How often do we go out for an English meal? Who even knows what one is anyway, Chicken Tikka Masala, Spag Bol? Well, this is a celebration of Great British ingredients and each dish is based on fresh, seasonal produce. There are no fancy sauces or garnishes with poncey French names nor foams, emulsions or liquid nitrogen. What you see is what you get.
To start we had the Mackerel tartare with cucumber, elderflower and gooseberry. This was brought to life by some chili and lime and just made me hungrier than ever. The roasted artichoke with girolles and samphire had great texture and a naturally salty, earthy deep taste. Both dishes were accompanied by a delightful Viognier.
For main we had Rump of Veal with juicy sweet onions and sage and Devilled Mackerel with plum tomatoes. You have to order additional sides which I feel a tad cheeky but the jersey royals and spring greens were summer on a plate on their own. With the Veal I had a glass of Chateau Musar which at £6 a go is an absolute bargain. It's one of my favourite wines and for me made the meal. I was so overcome in fact, I forgot to take any pics of the mains!
For pud, we opted for a couple of the lighter dishes. The Bourbon marinated pineapple with toasted marshmallow was inspired, whilst Mrs Beeton's snow egg, a poached meringue filled with marmalade, topped with crunchy toasted almonds and set on a pond of custard was as gentle a dessert as there is.
For two people, three courses with wine equates at about £55 per head including tip, but also a disappointing cover charge of £2pp which I thought we'd seen the last off. Nevertheless, for a taste of nostalgia I can highly recommend this venue.
Really excellent Gilbert Scott restaurant !! I’m really impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your blog with good information about Catering Midland for me.
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