223. Cheal’s of Henley.

 

  I visited Cheal’s Of Henley in 2016 quite soon after it was first opened by Matt Cheal. Regrettably, getting to Henley in Arden by public transport from my home, though not too difficult, is still not an enterprise I take on too lightly. But as I was staying in Stratford Upon Avon it occurred to me that a journey from that town might be an altogether more attractive prospect so that I was finally able to travel there for a long overdue second visit.

  How pleased am I that I did. Sitting on Henley’s High Street, opposite where work is underway on Glynn Purnell’s soon-to-open, much publicised pub, The Mount, Cheal’s is traditional on the outside and calm, modern and smart on the inside. The front of house staff lead by Liam Roe go about their business unimpeachably and it takes a matter of moments to feel perfectly comfortable at one’s table.

  But in the end it’s all about the food. Cheal has achieved what few other chefs manage to do - a multi-course (very satisfactorily priced) tasting menu (I was there for lunch) with not a single element as a cause for disappointment. This was quite simply the best tasting menu I have had for a long time. Out in Henley, Cheal’s may be slightly overlooked but if the cooking in this establishment does not deserve a higher grade of recognition from the dining guides, particularly that published by the French tyre people, then I’m Vladimir Putin’s uncle and I’m not.

  The simple amuse gueule in the form of a little beignet, topped with a nipple of Worcestershire sauce,  erupts with explosive cheesiness and lights the way to course after course of delight. A second amuse full of celestial espuma, so light only angels could have sat on it, was rapidly followed by 2 excellent breads including a pleasingly crisply coated  sourdough. And with the informalities out of the way, on came the starter. This was well flavoured gin and citrus-cured salmon perfectly complemented by pieces of various beetroots and almost glowing lime green wasabi forming a protective ring around the edge of the plate. An excellent dish and very pretty; I was not even annoyed, unusually, by the pansy flowers.

 Next, crispy duck yolk. One of those dishes I would never choose if it were not part of a tasting menu. But there it was and so I would have to force myself to eat it. And the light burst through the clouds on the road to Damascus. This was a remarkably delicious dish. The egg coating really was crispy, the crumbs cooked to a pretty light gold and the egg just the right consistency for me. Served, as it was, with pieces of highly flavoured chicken wing and leeks and winter truffle, I felt that this was by far and a way, the best serving of an egg a chef has ever cooked for me. A great food memory. 

  The fish course arrived. Perfectly cooked turbot, its lovely flesh glistening and its flavour delightful. And crispy fried mussels - I’ve had some great mussels recently, dishes at The Wilderness and Peel’s come to mind - but what great fun these mussels were and so tasty. The dish was served with salsify and apt spinach and a fabulous mussel and saffron sauce. 

  And then the centre piece - two pieces of finely cooked Gloucestershire venison, not quite the tastiest I’ve had this year but not far off, served with ‘humble pie’ (a lovely gem made from excellent pastry packed with delicious slow cooked meat), celeriac, pieces of cooked celery and everything punctuated brilliantly by sweet red grapes with a Madeira and black garlic sauce. This was proving to be a masterly meal.

    How then could it be rounded off with a dessert as memorable as the previous courses? Answer:- a wondrous, towering, cloud-light banana soufflé opened up by the Maître d’ on serving and filled with rum caramel and a generous serving of chocolate ice cream. Many otherwise fine chefs fail to round off their tasting menus with a dessert, technically at least, that matches their savoury dishes. Not so at Cheal’s. Clearly the dessert is as important there as that which has gone before. French tyre people, you really need to think about this.

  The tasting menu so pleasingly includes just one dessert. How wise. How could you top the soufflé? I am a confirmed one pudding man and Matt Cheal seems to have really grasped what so few others have realised - serve up one magnificent dessert and your job is done. Apart - that is - from choosing some fine, interesting and enjoyable cheeses for your guests and serving them sensibly, all as part of the tasting menu. 

  This was an outstanding meal. I do not intend that it will be another six years before I return.

  I crossed the road to catch the bus back to Stratford.and looked at the tourist information notice board which outlined the attractions of Henley in Arden including the Mount, an ancient monument including the earthwork remains of Beaudesert Castle (of course Cheal’s soufflé had been a very beau dessert), after which Purnell has named his pub. I had a snoop at the preparations going on there and congratulated myself on having a reservation there for the first day that it will becopen to the public. But I also congratulated myself on having the good sense at last to come back to dine at Cheal’s.

