Merchant House/Hibiscus

[SamanthaF]

Sam and I are dining at Merchant House 11th Oct and lunching Hibiscus 12th (couldn't get dinner).  I'm planning a pub crawl Saturday night

Just returned from Ludlow feeling fat and happy!

We were very lucky that our Lunch table at Hibiscus was changed to a dinner table. On the way down to the Merchant House we popped into Hibiscus to confirm the next days reservation and let them know that if they could, we would rather a dinner res. instead. (wishful thinking)

Imagine our surprise, when at the end of our meal at MH, Shaun called across the room to say that Hibiscus were on the phone and would we like a table the next night at 7.30?

A great trip to Ludlow with fantastic food. More details later....

[Andy Lynes]

You wouldn't get that in London would you?

Look forward to all the details.

[Scottf]

Friday was dinner at The Merchant House. We had a pre dinner drink at the pub next door (Unicorn) and were seated in the restaurant at 8.30. As mentioned in previous posts and threads the dining room is small with just 7 tables and all unsurprisingly were occupied.

The menu is £32 set 3 courses incl. service and was the following:

Calf’s sweetbreads with potato and olive cake

Sautéed scallops with lentil and coriander sauce

Pike quenelle with shrimps and dill

Roast quail with parsley risotto

Roast turbot with lemon and mustard sauce

Wild duck with celeriac and morel mushroom sauce

Rack of lamb with herbs and red wine sauce

Saddle of venison with foie gras

Panettone bread and butter pudding

Somloi (Hungary’s version of trifle)

Muscat crème caramel with prunes

Iced passion fruit parfait

Cheese

The meal began with an assortment of canapés and fresh warm breads.

Sam had scallops and the wild duck. The scallops were halved into 6 and cooked perfectly rare. The sauce bordered on a very light, subtle curry flavour, which I enjoyed mopping up with the excellent white bread.

The Wild duck was served pink breast sliced on celeriac mash with both legs having been roasted in perhaps honey (slightly sweet and sticky). A potato rosti and a bundle of assorted veggies completed this rather large main! The morel sauce was simply meat juices and stock and was exceptionally tasty. The breast was tender, much darker in colour than farmed duck and tasted much gamier, more to Sam’s preference.

I had quail and venison. It’s probably very easy to overcook such a small bird but this baby was cooked with an assured hand and was beautifully tender. The risotto was a good foil and to be honest reminded us both of fresh cut grass.

The venison. Superb. Even better than La Trompette and two divisions above Daniel (NY). Gloriously pink, meltingly tender. Sat atop some mini garlic roasties with a pile of mixed vegetables the other side of the plate. And a not insignificant piece of foie that Sam couldn’t keep her eyes off. It’s the one ingredient I can trade in small amounts for rather larger gains!

Desserts were the bread and butter pudding for Sammy and The passion fruit parfait for me. The b&b pudding was comparable to the Rhodes’ version I had earlier this year whilst the parfait was well flavoured and came with banana ice cream.

We drank a 2000 Pouilly Fume (forgotten supplier), which was very nice (£23.50).

Total bill was £87.50, a true bargain.

We both really enjoyed Shaun’s style of cooking, nothing groundbreaking, but beautifully prepared and cooked ingredients not overcomplicated with froths here and jellies there.

He took some time at the end of our meal to talk about Egullet and Keith Floyd (!), and we thanked him for his earlier q&a which he really enjoyed doing. I was going to begin a new thread titled “The chef fucker gets fucked” following Shaun’s next comment on Andy – “I love it when Andy periodically comes to work in the kitchen as I can bully him”, but didn’t think it had particular mileage so I’ve added it here instead as it did need repeating!

We’ll be going back to Ludlow especially to eat at The Merchant House again.

[Charlene Leonard]

how far in advance do you think you need to book The Merchant House and accommodation?

Scott and Sam - where did you stay?

C

[Bapi]

...didn't quite get the foodie obsession I now have, until a life affirming meal at The Merchant House , Ludlow way back in 1999. Scallops with Corriander and Lentils, followed by the pinkest venison , with foie gras. I'm afraid I have Shaun Hill to thank for my ever diminishing disposable income and the fact that I had to sell a kidney to fund my eating out (the last bit is a slight embellishment).

Oh hell- ballsed up quote thing again. But anyway, its mine from way back when.

ScottF thanks for the informative post- delighted to hear the Venison dish was back on the menu it was truly memorable when I had it a few years back. It will hopefully still be on when we go there in a couple of weeks time.

But No details on Hibiscus , or are they to come?

