414. The French Pantry, Ludlow

 

  The French Pantry in Ludlow is very well loved by those who dine or lunch there and I think it must be one of my favourite restaurants in which to eat of all the places I have visited in the West Midlands. I have described it before and will not go over old ground but I have to say it is one of those restaurants which I truly look forward to dining at with great anticipation. Lacking in any pretention, it serves delicious, rustic French food which takes into account British tastes - it is not extreme Français but, having a French Chef Patron its authenticity can hardly be questioned. The helpings are generous, the presentation is rustic, the food is delicious and the overall delivery gives great pleasure.

  On this occasion, it being one of those rare hot, bakingly sunny, English summer days where you feel a thunderstorm can only be a few hours away, despite lusting after the magnificent French onion soup and perhaps the signature Olivier’s coq au vin, I opted for the two rather more summery sounding specials as starter and main course.

  The opening quiche Lorraine was lovely and highlighted just how awful supermarket quiches, which I am apt to buy, really are. The custard was tasty and nestled in a pleasingly textured pastry and the ham inside was full of flavour and the cheese, which I assume was Gruyère, had a bite to it that made this quiche a thing of gustatory beauty.

  Then the special main course on offer - salmon almondine - a beautifully cooked and generously sized piece of salmon, again tasty beyond the normal, with a beurre blanc. The sliced almonds gave a soothing texture to complement the meat of the salmon - dishes have not become classics for no reason one thinks - and the accompanying broccoli was cooked to be nice and tender though broccoli aficionados might have judged it overcooked, and they would be entitled to their opinion I suppose. This was a very enjoyable, seasonal dish and brought me great happiness but also rendered me too full to feel capable of managing a dessert though the tarte tatin was alluringly beckoning to me. 

  I love the French Pantry. Au revoir but I’ll be back!

  Rating:- 🌞.

  Meanwhile, I see that sadly, the Good Food Guide has removed Forelles from its online list of recommended Ludlow restaurants. Let us hope that the new owner sees sense and takes action to enable the restaurant to return to its former glory and its place in the Guide.

10.10PM, 26 June. Night falls over Clee Hill as viewed from Forelles.

389. The French Pantry.

 

 See previous Blogs 242 and 303.

  The French Pantry has been described adequately in the two previous blogs and there is little need to go over it all again except to say that I was determined to lunch there again during my most recent stay in Ludlow, lusting as I was for another bowl of the restaurant’s fine French onion soup with its spectacularly overstated and utterly gorgeous cheesy crouton which is so big you could float across the river Teme on it. Magnificently rustic and on this visit, I thought better than ever. A triumph of flavour but I suppose to be picky, the beautifully tender strips of onion which filled the bottom of the bowl might have been a little sweeter though others may not agree.

  More rustic delight followed as I chose my main from the choice of two specials - I declined the wickedly tempting pig cheek ragu and instead opted for a fabulous smoked haddock, leek and sea food gratin (which I suppose might equally be called a fish or fisherman’s pie) though being forced to choose between the two mains mildly endangered my mental health for the time until my gratin arrived when I realised that I had made the right decision and my anxiety was resolved. The dish was rustic, it was bold, it radiated flavour, it warmed, it cheered, it comforted and delighted and it was generous in portion size and honest in presentation. I concluded, as I ate it as voraciously as the pie’s heat would allow, that I really do like dining at The French Pantry.

  For dessert I opted for the lightest dish on offer - a refreshing and happy lime posset countered and enhanced by blueberries. This was a pleasant dish.

  I look forward to my next visit to The French Pantry.

Rating:- 🌞

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:- 🌞

242. The French Pantry

 

 

 Before moving on to report on my visit to Ludlow’s Michelin-listed The French Pantry, I can not resist mentioning having a second enjoyable dinner in Fishmore Hall’s bistro restaurant. I had so enjoyed my meal there the previous evening (see Blog 241) I resolved to eat there again instead of choosing from the à la carte menu in Forelles and quaffing a Monkey 47 and tonic I set about consuming a highly enjoyable simple but luxuriously glistening and deeply tasty chicken liver pâté enhanced by a little blob of English mustard and tiny sweet pickles together making a witty deconstructed piccalilli.

  I then moved on to braised beef shin served with creamed garlic potatoes, well-cooked celeriac fondant and pleasing braised red cabbage. The beef was satisfactory, a little dry, but the nicely unctuous sauce and red cabbage helped it along. Finally, for dessert, I had an old favourite, an absolute gem - coconut panna cotta, tiny cubes of pineapple, toasted coconut and a wondrous basil ice cream. There was much to be happy about in this meal.

  And so to lunch the next day at The French Pantry. Outside woodwork painted a soothing light blue and inside a French bistro nicely recreated complete, as everyone who reports on the place just has to mention, the tables covered with red chequered tablecloths and blue padded seating along one wall, all very Tricolore and cosily delightful. A quiet and pleasant welcome and I was seated in a very comfortable padded chair which would have been lovely to snooze in postprandially. Rustic and yet not rustic to judge by my starter of robustly flavoured gateau of crab (actually a mousse sitting in a tasty, buttercup-yellow saffron beurre blanc), beautifully crafted and, for the crab lover, highly desirable and delicious..

  Then a stupendous confit duck leg served with prunes, garlic sautéed potatoes and prune sauce. Crispy skin, succulent duck meat, the sweetness of the prunes and the sauce, the perfection of the potatoes, total Gallic delightfulness. 

  And then classic tarte tatin. No messing about with daft fruits - good, down-to-earth perfectly cooked apple placed mosaic-fashion on a pleasing pastry with lots of gooey unctiousness and helped along with a simple vanilla ice cream.

  With food like this you have to wonder what revolting French peasants were moaning about back in 1789.

  A trip to Ludlow in the future will not be complete without a visit to The French Pantry. It’s extremely good value, serves delicious food and has just the right atmosphere.