222. The Woodsman.

 

  The well-judged, cosy, smart and comfortable atmosphere of The Woodsman makes this my favourite restaurant in Stratford-upon-Avon. The atmosphere - that is - coupled with the tasty, generously portioned, well prepared food. A nice place to pass a couple or hours or so on a winter’s evening, not thinking about the reality that there’s a war raging once more in Europe as the latest mad European dictator launches an assault on the peaceful, democratic Ukraine where once there was optimism and now just dread and crushed hope.

  I sat comfortably in the smart dining room, gazing around at its walls on which were hung some charming water colours of various deer and a black labrador with a pheasant in its mouth. I was given a surprisingly long 23 minutes to decide which dishes I wished to order but having finally done so a pleasing plate of delicious ciabatta with two types of butter (one, the now almost ubiquitous marmite butter) winged it’s way to my table.

  Then an interesting starter of ‘Wild wood pigeon ‘pastrami’’. Its presentation was faux rustic in a fine dining sort of way. This was made up of little strips of pigeon served with creamed pecarino, delightful pickled mushrooms, the crunchy texture of sunflower seeds and a very pleasing sweetness provided by slices of red grape. There were also a possibly excessive number of tasty smoky flavoured leaves. The pigeon was very tasty and the dish was original and, apart from an excess of leaves, enjoyable.

  For the main course I chose a fine dish of delicious and perfectly cooked woodfired Cornish cod. I could not discern the flavour of the accompanying hay-baked potatoes and I was not particularly aware that the mussels were smoked. The warm tartar sauce was satisfactory and there was a generous helping of pickled samphire (like the leaves in the starter, probably a little more than I might have wanted). This was a nicely prepared dish, the fish certainly being the star and in a generous portion, but I was becoming a little bored with it as I worked my way to the end of it.

    I chose a dessert of ‘pear tart (note no ‘e’) tatin’. The missing ‘e’ was important as this was clearly not a classic tarte tatin. Rather it appeared to be a deconstructed version of the French classic (presumably as the restaurant prides itself on serving British food) with a precisely poached and pleasing piece of pear nestled in puff pastry with an accompanying jug of caramel sauce to provide the unctiousness of classic tarte tatin. The honey ice cream sitting on some unnecessary crumble was so mildly flavoured that I failed to detect a hint of honey. Actually, a very edible dish but I’m afraid somewhat disappointing.

  It‘s surprising that Stratford Upon Avon now only has three Michelin-listed restaurants - The Woodsman, the starred Salt and Lamb’s nestled as it is among a row of unremarkable bistros and chain restaurants on Sheep Street. The town has suffered during the pandemic because the visitors disappeared from it and the prolonged closure of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre coupled with a chain of execrable and incomprehensible productions often playing to half empty houses has in recent year done little to bring the visitors back to the town. Michelin has even dropped the theatre’s Rooftop restaurant from its listing. I see that it has now finally dawned on the Michelin editor that No 9 Church Street closed a long time ago. Thus for a diner living or visiting Stratford, The Woodsman remains the best choice still for a comfortable evening of good dining in the town. None of the fireworks, intentionally I think, of a restaurant in search of a Michelin star but a pleasing ambience and largely pleasing food.

221. Peel’s Restaurant At Hampton Manor.

 

  Unfortunately the magnificent Hampton Manor Hotel, home to Peel’s Restaurant, does not allow residents to have their dogs stay with them so by necessity dinner there involved leaving Lucy The Labrador in town at The Grand and taking a short trip on the train from New Street to Hampton in Arden station and then make a ten minute walk through part of the village and up the drive, past Stuart Deeley’s Smoke, to the manor which looks fabulous lit up in the dark early February evening. Definitely one of the most exciting first views of a building housing a Michelin starred restaurant that is on offer in the West Midlands.

  After a relaxed and pleasing welcome I was lead through to the small cosy bar area where I was able to sooth myself with a gin and tonic after the journey which, though short in distance and time, had started off with the need to walk through a raging downpour as I headed for New Street Station and then the unavoidability of sitting in a crowded COVID-19 incubator of a train carriage full of young Long COVID-fodder who, while happy to wear beards on their chins and village idiot caps on their heads, decline to wear a face mask.

  And so to dinner in the gorgeous panelled dining hall with exactly the right level of lighting to create a spot-on atmosphere. The excellent front of house staff were up and running providing a finely judged type of service. The details of the menu were enticing and I appreciated being given a magnifying glass with the wine menu after recent problems at Lunar in Stoke on Trent trying to decipher the drinks menu there. But is it too simplistic to wonder why some restaurants do not offer a menu which is instantly readable without any aid? - surely that’s the solution.

