Ciao Italian Bistro in Hull

Once again I'm on the road for work. This time in Hull... not the most salubrious of destinations, but I have found a lovely restaurant or two in the area in the past.

Being a Monday evening hampered the search for a decent (ie. non chain) restaurant open for business. The first four choices were all closed... I continued moving down the Tripadvisor list and eventually found an Italian restaurant close to the hotel that was open.

A short drive later and I was walking through the front door to a genuinely happy greeting. The restaurant was half full. Now is that because the restaurant is good or is it because nothing else was open...

The first thing the waitress said to me was that they currently cannot serve alcohol. This is because the restaurant has just undergone a name change (from Ciao Caffe) and as such have no licence under the new name to serve alcohol. If we wanted a more substantial beverage than soft drinks, we were more than welcome to pop over the road to a store and purchase a bottle of wine or a few beers. Soft drinks were OK...

I was shown to a table in a restaurant that felt slightly rustic, but this could also be described as 'run down' chic. The atmosphere was pleasant enough with authentic traditional Italian music softly warbling in the background. My coke arrived whilst debating the merits of specials board versus a la carte menu...

I split the difference and for starters from the specials board I went for Chorizo and Beef Meatballs in Napolitano Sauce and topped with Mozzarella. For mains, I went to the menu and chose Linguini Gambretti - Prawns in Tomato Sauce with Shallot, Chilli, White Wine and Garlic.

The rustic theme was carried through into the meal with two large meatballs smothered in tomato sauce and grilled mozzarella staring up at me from the bowl. A couple of slices of fresh, warm toast nestled up to the bowl and just screamed 'dunk me!'. This I duly did and found the starter to be very pleasant. The tomato sauce was richly tomato'ed and lightly seasoned and was lovely on the bread. Add a lump of creamy melted mozzarella and I had a mini pizza! The meatballs were surprisingly light and the paprika flavour of the chorizo permeated the beef very well. I really did like this starter with its quite simple homemade personality. 

Main course arrived and once again 'rustic' jumped out at me... or was it lack of presentation skill? It was blatantly obvious that the pasta had been dumped into the very large bowl directly from the pan. All of the king prawns, the little, curled, pink hero's of this dish, were hidden under the pasta ashamed maybe at the lack of respect from the chef. I had to rearrange the dish to take the photo. Having said that, the taste was very good. The linguini pasta was beautifully cooked and had a nice bite. The tomato sauce was slightly sweet with a tingle of heat from the green chilli. The prawns were tasty and had a that lovely resistance to the first bite in my mouth. The were little shrimps included in the dish and I almost found these obsolete as the king prawns were enough. Also, the portion was huge and I didn't finish all of it.

Dessert was spectacularly disappointing... My first choice of Tiramisu was not available and neither was my fallback Pannacotta. I just couldn't bring myself to order an American Cheesecake, a French Creme Brulee or a French Chocolate Torte in a restaurant so blatantly offering honest, traditional homemade Italian food. I eventually settled on a special Chocolate Souffle (French!) with Toffee Sauce. What arrived just deflated me... Two souffle's plonked on a plate surrounded by spray can cream and bottled toffee sauce. Bleh... Huge portion again that was really not needed. The souffle was honestly a poor, overcooked version of a chocolate fondant. Not great, however the rich chocolate flavour was good and the light hand with the sugar was appreciated after the large meal. It was heavy, over cooked and over eggy though (a hint towards souffle?) and I barely finished one of the 'souffles' and didn't touch the cream. The sauce was as expected from a bought bottled sauce...

 

Sigh... a good (not great) traditional meal ruined by a disastrous dessert... The service was however pretty good and friendly and the prices were very reasonable, especially when considering the portion sizes. The chefs do need a lesson or two in presentation and passion, though.

 

Would I go back? Probably not as I have found better restaurants in Hull and the surrounds.

 

River Cottage - working lunch

Last week, as part of my work, I was lucky enough to be invited to River Cottage to see what they were all about and to see if there was the possibly to work more closely together in the future... I was in for a treat!

The closest hotel I could find was over 20 miles away and the drive in, in the morning was through little English villages and miles upon miles of hedgerow. We had our obligatory meeting and then went on a tour of the farm. Next time I will not wear a shirt and trousers... it was stinking hot, over 30C and shorts and sandals were called for but in short supply.

