too long now...

[Basildog]

Tresham Tech College 84-86 full time catering course

86-96 Cheffing at hotels, golf clubs, restaurants, gentlemans club, pubs etc etc etc

96 Chef at Margot's, 99 bought it.

I first put on a chefs Jacket 23 years ago come September, and i still mop the floor last thing at night!

Nice to see D and J back again.

Edit..My kids are Cornish, i'm Welsh.

Edited June 8, 2007 by Basildog (log)

[JudyB]

The last time we visited Margot's, Basildog seemed to have mislaid the toys on the tables (wooden tortoises sold by one of the neighbouring shops).

They have now reappeared and here is a picture of one examining Duncan's Sea Bass:

As Duncan said this was a most enjoyable evening and we look forward to visiting again, but probably not until next year.

[Basildog]

Margot’s

New Years Eve 2007

Cordorniu Brut Rose

Focaccia Bread, Kalamata Olives

and Salted Almonds

Salmon and Smoked Salmon Fish Cakes with Aioli and Cucumber Salad

Picpoul de Pinet 2006

Mushroom, Bacon and Spinach Risotto with Herb Oil and Parmesan

Ripasso Della Valpolicella 2005

Loin Of Cornish Lamb with Broccoli, Roast New Potatoes and Rosemary Jus

Vina Albina Reserva Rioja 2001

Chocolate Mousse with Caramelised Banana

Elysium Black Muscat 2005

Cornish Cheeses with Plum Chutney

Krohn Late Bottle Port 2000

Coffee with Petit Fours

Champagne at Midnight

£75.00

Any other chefs care to post thier NYE menus on their threads? Love to see what others are doing on this crazy night

Edited December 31, 2007 by Basildog (log)

[erica graham]

Any other chefs care to post thier NYE menus on their threads? Love to see what others are doing on this crazy night

←

Allium, Fairford

New Years Eve Menu Gourmand

£75.00 Per Person

Savoury Cones

****

White Onion and Cider Soup

****

Steak Tartare

****

Cured Salmon with Blinis

****

Tortellini of Pumpkin and Sage with Foie Gras

****

Stuffed Saddle of Lamb “Écosse”

or

Halibut, Salsify, Purple Sprouting Broccoli

****

British Cheeses

****

Jelly and Foam

****

Chocolate and Praline Gateau

or

Lemongrass Crème Caramel, Raisin

Puree and Coconut Ice Cream

****

Coffee and Petit Fours

****

Champagne at Midnight!!!

Have a crazy Night!!

[fisherman]

Not strictly speaking Lunch at Basildogs, but close enough.....

A couple of friends got married in Padstow in May, so I arranged a pre wedding meal for 6 of us at Margots, the passage of time hasn't been kind to my memory, so I can't tell you exactly what we had but everyone was seriously impressed by the food, the service and the atmosphere. Shame we live hundreds of miles away but we'll be back soon enough.

[Gary Marshall]

Easter trip to Padstow saw 2 trips to Margot's good friday and saturday night. I am pleased to report that, as expected, all is well and as expected plus the place has a lick of paint, a new floor and how could i forget, Adrian's new 'bar'

menu has changed slightly now as there is a set menu plus a tasting menu drawn from the set menu, all at good prices £20 something for 3 courses and £35 i think for taster, 6 courses i think.

Friday night saw us both have scallop & bacon with lime to start, a good bowl full of seared scallops with some excellent strips smoky bacon with a little soy-y- -savory-pan juices in the bottom. very good.

to follow i took the grey mullet with chive butter sauce (as predicted by adrian- i don't like to disappoint in my predictability) a big fillet, cooked well with a light butter sauce, sarah had a margot's classic of confit duck leg which she also enjoyed, think that was with a sage cream sauce and spring onion mash.

for dessert i had the sticky toffee pudding which was both light and moist and sarah had the cornish cheeses which were also pretty damn good.

Wine list is eclectic and chosen by local merchant slacker of Bin Two and his list is one of the better reads you will encounter on your foodie travels. It is a good value list with limited mark ups and from it we had a petaluma chardonnay which was, as billed, a big buttery oaky monster wine.

