Tuesday 5 August 2008

The Devonshire, again. Or should that be never again?

Sunday lunch, with the culprits from the night before, some nursing hangovers, others mild indigestion.

It is a convivial place to meet but unfortunately in the food department it was lacking. It was slightly disconcerting that, on two occasions, the staff who seemed to be a little more hungover than we were (or at least that's what I am attributing their incompetence to), had to go back to the kitchen to find out the answers to two seemingly straightforward questions:
1. what are today's specials?
2. what cut of lamb is the lamb on the main menu?

These initial hurdles led us onto what can only be described as a mediocre meal. I compare this sadly to the last time we were here when I was in raptours over the rabbit in mustard which I would eat again in a shot. How droll.
I started with the squid with spring onion. No mention was made anywhere of this being so heavily battered as to be obscured, which it was.



I was expecting a lightly salted barely cooked squid but obviously was expecting too much. Other incongruities were the poached egg with anchovies



I expected them to be white anchovies but they were the salty brown ones, which I do have a soft spot for, that seemed a bit over-powering for a dish that seemed light in it's conception.



pea soup- this was acutally described as delicious, so one of the standout dishes of the meal



pork terrine

Then onto the mains, I had the lamb which turned out to be a rump of. I had asked for this to be cooked medium-rare but it came, what I would call well-done, with not a inch of pink in sight. I think I swapped most of it away. Other mains included sea-bream





Cottage porter pie-this was all potato and no meat



and roast pork, which apparently tasted as good as it looked, therefore pretty tasty.

As you can see it all looked good but I think it is a case of style over substance.
We walked out and passed La Trompette which has 3 courses of Sunday lunch at £30. Compared to the £45 I had just dropped at the Devonshire it seemed like we had been had. I do not think I will be going back to the Devonshire.

2 comments:

Neill Alexander said...

I don't think you've given the pea soup enough credit. It was absolutely delicious. And the roast was also good. But yes, next time we should try the trumpet.

curious eater said...

Hello! You are quite right. I don't think I tasted the soup or the roast nor did I ask what folk thought of them, so I shall amend my post in the interests of fairness! Trumpet or Claridges?!