First stop was the herb and vegetable garden. Well, one of them anyway. There must have been about 5 or 6 different areas for growing various bits of greenery. We also walked past loads of pigs, sheep and cows that will either provide for the farm or will eventually end up in the pot. I was loving it...

The kitchen used in the show...

A superb demonstration/training kitchen that we will hopefully make use of in the future.

The view from said training kitchen...

Following our tour, we were offered a quick, 'thrown together' lunch using only ingredients sourced from their farm or local producers. The soup was pea, basil and lettuce and was wonderfully fresh and cold, very summery and I could have polished of a pint of it. A potato, celery and Dorset Blue Vinny frittata just screamed to be eaten and who could refuse such an offer. The egg was wonderfully light and the blue vinny cheese was mild in flavour and oh so creamy. Sometimes a blue cheese can overpower a dish, but not here... very very nice!

Accompanying the soup and frittata were two salads. A quite pretty Nistertion, pea shot and red chard salad pouted at us asking for attention...

...but my favourite was the chestnut mushroom, broad bean, mint and ebley wheat salad. Meaty mushrooms with earthy ebley, fresh broad bean and subtle mint... yum! I had seconds...

And who can have a working lunch without bread? In this case it was it was a fresh focaccia  with garlic and herbs, all fresh from the garden.

Thank you River Cottage for an exceptional day out in the country.  I will definitely be back on a Friday or Saturday evening to sample one of their taster menus.

Auberge du Lac... Our 2nd year anniversary

Wow... has it been 2 years already? And 1 year since we enjoyed excellence at Sat Bains. The standard was set last year and it is now up to me to match the experience and keep Sheila happy! Well, me too really...

We have recently moved to Hertford and we heard about Auberge du Lac from one of the locals. The restaurant is situated at Brocket Hall, just down the road from us, so I decided to go ahead and book local! Upon arrival, we were greeted by a smiling host and asked if we would like a drink on the patio. There is only one answer to this of course... Yes please!

The patio was wonderful in the late evening sun and we sat sipping a Mojito and Cosmopolitan feeling ourselves relax as we looked out over the gardens and the river that ran through the Hall's grounds. Menus were presented and quite honestly the choice was easy... 2 x 9 course menu with matching wines please. We spent a good twenty minutes outside, slowly sipping our cocktails and nibbling on White Truffle Oil Popcorn and Candied Nuts. Just what I love, there was no sense of time ticking by and no desire by the waiting staff to rush us through our evening.

Our cocktails slowly went down and once done, we were escorted to our table. Wine and water followed swiftly, and shortly there after we received our Amuse Bouche. The Amuse Bouche was listed as part of the 9 choice menu and in my opinion, it should not be mentioned on the menu and it should be a little surprise taster provided by the chef to intrigue your palate and set the scene for the evening. Having said that, the delectable Cucumber Gazpacho with Avocado Puree and Sourdough Croutons was all that. It was light, fresh, summery and got my taste bugs zinging all over the place.  I loved the little crunch provided by the croutons. Sheila would have preferred a couple less croutons though as she found the dish too crunchy.

Along with our Amuse Bouche, a bread board was served. It was just scrumptious! Onion Brioche and Garlic Baguette served with a Sundried Tomato Mayonnaise and a Fresh Churned Homemade Butter. The tomato mayo was delectable with the Onion Brioche, but both of us loved the fresh butter. We lathered it into both the baguette and brioche and tucked in. The onion brioche was exquisite with rich and sweet onion flavours permeating throughout. Yum!

Right, onto the first course proper. A Lobster dish with Kohlrabi, Coriander and Bisque. The bisque was poured over the lobster by the waiter at the table. Light and fresh lobster swimming in a pool of superbly rich bisque, crunchy Kohlrabi and the subtle taste of coriander washing across my tongue. Just exquisite. There was also a lot of crunch provided by a grain (deep fried quinoa?) of some sort. I found the dish absolutely brilliant although the crunch was all encompassing and detracted slightly from the overall feel.

Next up was Foie Gras with Cherry, White Chocolate and Pistachio. The plate was placed in front of me and instantly I wanted to eat it. The presentation was quite beautiful and you could see texture and flavour without eating a thing. Tucking in, I found the foie gras creamy and rich with a nice crisp outside from the pan. The cherry was sweet and fruity and the pistachio was caramel like in texture, sticking my teeth together! The brioche was sweet and light and the white chocolate dust just instantly liquified when put into your mouth. I found that the chocolate was lost when combining all the flavours, however, overall, this dish was brilliant and was my favourite of the evening.

