I've got a ridiculously long list of restaurants that I've been to and not written up, and I keep not writing them up because the list is offputtingly long, so I'm just going to start with the most recent ones and if I don't ever get back to the earlier ones that's okay.
Picture was the venue for my most recent dinner with![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
themidnightgirl. They do a six course tasting menu, for the impressively reasonable price of £45.
They started on an excellent note with an amuse bouche of a pork croquette, the meat meltingly tender with a feisty chilli kick, served in a pungent aioli. The next couple of courses were a little bit safe, and things that I felt I could equally well at home, but still pleasant enough. After that there was a definite step up with a well conceived and executed pork and pistachio terrine. The haddock brandade with the intriguing sounding crisp egg (a perfectly poached egg with a crisp breadcrumb coating) was the high point of the meal - posh comfort food done just right. The main course, beef fillet with baked celeriac and puy lentils, was also very good, and gets bonus points because the main course of tasting menus is so often disappointingly pedestrian.
There was a bonus cheese course for a £10 supplement, and let's face it, I never say no to cheese, but it was actually a little disappointing. The cheddar was a very good example, but it's just a type of cheese that I'm not overwhelmingly keen on. There was a Waterloo, which is a little mild for my preferences - give me a nice stinky brie or Camembert any day. And finally a Cashel blue, which was my favourite of the three. Pudding was decent - chocolate mousse, "milk jam", and salted caramel. The "jam" was actually another mousse, and the flavours went well together, but like the first couple of courses it felt a little bit unimaginative.
All in all, it was a good meal from start to finish with no real missteps, and a couple of really shining courses, and at about £180 for two, very good value for a meal of this time. Also worth noting was the home made soft drinks, especially the ginger beer, which had some unusual herbal aromatics and was absolutely delicious.
Picture was the venue for my most recent dinner with
themidnightgirl. They do a six course tasting menu, for the impressively reasonable price of £45. They started on an excellent note with an amuse bouche of a pork croquette, the meat meltingly tender with a feisty chilli kick, served in a pungent aioli. The next couple of courses were a little bit safe, and things that I felt I could equally well at home, but still pleasant enough. After that there was a definite step up with a well conceived and executed pork and pistachio terrine. The haddock brandade with the intriguing sounding crisp egg (a perfectly poached egg with a crisp breadcrumb coating) was the high point of the meal - posh comfort food done just right. The main course, beef fillet with baked celeriac and puy lentils, was also very good, and gets bonus points because the main course of tasting menus is so often disappointingly pedestrian.
There was a bonus cheese course for a £10 supplement, and let's face it, I never say no to cheese, but it was actually a little disappointing. The cheddar was a very good example, but it's just a type of cheese that I'm not overwhelmingly keen on. There was a Waterloo, which is a little mild for my preferences - give me a nice stinky brie or Camembert any day. And finally a Cashel blue, which was my favourite of the three. Pudding was decent - chocolate mousse, "milk jam", and salted caramel. The "jam" was actually another mousse, and the flavours went well together, but like the first couple of courses it felt a little bit unimaginative.
All in all, it was a good meal from start to finish with no real missteps, and a couple of really shining courses, and at about £180 for two, very good value for a meal of this time. Also worth noting was the home made soft drinks, especially the ginger beer, which had some unusual herbal aromatics and was absolutely delicious.
