The place we ate out last time was fully booked, and my FIL had heard good things about this place. We had a quick drink (Otter & Leffe on draft) there on Saturday afternoon, checked out the menu, and were lucky enough to book a table for that evening as there had been a cancellation.
We arrived for our 6:30pm table, and were the first there. I'm not sure if it was so early to squeeze us in, or because of the kids, but it worked for us anyway. I'm not sure they're used to children, which may be why our table was the one near the serving area. Not ideal you might think, but very handy for my son who likes to watch what's going on! The dining room itself is a barn conversion with wooden beams, high ceiling, varied lighting, and well-spaced tables.
Having seen the menus earlier, ordering took no time at all. They had no problems being flexible—I had two starters, my son had a starter portion as his main. The children's menu is a bit more inventive than usual too, including a Cheddar Cheese Platter and Chicken Carbonara. Having ordered, we sipped aperitifs, and shared a bowl of garlicky olives with some bread.
We shared three starters - a very lovely Caramelised Butternut Squash Risotto, a Lime dressed gravadlax of salmon with salad which was very tender and a Salad of marinated artichoke hearts, grilled aubergine, with aged balsamic vinegar. The salad dressing was a bit sweet and a little over-generous for my tastes, but it did mean my son ate his portion with gusto!
To follow hubby had the Pan-fried Calves Liver & Bacon with Fondant Potatoes which was very tender, cooked perfectly as he likes it, pink and juicy. I had the Seared scallops on Puy Lentils from the starters— 6 large sweet scallops cooked just right. The Steamed Exe Mussels with Linguine in a cream & Noilly Prat sauce was my son's choice, and a very good one. Although the Cheese Platter for my daughter was perfect in theory; cheese, apple, grapes, and bread—the cheddar was a bit too mature for her tastes.
Desserts were a Sticky Date Pudding with Clotted Cream, Vanilla Creme Brulee with fruit and Shortcake biscuit, Iced Banana Parfait with Caramelised Banana slices, and a Dark Chocolate Tart with Salted Peanut Butter Ice Cream. All well executed, though the PB ice cream was not as fab as you'd have hoped.
To drink was a bottle of still water... as we forgot to ask for tap and paid the price—£2.85! The bottle of French Pinot Noir was much nicer and more reasonable at £14.50, and we rounded off with espressos. The entire bill came to £89.15, which was good value for such quality. Service throughout was attentive and efficient. The kids behaved impeccably, and did us proud—we all left happy.