21212

What I have to say about this place will not go down well with some folk especially those who like Paul Kitching's previous venture, Juniper, down Manchester way.

I did not enjoy this meal, in fact I was relieved when it ended, and thats not happened in a long time. Call me old fashioned, call me a philistine, insult my intelligence but I failed to see the point. The Emperors new clothes perhaps.. I tried all of the many ingredients seperately, I tried them all together and I was not bowled over by either the individual quality or provenance of the ingredients, nor the techniques involved. As far as experimental goes I have had more interesting meals at Sat Bains or Maze, and certainly in Barcelona. At no point did I say mmh with delight or close my eyes with pleasure. This meal was not about good mouthfeel or happy tummy taste. It was about having to refer to the menu repeatedly to figure out what I had just eaten and wonder why I had been made to eat it.

The positives were the environment, a lot of money had been spent on the refurbishment and it showed. The staff were very helpful and friendly and maybe it was my imagination but I thought they were a little embaressed at having to explain why there is no wine pairing (too many flavours therefore too difficult) or why the coffee comes in paper cups(ranging from the chef is quirky to it retains heat better(!)). Katie was there and she is very personable but thats about all the positive I have to say.

Apologies for the photos they were taken on my iPhone.



The bread with no butter or olive oil for that matter. Fruit and curry paste essentially, and it wasn't even warm.



My first course of 'tender spicy pork fillet,smkoed bacon and sage,babyglobe artichokes, cauliflower and hazelnut oil, pinenuts, sweetcorn, carrot confit, mangetout, peas, HP fruity and dried orange' was not hot or warm but cold with some warm bits. I didn't know if that was intentional or not. It had been cooked sous-vide and cut up into cubes to match the cubes of carrot. The other annoying thing was the bowl it was served in, which made it difficult to cut up the food and to eat it. The portion size was also on the small side but given the fact I didn't enjoy it, wasn't a bad thing. The problem with it was the overwhelming taste of Sharwoods curry powder which I hate. Given the myriad of spice avaialable thee days and the potential versitility of pork it seems lazy and not retro to use this pedestrian flavouring.



HI's first course was 'creamy smoked risotto of gruyere cheese, smoked haddock confit,caviar and smoked salmon,cucumber,figs, brazil nuts,saffron,fresh dill and argan oil sauce' The haddock itself was creamy and again quite pleasant by itself but together with the rest of it was, meh?

HI had opted to have the soup course which worked out at £10 for a very small bowl of soup. Again it had about three layers of cream of celeriac with asparagus foam and something in between but although it was quite pleasant it was not different to any other asparagus veloutes that we have had.



My main was 'very tender fillet of beef with apricots and walnuts, white asparagus, button mushrooms and onions, blue cheese kebab, boiled rice sweet potatoes, with a sauce of spinach ,nutmeg and garden pea cream.' Indeed this sounds like not one dishes but two. The first half is quite a traditional combination of beef friendly ingredients but the second half? A gourmet version of a drunken visit to the kebab shop?
Again the meat was sous-vide which although gives a tender result makes it curiosuly devoid of any character, and again was cut into cubes. Which were to be eaten with this curiously bovine implement.





HI had the 'slowed baked fillets of young pink trout,tomato and melon confit,pasta twirls, almonds, parsnips, black sesame seed, kidney beans, grated courgette, parmentier potatoes, meaux mustard cream sauce,garlic mayonnaise, fresh mint'

I can't tell you what he thought about it becuase he said nothing about it which is never a good sign.



I had the cheese course and I guess I have been spoiled by the cheese trolly at Martin Wishart because I don't like having my cheese picked for me.


Having said that the portions were generous and the dried apricots were nice.



Then there was the cow with the porridge milk with lavender which was pleasant but tasted like my son's breakfast.

On to the puddings which were the best course of the meal.



I had the 'crispy baked lemon curd with ginger nut crunch, granny smith, soft vanilla sticky rice and sultanas and crabbies giger wine eggy anglaise'
The lemon curd was very good creamy and tart at the same time. This would have been enough by itself but was spolied by the additional sticky rice which unfortunately looked very similar to the bolied rice of my main course.



HI's 'layered classical italian trifle,marscapone cheese, summer soft red fruit puree, bananna,vanilla sponge, praline, coconut, oatmeal, kahlua and baileys white chocolate anglaise' was very good and had a bit of an alcoholic kick which by this point HI was in dire need of.

