Well, MFO loaded up the MOMSTER II and left this morning
headed for Missouri, will see kids and also delivering some of her late Mom’s
papers and photos to the keeper of their family's genealogy, her brother. She did her archivist thing and it is all
preserved nicely in proper materials and so she didn’t want to trust it to
shipping. So Bottom Feeder Express is on
the road. The Oyster Festival is this
weekend, but meantime I have a little time to get back to…
England!!
We kind of left off with “Dining Out” meaning away from our
resident hotel. We had two other
restaurant meals (besides B.E.D in Harrogate, which was chronologically our last) and both were very nice. There is cuisine in England.
Our first experience was in Salisbury, home of that tall
cathedral and a restaurant called Charter 1227.
It received very good reviews in all sources, although I could never
figure out why it’s called that. Anyway,
after our first full day of touring and learning about the Arundells (remember to pronounce
it correctly) we did a quick visit to the cathedral to hear Evensong in the
Cathedral (not quite worth it that day, IMHO) and then came back to the White
Hart Hotel in a gathering rain. It wasn’t
coming down when we left for the service, so we didn’t have any rain gear with us. By the time we got back to the hotel we were
pretty damp. And, to top it off, I had
worn my blazer to the church and now it was pretty moist. No matter, MFO deftly applied the hair dryer
and at least made it wearable.
So, we got directions from the desk (who had made the
reservation for us the previous day, a good thing to remember when traveling)
and set out on foot in the rain showers although this time we had our Gore –
Tex defenses on. The GPS in the phone was
quite helpful. We were told it was on
the Market Square, and had an address, but as usual what seems easy in your
hotel room isn’t quite when your feet are on the ground. We thought we were in the right place, but
passed the correct address with no sign of Charter 1227. Okay, swallow pride, ask for help. We were outside another restaurant and a
server was out taking down the outside dining stuff so I asked about our
destination. What followed was a lesson
in the civility and courteousness of the English people. She said, “well, you have to go around the
block……Oh, heck. It’s raining, just come
through our restaurant onto the other street”.
She then led us through her restaurant (which was informal), out the other door,
onto the street and walked us down to Charter 1227. She said you’ll enjoy it, and left with our
profuse thanks.
And she was correct! We
really did enjoy it. It was upstairs and
our table had a very nice view of their Market Square. If it wasn’t raining it would have been
better. It was kind of a manageable size place, with nice art on the wall Our
servers (Daniel and Nick) were very pleasant and sympathetic to our dampness. At this point my Blazer did have a bit of a
musty odor to it so I removed it and put it on another chair.. Once again we tried for cocktails, and once
again failed, ending up with a Gin and Tonic..
The menu was very nice, offering interesting choices in all
categories, with things like a starter of “Peppered Mackerel Rillette Roulade with Smoked
Paprika Potato Horseradish Cream & Passion Fruit Essence”, or a main course of “Pan Fried Line Caught Cornish Hake, Chorizo,
Leek Fondue & Lime Emulsion”. Very tempting and creative dishes. Prices varied, but most were in upper twenty
pound region. Of course you forget the
1.5 multiplication factor.. what the hell..
Without going through step by step, we ended up MFO choosing a “glazed crab ravioli Au Gratin” for starter
and a main course of “Beef Fillet
with Truffle Pomme Puree, Sweet Shallots, Fricassee of Mushrooms &
Horseradish Sauce”. I couldn’t resist a starter of “Crisp Suckling Pig Belly with Scallops,
Sticky Apple & Black Pudding Croquettes” followed by a “Pan Roasted
Rump of Lamb , etc.”. I’ll spare you
the formal description. Given the red
meat mains we opted for a bottle of ’09 Château La Picherie Bordeaux, Montagne
St Emilion.
With the
aid of the G&T’s and the prospects of good food, memories of the rain began
to fade and we settled in for a very enjoyable experience. The chef was Yugoslavian, and I think the
servers may have been related. They were
very courteous and only had to be shooed once before we actually ordered. As the wine softened we did also. Soon our starters arrived with my “suckling
pig belly” and it’s friends.
It is
left to the reader to figure out which is the “black pudding croquette”. Despite the rather uncommon combination, it
all worked well, the little drizzles were the sticky apple. Nice dish.
The Crab Ravioli was also choice, although a photo wouldn’t do it
justice so has been omitted. Needless to
say it was delicious, light and feathery..
Pleased
with that, we were next served the “rump”
And
the Fillet
Very pretty,
and cooked just as we had asked, warm and pink for both dishes. Once again we were reminded that the sides
are an important part of the overall dish and these went well.. that’s a Mint Croquette with my lamb. And the Chateau La Picherie played its
part. Service remained attentive without
being intrusive. Nice place.
So
then it came time for dessert, and what else would you have following a nice
meal?
Of course..a
nice selection of fresh Stilton, Camembert, Goddess Alex James, and..... the one on the left (hard). All very good, and nice portions. One interesting thing we found repeated
throughout our culinary travels over there was that cheese plates were always accompanied
by celery. Don’t usually find that on
this side..
And
finally a quiet stroll through the historic Market District in slackening rain
ended our first experience of “Dining Out”.
And,
dear reader, since I have once again abused the length of what I had planned, I will
make you wait till next time to hear about The Mole Inn, our “out” in
Oxford. Where we were dry and
DFD
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