303. The French Pantry.

 

  My previous visit to Ludlow’s rustically Gallic The French Pantry was recorded in Blog 242 (13 May 2022). I thoroughly enjoyed my visit then and I thoroughly enjoyed my most recent visit. It is relaxing and comfortable and busy enough to have a nice time watching the other lunchers. There was a young woman taking out for a treat what looked like a beloved grannie, perhaps, because of Mothers’ Day which was to be the next day, a gruesome pair of hipsters, far too old for that particular culture and out of place in conservative Ludlow - they thought their conversation was interesting enough to warrant them speaking loudly enough to broadcast it to their fellow diners, and there was a group of elderly Shropshire pensioners enjoying a meal out probably to mark a special occasion. All Ludlow life was there.

  A description of the meal need not take long. Rustic…delicious…generous…very well prepared. I started  with the French Pantry’s fabulous French onion soup which lurked patiently under a monumentally thick pavement of gorgeous cheesy crouton which made this starter a hugely satisfying dish. 

  Thence to an even more rustic and even more stupendously delicious Coq au vin.This was no ordinary cock, no trifling little hen; this was a full-blooded head rooster of magnificent proportions, cooked beautifully and bathed in a wondrously delicious wine sauce, full of bay leaf and mushrooms and all that’s good served with some rather fine pomme frites; it’s true then  - the French do know a thing or two about cooking but I wonder how easy it is to find a bistro as good as the French Pantry in France itself in these modern times when cuisine in France is quivering with self-doubt.

  I was a little surprised to find my chosen dessert, a ‘special’, arriving via the front door - it seemed to have been provided by the cake shop next door. I had chosen strawberry gateau and it looked very pretty though the strawberries were more obvious because of their scantiness. The gateau was light but dry and not much fun and the strawberries emphasised how ridiculous it is to eat the fruit in early March. There was also a large thick layer of marzipan which added nothing to the gateau and again was not all that nice. I should have stuck with crème brûlée.

  So, apart from the very disappointing dessert, the French Pantry was a great success with the first two courses leaving me comfortably full and cosily satisfied.

Rating:- 🌞