The Woodsman was opened in April 2019 by Executive Chef Mike Robinson in the newly refurbished historic Falcon Hotel, unfortunately renamed as the Hotel Indigo, situated across the road from the grounds of Shakespeare’s long lost home, New Place (see Blog 67). When it first opened it was stated that the aim of the restaurant was to serve locally sourced, seasonal food cooked using a wood-fired oven and charcoal grill. There remains a heavy emphasis on seasonal game, particularly locally sourced venison. Perhaps therefore I am foolish when I dine there in often being tempted to order a fish main course.
It’s a lovely restaurant; smartly, rusticly comfortable. On my last visit, there was an air of mild chaos surrounding the service there, related I suspect, to the hospitality industry recruiting crisis which was particularly acute then. Service on my latest visit was very satisfactory though I could have done without the apéritif/cocktail trolley being wheeled to my table within a few seconds of my taking my seat and before I had managed to get my thoughts together.
The meal got off to an excellent start with some delicious and generously portioned bread - nicely textured and tasty - two slices each of granary and focaccia accompanied by lusty wild garlic butter and a more soothing cultured butter. The starter of quail and wild garlic Kyiv was irresistible but when I ate it it was not to my liking. The small Kyiv was golden on top but was much darker shade below - close to be scorched but the coating was nice and crispy. I detected the pleasing flavour of the quail which was cooked satisfactorily but the wild garlic element was far too subtle in taste; it seemed as though all the wild garlic had been used in the fine butter that accompanied the bread. The dish also included hen of the woods mushrooms and Berkswell cheese gnocchi but, for me, the elements did not really all come together.
On to the main of fillet of Cornish stone bass which was pleasingly meaty and firm but perhaps slightly over and lacking in moisture. The other elements of the dish were an alluring lobster and vanilla bisque, lobster tortellini and heritage carrots. I also had as a side dish, the signature
Dirty mash which the menu described as mash with crisp shredded venison, sourdough crumb and deer gravy. This was a disastrous combination of ingredients. Firstly the vanilla was far too strongly flavoured; the vanilla aggressively assaulted the taste of the stone bass and clung unpleasantly to the carrots which texturally I liked but could not eat because of the powerful vanilla taste which clung to them.
The dirty mash was also far too powerful to go with the fish - I think a warning should be given not to choose it as a side dish if the fish is chosen as main course. The dirty mash itself has far too many crunchy elements in it and too little mash. When I first had it in 2019 - it was described as including braised oxtail, lardons, crispy onions and truffle - the dish has clearly evolved since then as I found it very admirable at the time, but on this occasion I think that evolution has not resulted in a superior species.
Perhaps it was just me that was at fault for choosing a fish dish in a restaurant where the accent is clearly on powerful, gutsy meat dishes.
For dessert I chose poached Wye Valley rhubarb with rice pudding mousse and a scintillating rhubarb sorbet with tiny cubes of ginger beer jelly. The rhubarb itself was satisfactorily cooked and I did get the occasional appropriate burst of ginger from the jelly cubes but the rice pudding mousse was depressingly lacking in flavour - I wanted cream and some of that vanilla which had abused the main course and more sweetness. Overall, this was another disappointing course. I found the meal lacklustre on this occasion, with various dishes failing for various reasons.
Rating:- 🌛🌛🌛
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