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In November 2010 this restauramt was replaced by North Road. Some of the original team are now at The Chancery.
The notes below are of historical interest only, and are from a meal in March 2002.
Headed by Andrew Thompson, the ex executive chef of L’Escargot , this venture has been open since November 2001. It has a smart dining room, decorated in a modern style with hard-wood floor, some tasteful wall lamps and some tasteless modern art. Tables are well spaced and generous in size, waiters are fairly attentive if a little pushy at times with their recommendations. I started with a special, two scallops in a thick bouillon of sweetcorn and bacon. The scallops were timed quite well but were not the best quality diver’s scallops, the broth worked well (5/10). Less good was a crab cake, pleasant enough in itself but with a red pepper remoulade that lacked distinctive flavour (3/10). Bread is just slices of white and brown, decent and freshly made (4/10).
For main course I tried suckling pig, slices of what was effectively gammon on a bed of green cabbage. The suckling pig was quite bland, the cabbage better, surrounded by a fricassee of fairly tender white beans with garlic (3/10). Slightly better was seared salmon with a rather ordinary red wine sauce but with very good leeks (4/10). Desserts were more consistent: a passion fruit crème brulee was a little runny but had well balanced passion fruit in the custard (4/10). A chocolate fondant had excellent texture and rich taste (6/10). The wine list is short and fairly priced, and there is also a short “premium” list of rather uninspiring wines; mineral water is Hildon. Coffee was reasonable (4/10). The price is quite fair here: starters average £7, main courses £13, desserts around £6.
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