Charlene: I spoke to Mr Hill when booking our lunch as we really wanted to go for dinner (although we will almost certainly not have the same luck as Scott and Sam did getting into Hibiscus) as he said that they are now booked for weekend dinners until the new year!!

[Andy Lynes]

“I love it when Andy periodically comes to work in the kitchen as I can bully him”

I have only had the opportunity to work in Shaun's kitchen once about 6 years ago. It was a very enjoyable afternoon/evening which I spent peeling potatos, making canapes, gossiping and generaly getting in the way. Shaun made a lovely goulash for the staff meal which I was lucky enough to be asked to join.

The most memorable moment for me realising that in the 20 minutes or so I had spent concentrating very hard wrapping slices of fig in parma ham in a rather cack-handed manner, Shaun had finished all the sauces for that evenings service, including a hollandaise. Amazing skill and speed of execution.

Whenever I have been back since it has been to eat, but I do usually nip next door to the Unicorn pub and get a round of drinks in, then stand in the kitchen, quaffing lager like the complete heathen I actually am until Shaun turfs me out and I stagger back to the B&B.

[Scottf]

“I love it when Andy periodically comes to work in the kitchen as I can bully him”

I have only had the opportunity to work in Shaun's kitchen once about 6 years ago. It was a very enjoyable afternoon/evening which I spent peeling potatos, making canapes, gossiping and generaly getting in the way. Shaun made a lovely goulash for the staff meal which I was lucky enough to be asked to join.

The most memorable moment for me realising that in the 20 minutes or so I had spent concentrating very hard wrapping slices of fig in parma ham in a rather cack-handed manner, Shaun had finished all the sauces for that evenings service, including a hollandaise. Amazing skill and speed of execution.

Whenever I have been back since it has been to eat, but I do usually nip next door to the Unicorn pub and get a round of drinks in, then stand in the kitchen, quaffing lager like the complete heathen I actually am until Shaun turfs me out and I stagger back to the B&B.

I hope I haven't misquoted Shaun there Andy

Bapi, Hibiscus details to follow once I've made my mind up how it went, though I can tell you we had the degustation menu.

Charlene, we booked retaurants around 1 mth in advance and accomodation soon after. It's not hard to understand why they're so full with such limited space at each. We stayed at a guesthouse called Mirabeau in a quiet street called Linney behind the church. It is run by a very camp man called Ken who was entertaining to say the least.

It's a 4 storey townhouse built around 1810 and it was absolutely cluttered with antiques, paintings, silverware, china etc.

Both Shaun and Claire Bosi knew of Ken's reputation as a chef in the 70's, and both had a giggle when we told them where we were staying

[Andy Lynes]

Bapi, Hibiscus details to follow once I've made my mind up how it went, though I can tell you we had the degustation menu.

That sounds interesting, don't keep us waiting too long.

[Scottf]

Sam's in Amsterdam at the moment and I can't remember all the details without her help as I made a conscious effort not to get embroiled deeply in notes or analysis to the detriment of the meal. So as soon as she's back on Wednesday evening I'll try to at least post what dishes we had, hopefully in the correct order

[Andy Lynes]

Ok, look forward to it.

[Bapi]

Sam's in Amsterdam at the moment and I can't remember all the details without her help as I made a conscious effort not to get embroiled deeply in notes or analysis to the detriment of the meal.  So as soon as she's back on Wednesday evening I'll try to at least post what dishes we had, hopefully in the correct order    

Marvellous- glad to hear you are just as senile as I without the other half being around .

Look forward to the details on Wednesday.

A hint about what wines you had as well would be appreciated.

[Scottf]

I can do that bit

2 glasses of Pol Roger @ £7 a piece and a bottle of Triennes Viognier 1998 @ £25.

[SamanthaF]

Marvellous- glad to hear you are just as senile as I without the other half being around .

They know you so well darling!

Off to Blakes in the 'Dam tonight.

[Charlene Leonard]

Sam - if you are in Amsterdam at the mo I recommend 't Jagershuis, Amstelzijde 2-4, 1184 VA Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, it's about a 15 min taxi ride outside of central Amsterdam. I had a very lovely meal there about 2 weeks ago.

all in Dutch but you can look at the pictures!

[Scottf]

As promised a ballsed up version of our meal at Hibiscus. Really liked the dining room and we were in the 2nd half that I'd liken to a cave!

Service was a strong point, we struck up a rapport with Claire straight away, and the other French server was also good, however we felt the gaps between the main courses were far too long in relation to the rest of the meal.

The meal started with canapes which we took with the Pol Roger.

Amuse was lentil soup with shards of bacon presented in a broken egg shell.

