Monday, 21 April 2025

475. Easter Sunday Lunch At Simpsons.

 



  It was a nice treat to be invited by friends to join them at Simpsons for lunch on Easter Sunday to celebrate the birthday of one of them, And what a glorious spring day it was. The sky was blue, the sun was bright, everyone looked relaxed and full of the spirit of Easter. It was good to see that many of the diners, especially the older ones, were dressed to dine in a smart place where the food was fine and for something a bit special. If the restaurant can make the effort then the diners should too.

  I arrived somewhat earlier than my friends and was warmly greeted, within the parameters that one would expect from such an august establishment, and was soon indulging myself in a white port and tonic and ordering a bottle of Hundred Hills (an Oxfordshire winery east of Didcot) Preamble No 2 which my friends and I were pleased to drink with our canapé’s brought to us in the lounge prior to moving to the main restaurant. I enjoyed the English sparkling wine very much - crisp and refreshing without the strong acidity so often encountered in some of these products.



  The canapés, as always, were delicious - a lovely, crispy cod fritter and a delicious and equally crispy tartlet filled with fine beef tartare and garnished very prettily. A charmingly relaxed way to kick off a meal in good company. Then to the restaurant for the main event.



  There was the usual bread and butter course to start. This sounds all very routine but the bread there is so lovely that there is nothing routine about it. The brioche with duxelle was crispy and the sourdough toothsome and the wild garlic butter on this occasion was pleasingly restrained in flavour.



  We had chosen the three course Sunday lunch which experience told me was quite adequate to fill the stomach on the Sabbath and perhaps stimulate a little snooze (otherwise known in Italian, as my friends told me, to general mirth, as a pisolino, the word learnt from their Italian son-in-law, a scientist with a passion for making the perfect pizza).

  I chose the admirable Chalk Stream trout starter which was meaty though perhaps may have benefitted from a little more punchiness in its flavour. The really stand out ingredients in the dish which somewhat put the fish in the shade were the gorgeously sweet Isle of Wight tomatoes which would have been a very memorable starter in their own right.The basil, seed and olive dressing fully chimed in unison with the heritage tomatoes and much pleasure was derived from them.  One of my fellow dinners chose the scallop dish and found it to be cooked entirely to his liking.



  For my main I chose Blythborough pork (from St Margaret’s Farm, Mells, Halesworth in Suffolk, not all that far away from where my paternal ancestors lived for about 1350 years from about 550 AD to 1984 when they trooped off to Birmingham via a short sojourn in London where they ran a pub). The pork was as tender as butter but for my taste perhaps a little more seasoning might have raised it even higher. The roast potatoes were immaculate and the celeriac gel and apple sauce proved to be nice accompaniments with the vegetables all finely cooked - the hispi cabbage was spot on, the carrots had just the right texture and the cauliflower was also nicely cooked though, as I have previously written, I should love a dish of cauliflower sans cheese sauce just the once to be able to fully relish the full unique flavour of that noble vegetable. Will any chef ever be brave enough to present a dish of cauliflower exalted by being allowed to stand there nude and fully revealed and as bold as brass? 

  My hostess chose the butter poached cod and expressed no regrets.





  My hosts thoroughly enjoyed their passion fruit soufflés which I had experienced previously. Each soufflé that comes out of that kitchen is magnificent to behold and a wonder of Birmingham gastronomy. There was a nice touch when Steve Locklin, the restaurant manager who has been with Simpsons since August 2024, having previously carried out the same role in Lunar in Stoke on Trent when Niall Keating had been Executive Chef there (and where I had previously come across him) and also had been in a senior role at Hoar Cross Hall and before that at Liam Dillon’s The Boat in Lichfield, added an edible ‘Happy Birthday” decoration to the birthday boy’s soufflé. For my dessert I had the chocolate mille feuille which was splendidly crispy with pleasingly unaggressively flavoured chocolate cream.




  The final act - the petit fours - came in the form of an enjoyable chocolate cracknell, an extraordinarily sharp blackcurrant pate de fruit and a lovely little madeleine which was bringer of great joy.



  My host was given a very nice souvenir of his birthday lunch in the form of a birthday card with a picture of the restaurant from the garden and nicely signed by staff members. As a collector of menus and the ilk I couldn’t help feeling just that little it jealous.




Rating:- 🌞🌞🌞.

20 April 2025. 

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