1837, The Capital and Le Poussin

[Wilfrid]

Following the eGulleting at Club Gascon described on its own thread, I broke the bank at three other upscale restaurants on my recent UK trip.  A long ramble follows.

1837 is the restaurant at Brown's hotel.  It is large, brown and quiet.  Miles between tables.  Few tables occupied.  I had eaten a fair meal here before when staying at the hotel, but I confess I only returned because I couldn't get into preferred options like The Square and Petrus at short notice.  The service is highly trained in the French school, but surprisingly nervous - lots of agitated, whispered conversations and ominous frowns.  I started with an open Cornish crab and tomato ravioli - a tower of ingredients layered with squares of pasta.  Refreshing.  A bewildering selection of home made breads were offered from a special bread trolley - I think I ate a cheese and bacon bread; okay, but not sure if it was worth all the effort.

The main course caused a crisis of confidence in fine dining.  Well, it was yet another okay lamb dish, the rack cooked medium rare, garnished with a sweetbread.  A rich wine reduction.The vegetable promised to be lamb's milk potatoes, which turned out to be a gratin made with ewe's milk cheese, and about a pound of salt.  Apart from the gratin, the dish was unobjectionable.  Sitting in the gloom and silence, I was forced to ask myself whether I was really enjoying paying thirty quid or so for a dish I seemed to have eaten a thousand times and wouldn't care if I ever ate again.  What happened to exciting, ambitious classic cooking?  Where are the pressed ducks, the coxcombs, the capons garnished with crayfish, the quails in their coffins?  No, bloody rack of lamb again.  So much for my mood.

One distinctive feature of Brown's is that it offers a vast number of respectable wines by the glass.  I counted over a hundred, and the youg sommelier claimed two hundred.  Sadly, some that I chose were not available.  Commitment to this list must risk a lot of wastage, and I did develop a suspicion that the sommelier was reluctant to open new bottles just to pour me a glass.  He told me that he was just closing that list and was about to present a new list for Spring/Summer.  Good for the restaurant, but of course not much good for me.  Nonetheless, I did get an interesting glass of something red - my notes are lousy, but I see the name Henschke.  I should look it up.

Adequate cheeses, except for the L'Ami de Chambertin.  I ate three samples of this in the UK, and they were all unripe.  I strongly suspect that this relates to modified processes at the manufacturer, Berthaud, as I have had the identical problem with Epoisses in New York.  Currently, the Soumaintrain is the only rind-washed Berthaud cheese to risk - I am as yet undecided on the Affidelice.  1837 also exhibited another habit common to all three restaurants in this review:  the cheese service is accompanied by a long explanation, which I try to cut short by showing that I can identify the cheeses on offer without being told their names.  But I can't seem to stop the server telling me the order in which I should eat the cheeses.  Annoying, and in any case, since the cheeses were rarely properly ripened, the advice was in each case wrong.

I got back in the saddle at The Capital.  I had eaten in the small, pretty hotel dining room before, and I had eaten Eric Chavot's food elsewhere, but this was the first time I had experienced Chavot at The Capital.  Very classy operation, with excellent service from a French waitress and an Australian sommelier.  Amuse guele was a rich, dark green cup of asparagus soup.  The dishes which followed suggested that Chavot spends his spare time eating fry ups in corner caffs for menu ideas.  Good, fresh langoustine were accompanied by crisp rashers of pancetta, and a potato/vegetable cake which can only be described as bubble and squeak.  An unexplained side dish, which simply appeared to be an additional appetizer, was a portion of excellent Welsh rabbit.  My dining companions found a lot of fried quails' eggs garnishing their dishes.  The Capital should open for breakfast.

I recalled Chavot's rabbit leg stuffed with squid from his Interlude days, and ordered what turned out to be a sophisticated elaboration of the dish.  Torchons formed by wrapping tender squid in a rabbit forcemeat, secured again with pancetta; slices of rabbit saddle, with its crisply fried liver; a garnish of light, fried and battered calamari.  Great technique and good to eat.  First rate cheeses - apart from L'Ami again - and an unnecessary dessert, mint vacherin in chocolate.  Several trays of petits fours and chocolates made dessert doubly unnecessary.  Two extremes with the wine - a ninteen quid (yes, truly) viognier to start the meal, followed by a 1989 Cote Rotie which topped three figures.  Both good for what they were.  Then there was the Calvados...

