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!