There’s usually never really anything new to report about the Lime Tree. It usually keeps doing what it does. However, the food was a bit off target on this visit.
Fishcakes were fine as a starter, in the way that fishcakes from the supermarket are fine. They came with a pea puree, a bit of salad leaf and tartare sauce. Goats cheese crostini was better. Very crisp bread topped with a slice of creamy yet tangy cheese, finely chopped beetroot, salad leaf and a squiggle of balsamic glaze. Tasty.
Sirloin steak was accurately cooked as requested and was of good flavour. It came with a classic pepper sauce which was not at all shy about the use of pepper. It left the lips tingling. A single field mushroom accompanying it was delicious. Fries seemed bog standard catering fries. The side order of courgettes failed to appear as the request never made it to the kitchen. Piri piri chicken was a very disappointing plate of food. Mention piri piri and you’ve an expectation that there will be a hit from chilli. There wasn’t. It comes with a sweetcorn salsa. Mention salsa and you’ve an expectation of another chilli hit. There wasn’t. Coleslaw just added to the overall blandness. Fries were fries. So, rather than the hoped for interesting dinner, this was really just chicken and chips.
We had thought about dessert but time passed by before main course plates were removed. Dessert menus were eventually offered. And more time passed - it had been a bit of a feature throughout the meal. So, we thought when one of the servers appears, we’ll just get coffee instead of dessert. More time passed. When they did, we just got the bill.
So, the food was off target. Service had been off target. We thought that, if this had been the experience of a first time visitor, then they may not make a second visit. However, we know the Lime Tree can do much better, so we will be back. Hopefully, they were just having an off night.