Night two saw us back again, this time fortified by cooked breakfast, a long walk along the beach, lunch at no6, & drinks & nibbles at bin two. Naturally by 8.30 we were starving, especially so by the time we got to the restaurant late after we got yakking to other punters in bintwo (it happens, no-one ever has just one drink/bottle there).

So dinner number two, we had mushroom, chorizo and spinach risotto to start with, which was just what the Dr ordered, a soupy rather than al dente risotto packed with flavour.

and for mains we both had the same again, sea trout with a light cream sauce and linguine, this was excellent, the fish was spankingly fresh and cooked perfectly, the sauce, the linguine all correct, just one of those simple, soothing dishes that Margot's does so well.

to finish we shared a lemon and lime cheesecake, a dessert each? what do you think we are gluttons? plus coffee and excellent home made petit fours.

with this we had a bottle of camus brechon 02 savingly les beaune, not quite the best match for the fish but hey, i'd decided that's what i was having earlier in the day!

Margot's is one of those places you dream about finding in an unknown town, tucked away amongst the backstreets, patronised by locals and in-the-know tourists, nicely priced concise menu , decent wine list, owned and run by a chef who cooks there, who makes everything from the bread to start to the petit fours to finish, and who runs the place with an innate sense of hospitality and generosity.

long may it continue.

[Basildog]

Gawd bless ya Sir!

[Duncan]

to follow i took the grey mullet with chive butter sauce (as predicted by adrian- i don't like to disappoint in my predictability) a big fillet, cooked well with a light butter sauce, sarah had a margot's classic of confit duck leg which she also enjoyed, think that was with a sage cream sauce and spring onion mash.

←

He didn't quite predict our menu selections correctly on our recent visit (claimed to have forgotten that duck confit was one of the options). We had the tasting menu which is slightly smaller portions with choices for main and dessert (so e.g. the sticky toffee pudding is only large instead of enormous). All very tasty.

Keep up the good work Adrian.

[tony h]

well - what can i say that hasn't already been said by this fine establishment

a superb restaurant run obviously by a dedicated & tiny team of 3

just the kind of place you want at the end of the street - expect you don't 'cause you'll never get a table. good to see Margot's is now completely booked out for June & July with august also almost full. says it all really

starts of mackerel with cucumber, capers and salad - well - fish couldn't really have been any fresher. cucumber sliced down the middle into thin strands and rolled to form a spiral - very pleasing

scallops with bacon was a dream to eat - astonishingly good dressing & scallops to die for

mains - all went for pan roast cod with herb mash. regretted not going for the risotto after seeing someone else have it. i thought it might too heavy - but gee - the cod wasn’t exactly small

puds were also fab - pears poached in saffron with clotted cream and jelly made from poaching liquor - perfect

sticky toffee pudding - looked heavy - anything but

adrain came to chat afterwards - a pure gentleman

On the way home it was voted best meal of the holiday by far

[Basildog]

Thank you Tony, nice to put a face to a name after so long.

This thread is older than my daughter! Bloody Hell

[Basildog]

Just noticed someone has changed the title of this thread, shame really, it was nice being under the radar.

[Basildog]

A statement from me.

Rumour control

[GordonCooks]

Best of Luck in all your future endeavors whatever they may be.

Cheers!

[offcentre]

well I never made it to Margots but have followed this thread and your blog over the last few years so feel like I know you (a little).

Your recipe for mushroom and chorizo risotto will live on in our house!

Good luck in whatever you do next. I'm sure whatever you do you'll make a success of it.

[Matutu]

Hey Guys,

Anyone have any recent reports on Margot's Bistro? looking at going there in September for me and my partners weekend Camel Trail ride.

Many Thanks!

[Gary Marshall]

you won't go wrong, chef/owner Adrian is still there, was on here a lot pre-twitter as basildog. Never had a bad meal there and I was looking at revisiting myself . It is small though so book well in advance, like now.

you also want to check out the wine shop / coffee / wine bar bin two.

for top end Paul Ainsworth / Nathan Outlaw / Rick Stein

Ainsworth also has an italian place Rojano's

Steins fish and chips on the harbour

[Harters]

chef/owner Adrian is still there,

Wasn't he trying to flog it, Gary?