  The meal started with two very pleasing amuses gueules - a dainty tartlet with delicious chicken liver parfait and a briskly flavoured cheesy bite. Then the bread, perfectly crusty, tasty sourdough with my favourite Ampersand butter and my not-so-favourite beef dripping (given a more refined name obviously) served in a generous portion which I appreciated as it was rather enjoyable. But this is all frippery as the full blown starters prepare to enter the arena of flavour.

  Carrot dishes, as I’ve pointed out before, seem now to be de rigeur. And Peel’s’ carrot mousse with tangy carrot chutney and spicy seeds leads the way in carrot dishes. Then on to ‘the beetroot dish’ and Peel’s again provided a dish of great pleasure, the flavours of various forms of beetroot topped off by a snowfield of delicious ragstone goat’s cheese from Herefordshire.

  Next a truly great dish. For its main ingredient I again was taken on a trip to Herefordshire whence came this fabulously cooked and delicious Longhorn beef brisket with mushroom and truffle. An absolute star dish. The depth of flavour in the beef alone made the trip out to Hampton on a dark and increasingly stormy February evening worthwhile.

  

  Pleasure followed pleasure, as a dish of crab with lime was presented in a pleasingly theatrical manner, a little crisp balanced on a whole crab shell combined with a separate bowl of an island of white crab, lime and coriander, its shores lapped by a most refreshing sauce which would have made a delicious bowl of cold soup on a summer’s evening. 

  I suppose the next course must be regarded as the main event though it seemed like several had already taken place. A whole roasted Merrifield farm duck nestled on a pan and looking glistening and gorgeous was presented at my table along with a piece of duck sausage. This was an enjoyable piece of drama and I was told that the duck would be carved in the kitchen. I waited for it to be removed but it still lurked there in front of me several minutes later. Eventually I was asked if there was a problem with the sausage. Ah! Of course, I should have got on and eaten it as a sign that the duck could be carried off and a carved slice brought in for me. So that’s what I did; of course the sausage was a little cold by then but still tasty but I can’t help feeling that it might have been best served on the plate with the duck. No matter, the wonderful plate of duck with a cranberry ketchup and celeriac was as fine a dish of duck that I can remember eating. The duck itself was perfectly flavoured and seasoned, cooked to total perfection, its fat beautifully rendered down, the work of a master.

  By now, rather full, I was still ‘up for it’ as the dessert phase was arrived at. There was a pleasing, nicely crispy tartlet of Yorkshire rhubarb with a rhubarb jelly draped over it and partnered with an Ampersand buttermilk ice cream. This was pleasant and the rhubarb was of a good texture but it’s flavour might have come through a little more and the ice cream proved to be soothing but again with less flavour than one may have wished for. And finally, the final dessert which aptly combined the flavours of chocolate and coffee in a very pleasing way.

  

  In the week when Michelin gave very little new recognition to the dining out scene in the West Midlands region, it is not surprising that Peel’s is ranked among those few, those happy few, who have received the recognition they deserve from the London-centric French tyre makers who have set themselves up as food experts. This was a remarkable meal with some fabulous high points eaten in a gorgeous setting with top notch service. 

  Meanwhile, Storm Dudley had irritated West Midlands Trains sufficiently to make them decide to cancel the evening trains running from Hampton in Arden to Birmingham and there was nothing left to be done but to take a taxi from the village back to town. But the meal had been so very, very good that the extra expense was still money well spent.

  

220. Tom Shepherd Takes Lichfield’s First Michelin Star.

 

  Through plague and pestilence, lack of staff, galloping inflation with just the plague of locusts to come, chefs and restaurateurs of Birmingham and The West Midlands region found themselves facing yet another Horseman of the Apocalypse (the one on the pale horse perhaps). But out of Michelin’s annual celebration of London restaurants - the Michelin awards - came the excellent news that Tom Shepherd’s restaurant, Upstairs, in Lichfield had, as foreseen in Blog 194, been awarded the town’s first Michelin star. Great news indeed.

  Otherwise, true to form, the Michelin Guide ignored the entire Midlands. There were a total of 19 new one star awards - 7 of course in London, 2 in Ireland, 2 in Scotland, 2 in the north west, 2 in Wales and 1 each for The Midlands (Upstairs), East Anglia, the north eastand the south east. Really there’s absolutely no point in chefs and public getting worked up about these awards - unless they work or dine in London, the chances of their favourite excellent restaurant receiving a star are zero.  

  And that’s a fact.

  Meanwhile Stuart Deeley’s excellent Smoke was added to Michelin’s list of West Midlands county restaurants but Bilash in Wolverhampton was removed as was Opus in Birmingham but that was permanently closed during 2021. In Warwickshire, Rooftop at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford upon Avon was removed from the listing but No 9 Church Street which closed permanently during 2021 due to the pandemic remains on the list. The Staffordshire listing is now without 99 Station Street in Burton on Trent and The Red Lion at Bradley. There seem to be no changes in Worcestershire, Herefordshire nor Shropshire except that Pensons in Tenbury Wells has received an additional green star.