From this point onward I've forgotten a dish somewhere along the line and I'm sure the order is wrong. For some reason I can only really remember the main ingredient of each dish too, a great report eh

Scallop with peanut butter froth - scallop cut so thin slightly overcooked to our tastes. Sam wasn't keen on the peanut butter flavour with the scallop.

Frog leg macaroni - 2 macaroni filled with a creamy frog leg mixture. Very tasty but would never have guessed frog legs unless told.

Crispy galette of pigs trotter - Can't remember much about this one

Brill - The main fish course and a very nice piece of fish and I remember saying how much I enjoyed it at the time.

Veal, puree of Mucavado sugar, confit shallots and carrots - Veal was bland which was disappointing.

Glass of Celeriac jelly with apple puree and hazelnut cream - An interesting mixture of flavours that I thought worked very well.

Roasted Pineapple, vanilla ice cream - fine

Espresso sorbet, Whisky creme anglaise - Pity I don't like coffee in pudding form, and I don't like Whisky either

So that was that. Claude likes to get his flavours from different purees rather than solid substances or actual sauces which suits a lazy eating style.

Most of the cooking was of a high standard, but I wonder if we as a couple aren't suited by multi course menus which is maybe why we don't appear as enthusiastic as other members who've dined there. However we will definitely return when back in Ludlow, but to eat off the carte.

[Tonyfinch]

Scott, I struggle with the whole concept of long tasting menus. I know that they're the thing to have in certain high end restaurants but I react instinctively against them. They always seem to me to be a bit like eating a series of gourmet tapas, which is OK if you want tapas, but it never feels to me like a "proper" meal.

When I read accounts by other members of long tasting menus on say the French board I rarely feel that I want to go out and eat that meal,or an equivalent.

At Hibiscus it must be popular or Claude wouldn't do it but we went for the carte and had a more satisfying meal than yours sounded like

[Scottf]

I basically forced Sam into having the tasting menu as there was a few dishes I wanted to try from previous threads. Ironically none of these were on the menu

Sam struggles as she gets full just looking at food so when presented with a series of dishes, she's done after 4 or 5. I tend to find the most enjoyable dishes are those served in the smallest quantity so are gone after a few mouthfuls.

We also noted a couple of dishes in, that the courses were all from the carte, so we started to pre empt the service hoping for this or that over the other - and of course it didn't work out that way

Plus we'd been drinking (slowly I might add) since around 12, and only got to see the 1st half of the football, so perhaps our mindset wasn't right for 31/2 hours of eating either.

[Scottf]

In a moment of inspiration Sam's remembered the missing dish from the above account:

Tartare of langoustine with vanilla, and very nice it was too

[Andy Lynes]

Plus we'd been drinking (slowly I might add) since around 12....

The truth will out. I'm surprised you could still manage to bring a fork to your mouth after that.

[John Whiting]

For me, tasting menus are in the tradition of the church potluck suppers I grew up with. Nothing makes me happier than a buffet with infinite variety to which I can help myself. Now -- who is going to be the first three-starred genius to come up with the haute-cuisine buffet? Or the haute-cuisine basque banquet, everybody sit down at the same time, where all the dainty tit-bits come on platters?

[Andy Lynes]

telegraph review of Hibiscus click it, click it good

[Bapi]

ScottF - a belated thanks for your post. As I indicated to you privately, our meal at Hibiscus this Friday, had to be cancelled due our friend's grandmother passing away. However, I explained this to Claire Bosi, who was very understanding and managed to fit the four of us in on Saturday night, but a bit later in the evening. The woman is a veritable poppet, as our friends were extremely disappointed about the prospect of missing out.

We too had a similar langoustine dish last time, but on that occasion it was bound with truffle butter, which was excellent.

Andy- thanks for the link to the Jan Moir article link.

Also managed to sneak in for a late meal on thursday at The Merchant House. Although, I will have to leave work in London early, and drive like the tw*t my wife tells me I am, to get there in time. I recommend avoiding the M40 on Thursday evening- at all costs.

Friday night - we are trying the Japanese place in Ludlow called Koo. Has anyone been?

Will report back with details next week

[Scottf]

There's an interesting letter in today's Sunday Times re. Hibiscus.

[Andy Lynes]

And it said.....?

[Scottf]

Can't you decipher through my detailed post Andy?

Sorry for the vagueness. I suppose 2 bottles of champagne, a bottle of Burgundy, a Claret, a bottle of port and a bottle of Viognier can scramble the brain

Right, the letter alledges that a customer commented on portion sizes in the comment book after the main course of a meal at Hibiscus. The book was removed from the table by the management and a few minutes later the customer was asked to leave before dessert.

Obviously only one side of the story - I don't know why I posted it really