352. Loxleys, Stratford upon Avon.

 

  The string of bistros along Sheep Street which links Stratford’s town shops to the riverside location of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre are enormously popular and come evening time are bursting at the seams with happy diners. They generally have fairly long preprinted menus which give the impression that choice of dishes does not change very often and interestingly feature very little fish. In recent Blogs I have described visits to Lamb’s of Sheep Street and The Opposition and found them both to have their good points but some weaknesses and so, on my latest visit to Stratford with Lucy the Labrador to mark the closure of The Shakespeare Hotel where we have stayed happily many times, it seemed reasonable to visit their neighbour, Loxleys..

  The restaurant has the wood beamed, comfortably lit, Tudor atmosphere of the other Sheep Street bistros and, like the others, seems to have been able to recruit some very pleasant and capable young people to work front of house. Service is smooth and relaxed and perfectly pitched. I sat at a table not far from the bar and the phone was constantly ringing with hopeful diners hoping to make a reservation only to find that Loxleys was fully reserved that evening. You had to feel that those that managed the restaurant must be doing something right.

  For my starter I chose nicely seared scallops with chunks of confit pork belly, cooked very well to make them enjoyably crispy and served with spiced butternut squash purée, which was a little too medicinal in flavour, and crunchy candied hazelnuts which gave texture and a pleasing bursts of sweetness. This was a pleasurable start to the meal.

  For the main course I chose beautifully roasted lamb in sumac butter, very tender with the meat having a fine flavour served with a goats cheese croquette and sweet strips of well cooked red pepper alongside successfully crispy lamb belly and redcurrant sauce. Each element in the dish had been very well cooked but the combination, which I guess is an eastern Mediterranean one and well recognised, was not for me. The goats cheese intruded too much on the subtlety of the fine lamb. A pity for, as I say, this was piece of fine cooking on the part of the chef. I just longed for an acidic element that was going to balance the lamb rather than smother it 

  For dessert, nothing more complicated than an affogato with amaretto - dessert and after dinner coffee in one - what’s not to like?

  Some good cooking and pleasing service at Loxleys. Rating:- 🌛🌛🌛.

349. Gulp - Dogs Dinner.

 

  Gulp is about experiences with a touch of hearty home cooking thrown in. This was to be a very special ‘experience’ - Sunday lunch with Lucy The Labrador in Gulp’s dining room up the narrow, steep stairs in an old factory in the deepest Jewellery Quarter. How exciting and even more so when we discovered that the steps were too steep for Lucy, quite aged, to get up. A fellow diner however came to the rescue and carried her up and carried her down after the meal was over. She took it in her stride, serenity glowed from her face as she was borne up and down in ladylike style. Another diner said she was like Dame Judy Dench. Lucy would be quite pleased about that, I think, if she knew who Dame Judy Dench was.

  After a welcome from Kaye Winwood, the mastermind behind Gulp, and Matt O’Callaghan, the chef (see Blog 308) we settled in the lovely dining room, possibly the most atmospheric in the city, with the other dogs, including three beagles, all excitedly socialising while Dame Judy calmly took her place under the table and the humans chatted and waited for the food. Dogs rightly were served first - a cool broth - while their humans received a delicious clear warm broth in a glass. First rate.

  Next came ‘Bone’ - the dogs were brought a tempting chunk of chicken while the humans received an excellent chicken liver pâté on 2 slices of bone-shaped toast. What fun!

  And then the highlight for man and beast alike. Our main courses were served in cans highly suggestive of tinned dog food. Lucy consumed her’s in the wink of an eye which was wise as the rest of the canine guests were wolfing down their own meal and then rapidly setting about mopping anything else that was lying about. For the humans, a miraculously delicious chicken casserole with, oh joy, peas and carrots and sauté potatoes. My only reservation about the meal was that I wouldn’t have minded, like Oliver, some more. 

  The dogs and the humans both had jelly and ice cream to finish. The strawberry jelly and the strawberry ice cream were delicious (there was also chocolate ice cream) and neither I nor Lucy can comment on the dog’s dessert as one of the beagles moved in on Lucy’s dish before she could make a move on it and scoffed it all up. With the dignity of Dame Judy, Lucy ignored the bad behaviour of that particular bounder. Dogs, eh?

Rating:- 🌞.

351. Tom Shepherd At Simpsons.

 

  Simpsons, the doyen of Birmingham restaurants, is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary, as we have noted before. To commemorate this anniversary, Luke Tipping - Chef Director - has been staging some eclectic collaborations - firstly with Stuart Deeley of Smoke and then with Paul Colis of the burger restaurant, Meat Shack (both collaborations were reported on in previous Blogs). The third and final of these collaborations was staged on the evening of 3 October 2023 at Simpsons with Tom Shepherd, acclaimed chef of Tom Shepherd at Upstairs in Lichfield. This took the form of a fine seven course dinner.

  The thoughtfully already autographed menu included some excellent dishes and to local gourmands it was not difficult to decipher the culinary clues as to which chef was responsible for which dish. A thrilling amuse bouche was clearly the work of Tom Shepherd - a delicious savoury custard of smoked eel was flavoured not only by the eel but sweetened by the corn and given texture by both. Very Tom Shepherd. On to Luke Tipping’s first course - finely cured cubes of salmon with dill oil, oyster leaf and frozen horseradish. Very Luke Tipping.