I do want to comment on the wine paired with the Foie Gras, which was a German Gewurztraminer, sweet and fruity and just perfect with the rich liver and sweet garnishes.

Following on from the Foie Gras was Halibut with Braised Octopus, Tomato, Samphire and Lime. When placed in front of you, the first thing to grab your eye was the Squid Ink Crackle. Very dramatic and it shouted out taste me, if you dare! Presentation was very pretty and the splash of green from the samphire added a lovely fresh feel. The halibut was perfectly cooked and blended brilliantly with all the flavours on the plate. Meaty fish, sour lime, fresh tomato, salty samphire, crunch from the crackle... just yum!

Time to cleanse the palate... Elderflower Granita with Pickled and Poached Gooseberries. Liquid Nitrogen was used to create the granita which was lovely and cold and sweet. The pickled and poached gooseberries packed a punch. Slightly sweet, but with loads of sour notes from the pickling. Just great and definitely refreshed my palate!

Thankfully, a short break was provided at this point...

Onto main course and at this stage, we had a choice of Rabbit with Carrot Quinoa, Young Leeks, Compressed Lettuce and Miso Caramel or Iberico Pork, Roast Sweetcorn, Spring Onion and Barbecue Pineapple. Needless to say, we chose one of each.

Sheila chose the pork and was a very excited young lady when she spotted the abundance of sweetcorn on her plate. Sheila was hard pressed to share and the small taste I had was lovely. I really enjoyed the sweet contrast from the sweetcorn and pineapple with the meatiness of the pork and the rich saltiness of the sauce, but this should be understandable as being South African, we do love fruit with our meat.  Just think Bacon and Banana Pizza!

As mentioned, Sheila was quite possessive of her main course...

I chose the rabbit. It was honestly a lovely dish. The rabbit was extremely tender and was complemented beautifully by the miso caramel. The vegetables were crunchy, well seasoned and very tasty. I did however find the quinoa verging on the point of being over seasoned, but I know loads of folk that would say the seasoning was just right.

Following on from mains, we once again had a choice of dish and chose one of each. The cheese course was either a Roquefort or Brillat Truffle. My favourite bit of this course was the fruity biscuit. It was more like bread, and the best part, it was warm! A spoonful of the Roquefort Truffle placed onto the bread with a grape plonked on top was heavenly. The cheesy truffle started melting onto the warm sweet bread and when in the mouth, the warmth of the bread, the coolness of the truffle and the sweet crunch of the grape was lovely! I enjoyed the Roquefort truffle so much I almost licked my plate clean... The sharp look from Sheila stopped me.

Finally we have reached the dessert end of the evening and following on from what had already been experienced, we expected great things. First up was Strawberry, Tonka and Meringue. Tonka? What's that, you may ask. And no, it is not the toy manufacturer and we did not receive a free toy with our dessert. The Tonka bean comes from a tree native to the America's and has flavours and aromas of vanilla, cinnamon, cloves and almonds. Tonka is new to me, so I cannot say where it was used in this dish. The strawberry's had something done to them (poached, macerated, marinated?) and I just don't know because the translucent, almost jelly like flesh of the strawberry was something I'd not experienced before. I'm guessing the Tonka was used in the strawberry process. The strawberry's were however very very nice! The meringue was sweet, light and crunchy and the little shortbread cubes (at least that's what I think they were!) added a rich butteryness to the dish. They were very very light and lacked the doughy weight I've come to expect from shortbread. Overall, I can say that the dish was light, fresh, sweet and gorgeous and was Sheila's favourite of the evening.

Finally, the end is nigh! Our last course was Chocolate, Malt, Macadamia and Blond Beer. Presentation was superb and we loved the trickery of the chocolate ring. I really enjoyed this dessert and loved the combination of flavours. The ice cream was not overly sweet and this was nice as the malt and chocolate sponge was quite rich. I found the sponge quite dense (brownie like?) whereas I might have preferred it a little lighter. It was a lovely decadent way to finish the meal, however Sheila did comment she would have preffered the lighter strawberry dessert last.

Back outside onto the patio to finish our evening with coffee and petit fours. Yet more food! Sheila was done, but I couldn't insult the pastry chef by not partaking of a few samples!

