Lunch at Le Champignon Sauvage

I've always thought that the word 'mushroom' really suits those little capped fungi; short and stubby, hidden away in the woods with an aura of uncertainty about them. Hop over the channel, however, and you find a much fancier word for them; 'champignon'. It stands proud, opulent but unassuming, and in a way this is exactly what Cheltenham's Michelin Starred restaurant does.

Oh, Michelin Stars in Cheltenham? Surely it’s a super swish regency styled affair that has pretentiousness as part of the dress code? Thankfully not; Le Champignon Sauvage lives up to its ‘wild mushroom’ name. With not one, but two stars, it’s comfortably nestled into its surroundings in the Suffolks – a blink and you’ll miss it kind of thing. It doesn’t need to shout about its existence, it’s been around since 1987 and has maintained a fantastic reputation as being one of the best restaurants in the UK. The keen eyed amongst you will also have spotted that Chef David Everitt-Matthias won Chef of the Year in The Good Food Guide 2014; that’s pretty bloody big.

I visited Le Champignon Sauvage for the first time way back in 2010; at that point, fresh from uni and still in my student overdraft, I was just beginning to find my passion for food and drink, though I’d not really experienced much in the fine dining department. I remember being bowled over by dinner, ordering a lovely bottle of Viognier, but generally feeling a little awkward... What a difference four years makes. This time, after reading rave reviews about the great value set menus, I was taken as a birthday treat for lunch, and every inch of my visit – even down to the Tic-Tac’s in the bathroom – was perfect.

The restaurant seemed much more open than I remembered; it's bright, roomy and has an interesting selection of art work dotted around (granted, I wouldn't choose some of it myself, but at least they spark conversation). You're close enough to neighbouring table to scout out the food - though it's not really necessary here, you know everything's going to be good - but you're not too close to hear what dramas are going on in their personal lives.

Service runs like a well oiled machine thanks to the small team headed up by David's other half, Helen. No sooner are you sat down with menus to browse through, a selection of canapés are placed on the table to get tummies rumbling. With combinations of beetroot, horseradish, and goats cheese on crisp wafers, I was definitely ready for a decent lunch.

A three course set lunch menu sets you back at £32, which seems crazy cheap considering what and where you're eating. Not only this, but you get all the in-between-y bits too. After canapés came one of David's 'essences'; layers of intense savoury flavours - creamy, mousse-y, foam-y - as light as air. These kind of things play tricks with your brain; the daintiness of its appearance, and the textures it contains, make you anticipate something sweet, but there's no sweetness to be found. Freshly baked bread comes next; bacon and shallot brioche rolls all round for us - divine. We were even offered more, but declined as we didn't want to over do it.

There are a generous three options per course, making it incredibly difficult to choose. My starter was pigeon breast with baby gems, peas and pancetta, dotted with purées and drizzled with a glistening jus. The decorative shoots entice you in and it's full of classic spring/summer ingredients, bursting with flavour; gorgeous.

Three out of four of us chose the pork fillet for main course; rolled in Lapsang Souchong tea, it sat on a bed of mushrooms, parsnip and tenderstem brocolli. Hidden underneath, smeared across the plate, was a rich burnt orange purée, permeating the dish with marmalade aromas. Pork's not usually what I'd go for, but the smoky tea coating intrigued me. It was everything I hoped it would be; this little piggy did good.

Dessert was the toughest decision. Us girls went for a sweet option; I had compressed watermelon with quite a tart cream cheese, sable biscuit and the most refreshing cucumber sorbet; a sensible choice after a big lunch. My Mum had a panna cotta with muscovado and baby figs - equally delicious - but the both of us had massive food envy thanks to the other side of our table. The Chap and my Dad opted for a cheese board. The waitress then arrived with a heaving basket full of different cheeses, to which she knew every single one, and they could each choose 6. Judging eyes peered out from our side, as we desperately wanted to make sure they picked some good ones for us to try too.

The cheese boards came out with our desserts, neatly laid out in a row - from mild to strong - as a guide to which order you should eat them. An abundance of bread rolls, slices of fruit loaf, and a selection of crackers accompanied the cheese; this worked in our favour as there was more than enough to feed the two gents, and they happily let us have a nibble. Note to self: ignore your sweet tooth next time and hit up the cheese.

I simply couldn't have wished for a better Birthday lunch, David Everitt-Matthias deserves his Chef of the Year crown, and all the other awards and accolades he's gathered along the way. Cheltenham needs to champion Le Champignon, because you couldn't forage a fault if you tried.

Glasgow Gorge-Fest

I've been very slack in updating my blog on a regular basis - sorry! I can't quite believe it has been a whole month since coming back from Glasgow, and that I've only just managed to find the time to write about what I've been stuffing my face with. So let's not beat about the bush..

We stayed at 15 Glasgow; a luxury boutique bed and breakfast hotel situated in the West End. With just 5 suites, this listed Victorian townhouse was the perfect location for venturing out dinner and drinks (which is literally all we had planned to do). Booking through Mr & Mrs Smith got us a bottle of wine in our room upon arrival too. That, a lovely bunch of flowers, and a foil wrapped Tunnock's Tea Cake made a great start to our break.

Luckily the owner, Laura, is a big foodie too, and she was able to make a list of all her favourite places to try out; the majority of which were in the Finnieston/Kelvingrove area. So on her recommendation, we booked a table at the new Ox & Finch restaurant, and headed to Argyle Street to work our way through some of the gin cocktails at The Finnieston. We were only going to stay for one, but ended up having two because they slipped down so easily. I kept it Scottish with Caorunn Gin in mine, whilst The Chap fell madly in love with a take on an Old Fashioned that used tequila and mezcal instead of bourbon.