Finally, I enjoyed a trip into the New Forest on a rare sunny day; lunch at Le Poussin, a stately home converted into a hotel restaurant.  Details and prices are clickable here.  Lunch on Saturday, we were the only guests in the restaurant, with views of rolling lawns and the waitstaff to ourselves (they did claim to be full for Saturday dinner and Sunday lunch, and indeed hotel guests were arriving as we left).  We enjoyed aperitifs and canapes, and later coffee, in various lounges and drawing rooms.  The cooking did not have Chavot's precision, but it was certainly luxurious.  A cup of celeriac soup with truffle oil; ballotine of quail stuffed with a truffle mousse - velvety texture, slightly salty; poached fillet of beef; English cheeses (no L'Ami this time).  The four wines paired with the cheeses were perhaps an overindulgence at lunchtime  

The interesting dish was the beef.  Alex Aitken had taken a quality cut of fillet, then apparently poached  very slowly in merlot.  It was served rare.  I am aware of methods for quickly poaching beef, but the maitre d' insisted that a long cooking time had been necessary for the beef to become fully infused with the wine.  It certainly worked; the beef and the wine sauce had exchanged flavors, and the latter especially was quite delicious.  For a fiver, you could cap the beef with a slice of foie gras; I did, but it didn't add to the dish.

Also enjoyed the wine, a Les Baux de Provence, Domaine Hauvette '96.  Silky and posh.

There you go - and I swore not to write long reviews here....

[cabrales]

There you go - and I swore not to write long reviews here....

Wilfrid -- I appreciated your long reviews  

[Andy Lynes]

I ate at the original Le Poussin (now called Simply Poussin) in the high street in Brockenhurst a number of times as I used to work a bit in Southampton which is a short train ride away. The first dinner I had there, I was their only customer all night and Alex served me some of the dishes himself. He ended up giving me a lift back to the station which was really nice of him I thought. I also spent an evening in his kitchen after I had finished work on another occasion. He told me he would usually have the tele on but turned it off in my honour! he gave me an enourmous bowl of braised venison for my troubles and a nice glass of red to go with it! His food really knocked me out, really gutsy and generous with it.  

Alex's son used to work in the restaurant as sommelier but then moved up North. I was working in Preston where the only decent place to eat is Heathcotes brasserie and so I ended up there most nights. Who should be the restaurant manager there but none other than Alex Aitkin's son. A small world etc etc.

[Wilfrid]

Yes, we ran into Alex wandering the halls in his whites, and he seemed a very affable chap.  Hope he makes a go of the project, which is certainly quite ambitious.

[Gavin Jones]

I ate once at interlude de chavot, and was also struck by the po-mo'd fry-up.

I recall a starter which had fried quails egg, fried pancetta, a fried slice of brioche (?) and a single baked bean + a couple of other things.

I was amused, but slightly disconcerted - i suppose breakfast could be construed as the day's starter.

[Wilfrid]

Mmm, now I think of it, that little Welsh rabbit probably used brioche toast.

Also, another woeful memory lapse.  One of the things that triggered my breakdown over the lamb at 1837 was that, with the wine making a slow appearance, the dish got sent back as stone cold.  Not uncommon in Wilfrid's universe.

[yvonne johnson]

Later this summer, consort and me are thinking of staying in the (near London) countryside for a few nights.  I can see you enjoyed your meal at Le Poussin, Wilfrid.  Would you (and other eGulletarians) recommend staying at the Hotel, that is, making the effort to stay a night or two?  The food looks a little fancy, in the photos http://www.lepoussin.co.uk/, and I was thinking more than one meal might be over the top.

Maybe I'll ask a general question about week-end places on another new thread.

On Brown's Hotel, I've not been there in yonks, but I liked the place 20 years ago. You could get a lovely cup of tea in the beautiful lounge, and they wouldn't push sandwiches and cakes on a group of poor students.

[Andy Lynes]

You could always do "Simply Poussin" on the second night of course.

[Wilfrid]

Yvonne, Le Poussin had a complicated but comprehensive set of packages allowing you to eat relatively simple meals including the cost in your accommodation, or pay supplements to get into the more expensive carte or tasting menus.  If it's not all there on the web-site and you are interested, let me know.  I picked up various brochures.  My feeling was that the food was very good value but that the room prices were steep.

[Wilfrid]

Nonetheless, I did get an interesting glass of something red - my notes are lousy, but I see the name Henschke.  I should look it up.

Like a good eGulleter I did, and here's the chap:

Henschke Keyneton Estate

Memorably good.