Suffice to say we shall not return. This is of course only my opinion as there were two men there who had been for lunch only the week before. However, I could not get the thought out of my mind that this was someones idea of a joke-lets give some folk who have foodie inclinations a mish mash of ingredients in some annoying crockery and sit back and laugh whilst they try to make sense out of it and give it praise.
Not for me.

Martin Wishart: a final fling.

Whilst preparing for our trip down to London at the end of June, I read about the best lunch deals in the big smoke and it was while I was reading about the fabulous lunch at Le Gavroche, it suddenly hit me: I am not going to be able to have that lunch for a long long time. This trip to London will be our last before the arrival of He who must be obeyed and, although we are able to fit in a couple of dinners we will not have time for lunch, due to getting the train there and back and attending a wedding. So, with fine dining opportunities becoming scarce I was suddenly overwhelmed with an urge to fit in one last fancy meal.

Where to have such a meal?
Martin Wishart of course.

I did consider other places. I looked at Kitchin's menu, nothing took my fancy, Plumed Horse, same again, Wedgewood, nope, Grainstore not this time. I did fleetingly consider Paul Kitching's new place 21212. He certainly has a band of loyal followers judging by the posts on egullet. The place only opened on Thursday, and I usually like to give a place to relax into itself before visiting, especially if it involves the long and arduous drive from Glasgow to Edinburgh (!). I read the reports on egullet with interest but it all sounds a bit gimicky for me. For now refined French is good enough for me.

Rachel was joining HI and I, and since I am not drinking we decided to drive.

The place was full by the time we arrived and to our surprise there were many men there having lunch before going to the rugby! We were greeted by Stephen who we have not seen in ages. He offered to subsititute any dishes I cold not eat on the tasting menu but, for a change we decided to go al la carte.

But first the amuse bouche:
tomato water both Rachel and I said we could drink a pint of this- very refreshing and so savoury, something that looks like posh coronation chicken, and a mushroom mouse.



Freshly baked bread.



To go with the freshly baked still warm bread we had one of the best discoveries of the day: 'the best butter in the world', available at Henri's.



unfortunately it was not till I got home that I realised it was unpasteurised. Oops. I don't think Stephen realised either as he was so careful with all the other things I ate.
Bizarrely all three of us were going to have the same starter but then HI reminded me we had the option of truffle risotto, so I went for that, whilst the other two had the lobster croque monsiuer with veal tortellini



As usual the truffle risotto was happy tummy making



and the lobster and veal an elegant but interesting take on surf and turf.

For my main I had the beef shin, HI had the tongue, kidney and sweetbread plate and Rachel had the seabass.
The shin was very intense and rich



The offal plate (boom boom)



got the thumbs up and Rachel was very pleased with her sea bass



although I think she slightly preferred the version she had at Cameron House which was prepared with fennel.

The style was much more traditional French than the last time we were here, where foams and soils featured. It seems a deliberate move away from what is fashionable. I can't make up my mind if I think it is a good idea as I really like our meal the last time as well. Oh well it's for minds greater than mine to tease out.

HI and I could not pass up the Tart Tatin given it is one of my favourite puddings and one I have tried to perfect many times at home. This process has been made much easier by the purchase of a proper French Tart Tatin dish all the way from France. I personally prefer thinner tart's with a larger surface area to apple thickness ratio, but HI the traitor, said it was one of the best he has had. It did look quite impressive especially as it was wheeled out of the kitchen on it's own trolley and served to us by the nice young lady who had helped prepare it.



The cheese cart always features highly on any trip here and did not disappoint however we were so excited I forgot to take a picture! The cheese cart man- I really must ask him his name, was so informative that I was too busy listening to what he was saying to take photos. Rachel also had a pudding wine that was meet with cries of 'it tastes like juice".

The meal was very pleasant and relaxed. I like coming here because it's so consistent and you know that you won't have a meal that disappoints. The service will be top notch without being stuffy, the surroundings elegant, the food elegant but interesting.

The only thing I would say is that I think the tasting mneu is the way to go. We usually opt for that but given my dietary constraints and shrinking stomach the al la carte seemed like a safer option. I wondered if the portion size in the la carte would be larger but they weren't really, and besides, the glutton in me prefers the multiple tasting opportunites provided by the tasting menu!