  Not hard, too, to spot that the third course - one of the plummiest, meatiest scallops I’ve ever the pleasure to become acquainted with, textured with peanut and playfully paired with satay - was the work of Shepherd. Then to Tipping’s remarkable foie gras with a slice of banana, all sitting on spied honey bread. A gem of a dish. The foie gras-banana combination is not unknown and seems to be an American thing and I rather like it.

  Shepherd had had the honour of regaling his guests with the main course. This was accurately cooked, tender-as-butter venison with king oyster, plump blackberries and celeriac purée - the mellow mists and fruitfulness of autumn surrounded the highly seasonal plate. A hit! A palpable hit!

  The correctly timed cheese course brought Baron Bigod to the table sublimely paired with fermented plum and truffled honey all on malted waffle and Tom Shepherd rounded off with a grand dessert - a delightful Valrhona Araguani chocolate mousse base with pecan ice cream and happy sweetness from Pedro Ximenez. 

  These are grand collaborations that we have been enjoying at Simpsons. We do not need a special anniversary to ensure we go to future such events.

Rating:- 🌞🌞

350. Friday Night At The Wilderness.

 

  Sunday lunch at Gulp may have been an experience for a man and his dog (see previous Blog) but the preceding Friday night at The Wilderness was definitely a human thing. The place was buzzing at full power, Alex Claridge was in the kitchen, the steam was wafting over the cooking area, Sonal Clare was in charge of the drinks, the background music was pounding away (perhaps just a little too much for an old bloke) and the menu was crazy. But was it any good, this concession to the the march of autumn?

  My dining companion wanted to indulge himself in the 10 course tasting menu and, being easily, led and went along with him.

  The opening snack was something everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime apart from me who should experience it every day or, preferably, several times per day - an exquisite, crispy croquette of pigs head with sweet bursts of apricot. 

  Then a chunky beef tartare with a bit of chew to it but very tasty. Next Cornish mackeral with slices of grape - sweet and sour. A great dish.

  For the second time this week, previously at Purnell’s, I worked up a frenzy of pleasure for a dish that included beetroot - an exquisite beetroot ice cream served with a very pleasing ajo blanco, how I do love cold Spanish soup, especially when it was as good as this. Highly memorable.

  There followed nicely cured Chalkstream trout with the popping pleasure of its roe and an espuma with its gift of ginger. How gloriously, deeply orange. One fault for me, though not to my dining companion, was the following shitake bread pudding - I just don’t like its texture with barbecued shitake.

  The turbot was accurately cooked but I thought the smoked eel sauce stole away the pure flavour of the fine piece of fish - I should have enjoyed a more subtle accompaniment.

  And so to the main - a fine uncomplicated dish of nicely cooked venison with buxom blackberries (sadly my photography skills eluded me at this juncture and the result was a very fuzzy picture (unusable) of a two fine pieces of meat.

  The desserts -

 ‘Mascarpone’ - a delightful crème caramel - exceptionally enjoyable with the use of Pedro Ximenez in the dish  - accompanied by a rather dull pastry which I could have done without particularly as another pastry in the the form of a cacao tart served with very old balsamic was to follow.

  Finally, two mignardises hopped on to the table - well actually they were delivered to it by Chef Claridge with whom it was nice to exchange a quick couple of words - a little, intricately-decorated chocolate frog each, to see us on our way.

Rating:- 🌞🌞.

348. Sublime Opheem.

 

  A day after what I described as a “sublime” dinner at Purnell’s, I was at Opheem for another meal which I shall also describe as - spoilers - “sublime”.

  This restaurant is so good. It is difficult to fault and not to praise with the most generous of adjectives. It is an experience of the highest grade. From the delightful amuses gueles served with an aperitif in the comfortable, spacious, perfectly judged atmosphere of the lounge by front of house staff who interact with the diners unimpeachably to each course served in the equally spacious and pleasing dining room, its lighting just right, the background music interesting but unobtrusive, the thrill of the place matched by its calmness. 

  

   I opted for the five course menu but received rather more than five, each one a gustatory triumph. There was bhutta , the charred, spiced corn on the cob with its companion cornet of corn ice cream, a familiar and always welcome old friend to welcome you back to Opheem. 

 There was the fabulous gajar, a heritage carrot dish which shows that some heritage carrot dishes are not as tired as they often seem to be in some restaurants which serve them. A tiny lentil pakora brought a smile to my face and the soothing flavour of mint slotted in perfectly to the whole dish. How gorgeous it looked too. Then came another old friend - aloo tuk - with its achaari foir potatoes and the sweet fire of tamarind. Then the milk loaf with its accompanying mutton keema and malty dip.

  But wait! Who’s that? At the pass - I recognise that face - not someone I expected to see - Chef Richard Turner, clearly not now in retirement. I asked if I was right in my identification and yes, it appeared I was - he does some sessions at Opheem having become tired of his retirement. “He still doesn’t smile but he’s happier now” and judging by the food being presented on his watch, in spanking good form.

  After the sublime venison at Purnell’s the evening before, I was almost emotional to find that the mutton main course at Opheem this evening was of equal brilliance. Mutton it may have been but as tender and deliciously and mildly flavoured as any lamb. Served with a dopiaza sauce, the blackened onions tender and sweet with the zing of charring and there was leek to add to the flavour and texture. 

   A lovely dessert rounded it all off bringing with it cardomom and pistachio and white chocolate. Who can ask for anything more? Well a little more perhaps, back to the lounge for coffee and a selection of mignardises which included happy tiny white chocolate madeleines and a jelly and a macaroon.

  All quite magical. And sublime.

   🌞🌞🌞.