I was very interested to try and bag a table for this event, where for a very limited period they would serve their menu from 50 years ago at the original prices.
My husband and I both had fingers poised at 10am on the dot but the website crashed. We just couldn’t get through. I tried calling the restaurant in Winchester (nearest branch to us) but a recorded message just said bookings for this event would only be taken online via the link.
After the disappointment described above, I had signed up as a party interested to know more about the 50th anniversary celebrations. In due course, I received an email containing a voucher for £19.75 (the restaurant empire was founded in 1975) off the bill if dining before April. I’d never dined at a Rick Stein restaurant before and we are fans of his TV series, so I thought, why not?
We booked to have lunch at Rick Stein Winchester. Nice dining room on the high street. Service was just right - friendly without being annoying.
My husband went for the set menu, but I had his starter, which was a grilled mackerel fillet with tomatoes, capers and really good quality olive oil drizzled around it. He had a starter of sashimi - sea bass, salmon and scallop. We loved the starters.
For mains, he had grilled sea bass fillets with (I think) a fennel mayonnaise and steamed new potatoes. I had the Indonesian seafood curry with pilau rice and a salad of green beans and young coconut. This was Asian food interpreted by an Englishman but delicious nevertheless.
I enjoy his travel shows on BBC, especially the Long Weekends series. I’m glad you got to go to the restaurant, and that they offered a coupon for the trouble you had booking the special menu was kind of them. Glad that you enjoyed the place!
Points for cooking the seafood IN the curry! My current pet peeve is something advertised as a curry, but what arrives is a piece of grilled or sauteed protein perched atop a curry sauce.
Agree with @iluvcookies – glad that you had another chance at the it, and that you enjoyed the experience.