Across the road and up on Sauchiehall Street is Ox & Finch, which boasts 'contemporary, relaxed, sharing dining'. Its big and bright, thanks to it's corner site with generous windows and high ceilings; even the kitchen's open, so it feels very approachable. The inside has been stripped back to brick, and the decor plays with a number of textures - steel, tiles, concrete - keeping your eyes entertained as you admire it's beauty.

It's all about the food here though. It has a tapas-vibe with a menu full of small dishes designed to share, pretty similar to London's Duck & Waffle actually. The menu is split into snacks (£3-4), raw, cured & cold (up to £6.50), seafood (£7-9), meat (£5-8) and vegetables (mostly £3.50). Desserts are a fiver if you can fit them in too.. We could not - poor form.

Orders come out as they're ready, so if you're like us and order as much as possible, then you end up having a continuous stream of food brought to the table. AMAZING. We had crispy fried squid, chilli and orange salad with saffron aioli; tartare of roe deer, egg yolk, hazelnuts and mustard; roast asparagus, poached egg and pancetta; seared scallops, lardo di colonnata and cauliflower puree; grilled baby gem, parmesan crackling, anchovies and caesar dressing; and braised ox cheek, roast cauliflower puree, thyme & bacon gremolata.

With such a range of dishes, your tastebuds are kept constantly excited; hot, cold, salty, sweet, spicy, sharp, creamy, crunchy, rich, fresh.. You get the picture. It was incredible and I wish Ox & Finch was on my doorstep.

The following day we'd booked lunch at Cail Bruich thanks to a tip from Girl Around Glasgow. It was voted Scotland's best restaurant for the 2nd year in a row, and they had a crazily good offer on during our visit; three courses with three matching wines for just £15! Certainly not to be sniffed at.

Only one other couple were in the restaurant the whole time we were there, which I'd normally hate when going out to eat, but it was different here; it felt like we'd been let in on a secret. First course was the juiciest piece of chicken with barley, topped with delicate onion rings and served with a light, fruity red wine. Next was pork belly with tenderstem brocolli, peas, and a tangy vinegary sauce. A fulled bodied red with much more spice accompanied this one. Dessert, which came with quite a sweet white, was the standout dish for me, mainly because it was a bit unusual; strawberries, a biscuity crumble, mallow-y meringues, and WHITE ASPARAGUS ice cream. So unexpected and so so good.

That night, a bit unsure where to go, we headed for The Gannet. They only had a table available quite late in the evening, but that was fine considering our 3 course lunch - haha. When we arrived, the people at our allotted table hadn't finished eating, but again, no big deal; a drink at the bar is always fine with me. However, by the time we sat down, we were probably halfway through our bottle of wine, which seemed a little ridiculous. Sure, dinner was nice, but by that point I was a bit too boozy to enjoy it properly. To be honest I can't even remember what I ate, and it was too dark to take any snaps to jog my memory. Although we got a 'free liqueur' at the end to apologise, I thought it could have been handled better, and we ended up being the last ones in there, feeling a bit miffed.

Ilustration by Adrian B McMurchie

On our numerous visits to Finnieston, we spied a lunchtime special at Old Salty's - a traditional chippy and cafe. For a fiver we bagged ourselves a mammoth fish goujon buttie with a mound of chips; all freshly fried to order, and served with some tangy homemade tartare sauce on the side. Unsurprisingly, The Chap had to help me finish mine; there are never any lonely chips left abandoned on a plate when he's around.

On our last night we ventured off in a different direction, where we found Stravaigin, the sister to Glasgow's famous Ubiquitous Chip. Stravaigin means 'to wander'; it's a Scottish restaurant, which dabbles in different cuisines from around the globe. Not so much a fusion, but more of a culinary trip. It's been awarded Michelin's Bib Gourmand in 2012 and 2013 and also has 2 AA Rosettes, not to mention it's highly praised wine list.

Whilst checking out the menu, we both had a cocktail made using Pincer; a Scottish vodka flavoured with extracts of milk thistle and wild elderflower - yum. I plumped for a middle eastern veggie dish and The Chap went for a mega steak. As for our wine selection, we chose the 2011 Chateau Viella Madiran purely based on it's description: Fancy a drink outisde the box? Charming, youthful but gutsy red from, Southern France. Fruity and moreish, this new bag in the box will change the way you think about wine. I'm not sure it changed the way I think about wine, but it was bloody good, as was the food.. Another place that I'd love to be my local.

Our flight home wasn't until the evening, so we planned on having a big lunch to keep us going. I'd asked some Glasgow foodies on Twitter what their fave cheap eats were, and a couple mentioned Bread Meats Bread, slap bang in the city centre. There's never any question about whether or not to go for a burger with me - as long as it isn't anything to do with those golden arches or the crowned variety. I do LOVE the trend of fancy burger joints popping up, but it has made it impossible to decide where does THE best, so being told where to go by someone else made the whole ordeal much easier.

They operate a no bookings system, a no brainer when there's such a quick turn around - it doesn't take long to wolf the goods down - but it did mean we had to queue for a bit. Handed a menu, and having a clear view of the open kitchen resulted in us firstly, having food envy, secondly, knowing exactly what we wanted to order, and thirdly, drooling at the thought of it.

We both went for the premium 'Black Label' beefy blend; I stuck traditional with cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle and sauce, whereas The Chap had added smoked brisket in a Sriracha and BBQ sauce, with cheese and pickles. This was our first encounter of Poutines too; triple cooked chips topped with fresh cheese curds and house gravy. Phwoar. We went for the sweet potato version, which balanced out the salty cheese and gravy perfectly. It. Was. Epic.

There are still a number of places that were on my list of recommended eats/drinks, but there's only so much two greedy people can fit in before beginning to resemble a hippo.. "I'll be back."