Tonight was my monthly(ish) dinner date with ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
themidnightgirl, and this time we went to Bluebird in Chelsea. This was a very well executed meal, and although there was nothing that quite hit the "Outstanding" mark, every single course did what it was trying to do absolutely faultlessly. To add to that, the wine was also rather good; an Oregonian Pinot Gris that was quite heavily oaked, giving it enough body to stand up to the more strongly flavoured dishes, but with enough sharpness to add complexity and character.
For a starter I had a leek vinegrette, topped with shredded crab and capers. This was less vinegrettey than I was expecting, but the little there was dribbled around the plate was delicious. The leek was cooked just right - still a little bite to the texture, but soft enough to slip and slide in your mouth amidst the topping. The crab was perhaps a little underwhelming in flavour, but it's a very delicate meat at the best of times, and it had a sublime texture. I was particuarly impressed by the capers. For a long time I didn't like these strange flowers, but am in recent years very much a convert. Nonetheless they are often very overpowering, and tend to dominate any dish they are part of, unless paired with similarly strong flavours such as olives or anchovies. In this though, perhaps they found very young flowers or something, but however they did it, they got all that complex musky saltiness and then turned the volume down, so I could enjoy it (and I did) without losing out on the leek and crab and herbs and dressing.
Robert had the old spot pork with piccalilli. The mouthful I tasted was very nice, although the least good match for the wine of the things we ate. The pickle was sharp, and the pork salty and tender, but I didn't spend enough time with it to go into detail.
For my main course I had grilled cornish sardines, with a pine nut, lemon, garlic, and parsley crust,and an olive jam on the side. This was the thing that came closest to getting into my "Outstanding Food" mental file. It was really good. There was, obviously, a lot of salt in this, between the sardines and the olives. Nonetheless, it managed a great deal of complexity, a lot of that back-of-the-palate fishy flavour, and a nice garlicky kick. I don't really think I can do it justice in describing it, but will certainly be trying to recreate it. One unfortunate drawback to this course was that other than half a roast tomato it didn't come with any sides, but the waiter didn't think to ask if I wanted anything with it when I ordered.
Fortunately Robert was kind enough to let me steal about a quarter of his main, which was the fish pie. This was another example of absolutely unimpeachable execution of what it was aiming for. Now there is only so high one can aim with a fish pie, but this really did hit the pinnacle. The fish was salmon - cooked long enough to be very tender, but still retaining a good deal of flavour; but what really stood out was the mashed potato topping, which was almost impossibly airy, and the tarragon sauce, which was buttery and smooth and had just the right amount of spicy herby flavour.
For dessert Robert chose the poached pears with cinnamon ice-cream and I had the strawberry savarin. I didn't like to admit beforehand that I didn't actually know what a savarin was, but it turns out to be a sponge soaked in a sweet, honey'd dessert wine - much like a lighter version of the rum-baba. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it was delicious, and I'd love to know how they manage to get the wine to soak through without making the sponge soggy. Robert's pears were also delicious, and from the one bite I had probably the better choice, but I'm not sure that's enough for me to speak of the details.
All in all, I was really quite impressed with this place, and although the drinks are quite expensive, if you go there for lunch and have the set menu it would work out startlingly cheap. The only real criticism I have is of a few small flaws in the service. The failure to mention the lack of sides with my main course I already mentioned. Also they took a long time to come and take our orders (although the food arrived promptly once they had), and the wine was a little over chilled. Still, small quibbles, and overall a very good meal.
themidnightgirl, and this time we went to Bluebird in Chelsea. This was a very well executed meal, and although there was nothing that quite hit the "Outstanding" mark, every single course did what it was trying to do absolutely faultlessly. To add to that, the wine was also rather good; an Oregonian Pinot Gris that was quite heavily oaked, giving it enough body to stand up to the more strongly flavoured dishes, but with enough sharpness to add complexity and character.For a starter I had a leek vinegrette, topped with shredded crab and capers. This was less vinegrettey than I was expecting, but the little there was dribbled around the plate was delicious. The leek was cooked just right - still a little bite to the texture, but soft enough to slip and slide in your mouth amidst the topping. The crab was perhaps a little underwhelming in flavour, but it's a very delicate meat at the best of times, and it had a sublime texture. I was particuarly impressed by the capers. For a long time I didn't like these strange flowers, but am in recent years very much a convert. Nonetheless they are often very overpowering, and tend to dominate any dish they are part of, unless paired with similarly strong flavours such as olives or anchovies. In this though, perhaps they found very young flowers or something, but however they did it, they got all that complex musky saltiness and then turned the volume down, so I could enjoy it (and I did) without losing out on the leek and crab and herbs and dressing.
Robert had the old spot pork with piccalilli. The mouthful I tasted was very nice, although the least good match for the wine of the things we ate. The pickle was sharp, and the pork salty and tender, but I didn't spend enough time with it to go into detail.
For my main course I had grilled cornish sardines, with a pine nut, lemon, garlic, and parsley crust,and an olive jam on the side. This was the thing that came closest to getting into my "Outstanding Food" mental file. It was really good. There was, obviously, a lot of salt in this, between the sardines and the olives. Nonetheless, it managed a great deal of complexity, a lot of that back-of-the-palate fishy flavour, and a nice garlicky kick. I don't really think I can do it justice in describing it, but will certainly be trying to recreate it. One unfortunate drawback to this course was that other than half a roast tomato it didn't come with any sides, but the waiter didn't think to ask if I wanted anything with it when I ordered.
Fortunately Robert was kind enough to let me steal about a quarter of his main, which was the fish pie. This was another example of absolutely unimpeachable execution of what it was aiming for. Now there is only so high one can aim with a fish pie, but this really did hit the pinnacle. The fish was salmon - cooked long enough to be very tender, but still retaining a good deal of flavour; but what really stood out was the mashed potato topping, which was almost impossibly airy, and the tarragon sauce, which was buttery and smooth and had just the right amount of spicy herby flavour.
For dessert Robert chose the poached pears with cinnamon ice-cream and I had the strawberry savarin. I didn't like to admit beforehand that I didn't actually know what a savarin was, but it turns out to be a sponge soaked in a sweet, honey'd dessert wine - much like a lighter version of the rum-baba. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it was delicious, and I'd love to know how they manage to get the wine to soak through without making the sponge soggy. Robert's pears were also delicious, and from the one bite I had probably the better choice, but I'm not sure that's enough for me to speak of the details.
All in all, I was really quite impressed with this place, and although the drinks are quite expensive, if you go there for lunch and have the set menu it would work out startlingly cheap. The only real criticism I have is of a few small flaws in the service. The failure to mention the lack of sides with my main course I already mentioned. Also they took a long time to come and take our orders (although the food arrived promptly once they had), and the wine was a little over chilled. Still, small quibbles, and overall a very good meal.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-08 07:08 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-05-08 09:25 am (UTC)From:I also didn't know capers were flowers. Are they usually pickled, or is the taste just inherent?
no subject
Date: 2009-05-10 04:27 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-05-10 09:31 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-05-10 09:33 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-05-08 04:28 pm (UTC)From: