One night eating stay in Cheltenham.
Couldn’t get into Purslane as they were closed for summer break, so went for this place as it got decent TA reviews and looked a nice room/ vibe.
Initial impressions not great, other than friendly staff ( we got lost and were 10mins late and they were lovely about it ). Seemed a bit amateurish - very clearly discussing what folk were having, and ‘we need x on table y’ and similar. Not what you want to be overhearing, once you clock the prices. A bit of a ‘local’ atmosphere, my other half said. she’s from down this way(ish ) so gets away with it. As a (northern) city boy I couldn’t possibly comment.
The room was fine ,when we went through, but by no means full and a bit more old fashioned and dark than the vibe-y website pics.
The snack was the worst thing we had to eat. It wasa mushroom tart, the pastry case and truffle, black garlic filling layered at the bottom was lovely…but the rest was just mushrooms. As in, just sliced button mushrooms. Like as if you were making curry at home and just sliced a few up as a snack while you cook .
Oh, it had some dried mushroom powder on it. On a mushroom, mushroom powder. Why ?
At this point I was seriously concerned.
Bread next.
Half a sourdough roll each. Half each, at these prices ls NOT GOOD.
Thanks for thinking about my carbs intake but I want a full roll, thanks very much.
We both ordered the same starter : squash parfait. It was fine but the main event came in one of those cigar shaped cylinder efforts. Yawn.
A main of chicken with carrot and potted veg was much better. The chicken breasts simply but juicily cooked , that carrot an impressive beast. ( the server said it was the biggest of the night, but who’s measuring them ?! )
There was also a green sauce ( described as such on the menu) which came in a little ramekin. It didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the dish. Hence the ramekin, no doubt. Still decent though.
Best course by far was pud. For one of us a burnt milk jelly with the usual splodges and sauces, for me dark chocolate and beetroot. Various formulations of each including a zingy beetroot sorbet. Yum. Yum and yum.
So, send me home smiling, or a ‘Game of two halves, Brian’, depending on your view. If I lived local I might go back for a fixed price lunch to see if the first couple of courses were just bad ( though pot ) luck. As i don’t, it will be Purslane for me, next time I’m around these parts.
We also popped to Cirencester en route to friends the next day. Not just so we could go to Knead bakery and buy their posh custard cream biscuits…honest guv !