Auberge du Lac also presented us with a lovely little surprise! I had to eat these chocolate's too...

To cap the evening off, we spent a good 10 minutes or so chatting to Phil Thompson, Executive Chef at Auberge du Lac. Phil is a great guy and I'd love to revisit his restaurant on the Chef's Table.  I can see meeting the chef becoming a bit of an anniversary tradition as we spoke to Sat Bains last year and now Phil this year. Wonder if I can pull this off at our future restaurant visits!
I would also like to point out that James, our waiter, was brilliant and we were well looked after all evening long. Fantastic food, atmosphere and service... I would recommend this restaurant to absolutely anyone!

Mulberrys Restaurant and Grill - Yeovil

On a quick little business trip down to The River Cottage in Musbury, Devon, I decided to rekindle my blog... It's about time... And yes, it is that River Cottage!

The closest hotel I could find to River Cottage was in Yeovil. Right, hotel booked... Now to find a restaurant. Tripadvisor comes in handy in situations like these. Top of the list, rated number 1, was Mulberry, a semi South African themed restaurant. Perfect!

Parking is hard to come by in Yeovil, so a pleasant and quiet walk through town from the car park was needed before I found the restaurant.  Slightly unassuming from the exterior with an A-frame board advertising 2 for 1 steak nights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I walked in and was shown to a table immediately even though the restaurant was reasonably full. The ambiance was pleasing enough and thankfully not over the top South African.

Following a perusal of the menu that was surprisingly laminated and didn't fit the feel of the restaurant, I ordered Slow Roast Crispy Pork Belly with Thatchers Apple Cider Jelly for £6 and Oven Roasted Duck Breast with Poached Pear, Parsnip and Vanilla Puree, Port Wine Gravy and Market Vegetables for £15.50.  Once the order was placed, homemade bread promptly arrived which I polished off with gusto.

A very pleasing looking plate was placed in front of me and my first thought was ooh, yum! My second thought was good grief, that's a fairly large piece of pork.  The starter was good. The pork was tasty and tender and the crackling was delightfully crispy. The apple jelly flavour was fresh and complemented the pork extremely well, as apple always does. The sauce was rich and delectable and the fresh leaves was a pleasing touch.  My only comment is that the apple jelly was too solid. Gelatin had been used in abundance and the jelly was approaching rubber... not quite there but firm enough to detract from the rest of the plate.  No wobble to this jelly! Overall though, it was a very pleasing starter with good flavour combinations. 

Once again, a pleasant looking plate of food was placed in front of me. I was really looking forward to the duck as the combination of pear, parsnips and vanilla intrigued me. My first visual was a tinge of disappointment... the duck had been overcooked for my taste. I like medium rare at most and this duck was fast approaching medium well... anyway, I never the less tucked in.  Yes, the duck was slightly overcooked, however the port sauce almost made up for this.  Rich, unctuous, salty, sticky and oh so moreish! In addition, the hint of vanilla permeating the parsnip was a nice touch. The pear however, was extremely sweet. Eaten on its own, I would struggle to eat the whole thing. Also, it hadn't been de-cored... However, when combining the pear with a slice of duck, they did complement each other well and the sweetness of the pear was minimised and balanced well with the meatiness of the duck. Once again, I did find the portion large as I had an entire duck breast on my plate.  Usual when cooking at home, not so much when eating out.

Dessert was a tough choice... I was tempted by melting chocolate biscuits and Amarula sauce, but eventually selected the Malva Pudding, a South African Soft Sponge made with Apricot Jam and served with Vanilla Ice Cream for £6.  Quite honestly, the Malva Pudding was to die for... soft, sweet, sticky, jam packed with flavour, just delicious! The ice cream was good quality and store bought (I think). However, the mango puree and raspberry bits left me puzzled. Mango and Raspberry can work well together and I've paired them together in smoothies, however on this plate they left a bitter after taste in my mouth.  Odd... the mango on it's own was sweet and creamy, the raspberry sharp and sour, just what you'd expect... but for some reason they really seemed to clash on my palate... just weird!

Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, relaxed and peaceful. The food was pretty good and I can understand their top rating on Tripadvisor as I would give them a 4 out of 5. Also, based on food quality and the large portion sizes, I would rate the food as good value for money. I would however eat here again and recommend it to friends. Just a pity about the little errors...