For my special birthday surprise weekend away my friends took me to Slough, where we had a cup of coffee at the Costa in the Queensmere shopping centre! Then we hadlunch! Then we went home!
The food was fabulous in just about every way: it was funny, it looked beautiful, and it tasted fantastic. Also the restaurant was so laid-back. We were there for four hours and happy for the entire time.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! As my granny used to say, the Lord was good to mix us, and at the mention of snail porridge I went quietly away to be ill... I think you're very adventurous.
The snail porridge is nothing like you imagine it to be. It is oatmeal cooked in an unbelievably fabulous stock (and something green which I can't quite identify) making a risotto-like base, with the snails on top (which are essentially just like seafood), and some shavings of ham for salty wonderfulness.
I wish I had taken pictures, some of the dishes looked exquisitely beautiful on the plate. My favourite was the salmon poached with liquorice, described in more detail here, but every single course had something to be delighted about. Also, the atmosphere was fantastic: so relaxed and all about enjoying the food and being made happy by the food.
I bet you would absolutely love every minute of it. Not only was the food fantastic, it was funny. And the place was completely laid-back, no dress code.
It was something special. Particularly as I had absolutely no idea that we were going (and they'd kept it secret for 2 months - so the whole of the Xmas period!).
[blinks] You're a braver woman than me! I've seen some degustations here I'd go to if Greg were more adventurous, but I couldn't handle most of that. Hmm, maybe the salmon, and the mango and fir puree. The hot and iced tea sounds interesting, but what's all this nitro? It sounds a bit worrying and slightly poisonous. And tell me, what's a Mrs Marshalls Margaret cornet? :-)
Liquid nitrogen is used to make incredibly smooth, wonderful ice-creams right in front of you in seconds. When savory, they are like really-cold-mousse (so the sardine-on-toast ice cream is essentially a lovely, silky, cold fish mousse with a piece of toast, for example). Mrs Marshall patented such a mechanism for making ice cream at the turn of the 19th/20th century, only a couple of years after liquid gases had been discovered. You get a little card about it when you get the little mini cornet of ginger and mango ice cream before the sweet courses.
The "bacon and egg" ice cream is made from an egg cracked at the table (which has been blown and refilled with a custard mix), and whisked with liquid nitrogen to make the ice cream. It is served on eggy bread/pain perdu with a delicious, sweet tomato jam and the tiniest sliver of ham which adds a sort of salty taste. Americans used to bacon and pancakes will know how great that salt/sweet taste can be.
(It is also preceded by a tiny bowl of cereal - parsnip flakes with chilled parsnip milk - the flakes come in a little mini cereal-packet. So you finish the meal with a re-invented breakfast!)
The most fun bit for me was definitely the little variety pack sized cereal box containing parsnip shavings, onto which parsnip milk was poured. Oh, and all the nitro-cooked stuff was a riot! That was all done at the table: "We appear to have run out of gas for the heaters, so we'll just have to use liquid nitrogen!"
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"This menu is designed to be enjoyed by the whole table," they say. I'm sure it would be.
It sounds brilliant - what a lovely surprise to have arranged for you.
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You did not fall for my cunning plan! Yes, it was brilliant, and a fantastic surprise.
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The "bacon and egg" ice cream is made from an egg cracked at the table (which has been blown and refilled with a custard mix), and whisked with liquid nitrogen to make the ice cream. It is served on eggy bread/pain perdu with a delicious, sweet tomato jam and the tiniest sliver of ham which adds a sort of salty taste. Americans used to bacon and pancakes will know how great that salt/sweet taste can be.
(It is also preceded by a tiny bowl of cereal - parsnip flakes with chilled parsnip milk - the flakes come in a little mini cereal-packet. So you finish the meal with a re-invented breakfast!)
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Sounds good, though.
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That certainly makes eating an adventure!
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I'll be in Plymouth this year, so will be lucky to get a pasty at the Pcad canteen.
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