I looked back over my restaurant notes and see it was back in 2010 that we last had lunch here. The notes reminded me that, even though it was April, the weather was lovely and we sat outside. This time, at the height of summer, the rain was pelting down.
There was a Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese soufflé to start for one of us. A well made affair using really tasty cheese, as you’d expect from a Kirkhams. Ham hock terrine also tasted good, with carrots running through it to give a little sweetness. But it was a miserly, thin portion. As was the advertised toast. In fact, this was so thin a slice as to be useless as toast – think the thickness of a crisp. The best you can say is that someone had shown real skill in being able to actually toast such a thing. A blob of apple and prune puree managed to taste of neither, but a quenelle of celeriac remoulade worked well.
For mains, chicken breast had been studded with black garlic and pan fried. It came with a smidgeon of Anna potatoes, a slightly devilled chicken liver, baby turnips and carrot puree. A cream sauce set off a quite light summery plate. Cod loin was perfectly cooked to the just flaking stage. It sat on a bed of shredded lettuce, dressed with a few shreds of Morteau sausage and local shrimps. There’s mashed spuds as the carb.