  Finally according to the so well informed French tyre makers Broadway is in Gloucestershire which of course it is not.

219. Rajdoot.

 

  To be frank, it has been rather a long time since I dined at Rajdoot in George Street in the Jewellery Quarter but on the other hand I have paid it quite a lot of visits over many years. I was staying in town for a couple of days and Tuesday as well as Monday being the days of the week when chefs rest or just gird up their loins for tomorrow’s Michelin awards announcements (though I suppose some already know by now), I decided a return at last to this colourful and atmospheric old stamping ground was in order in the face of almost everywhere else worth mentioning being closed.

  The Rajdoot is a hoary old beast. Established in 1966 (not in its present location) it was one of only six Birmingham restaurants to be mentioned in the first ever red Michelin Great Britain And Ireland Guide, the others being Lorenzo, La Capanna, Lambert Court, Danish Food Centre, Royal in Sutton Coldfield and Manor House in West Bromwich. It has been a remarkable survival given how restaurants come and go, often in the blink of an eye. It may well be the oldest Birmingham restaurant around apart from those associated with hotels, such as The Plough and Harrow, or pubs, though at the time of its founding the concept of the gastropub was a long way off.

  So how was it going in this modern age of Opheem, Dishoom, modern British, sustainability, foraging, street food and The Peaky Blinders?

   The place has changed very little, if at all, from my recollection of it since my previous visit there which was probably four or five years ago. It is really very attractive and atmospheric and pleasingly spacious. The crimson and pink walls and the scattered burgundys and purples give the restaurant a warm and luxurious feel to it. The decor, though familiar, still causes excitement and a little gasp of awe. Change is good they tell us but it would be a pity to see this long established and fabulous, near-legendary, Birmingham dining room replaced by the chic, clean-cut, now almost clichéd look that can be seen in restaurants across the city centre.

  And how luxuriously smart the tables look - bright, white, crisp tablecloths, napkins folded like pieces of origami, all a rare sight in year 2022 restaurants. The staff are smart, polite, respectful and helpful. A grand start to a meal which reminds us that former glories, good enough to be mentioned in the past in the Michelin Guide, still have their place. And so to the food.

  I suppose tastes in south Asian dining have evolved since Rajdoot was attracting the attention of the French tyre people back in 1974. It would be surprising if they had not. Presentation is everything, sometimes even to the cost of the deliciousness food. At Rajdoot food is served rather more rusticly - bold, generous, robust portions presented with green salad garnishes rather than nasturtium leaves or tiny pansy flowers. Such was the case with my starter of whopping, very tasty Gingered lamb chops (“Best of British lamb from local produce. Lamb cutlets in a blend of yogurt, fresh ginger, garlic with chef’s special selection of mixed spices grilled on the tandoor”). In truth, served perhaps with a vegetable side dish this was a meal in itself but I thoroughly enjoyed eating it with the little bursts of ginger bursting through from time to time.

  I chose my main course from the House specialities section of the perhaps over-extensive menu (with so many choices how can the diner decide what to eat and how cost-effective is it for the restaurant to offer so much choice?). I settled on Murgh Hariyali Hyderabadi (“Boneless pieces of chicken breast cooked with fresh coriander, mint, green chilli and spinach with a blend of specially selected spices from our chef”). The chicken was cooked quite satisfactorily and the nice thick sauce was pleasingly spicy but it was not possible to pick out any of the individual flavours of what exactly constituted  “chef’s special blend”. There was a dry, bhuna-like flavour to the dish and this was balanced nicely by the sweetness of a very fine Peshwari naan. Not delicious but tasty and, like the lamb chops, a very generously sized portion so that I could only manage half of the serving but the rest was fated to go home with me to be sure none was wasted.

  I finished off with four tasty wedges of ‘homemade’ kulfi which were very pleasing and refreshing.

  It wouldn’t be hard to bring Rajdoot into the 21st Century. The restaurant and its gorgeous decor should not be altered and it would be regretful if the tablecloths and neatly laid tables were casualised but the menus need reducing in size and the dishes refining for the tastes of 2022. I like the place. It isn’t hard to imagine it, with some updating, featuring once more in the Michelin Guide. Oh, and by the way, I enjoyed my visit there much more than that when I visited the Michelin-listed Asha’s last year, even if Asha’s is the place where Hollywood film stars order seconds of their main courses.