A Taste of Worcester: The Crown Inn, Hallow

It's a rare occasion that I'll venture out of Gloucestershire for dinner (unless it's a jaunt to London or Bristol of course). You'd think I suffered with homesickness counting the number of times I've crossed the borders, but trust me that's not the case. A) I can barely keep up with all the latest openings in the town I bloody live in, and B) I really like wine. Sadly, as much as wine and food go together hand in hand, wine and driving do not. Sigh.

Last month I was invited along to The Crown Inn in Hallow, Worcestershire, to try some of the new dishes from the new menu, created by new Head Chef Chris Monk. All the 'new's. I'd met Chris back when I worked behind the scenes at Le Champignon Sauvage - still one of the best things I've ever done - and having left the Michelin Star kitchen behind him, he's taken on quite a different role here in Hallow.

Admittedly, I'd never heard about The Crown Inn before my invitation; I guess why would I? But now that Chris has taken the reigns in the food department, it's time to take note. The gorgeous pub had a renovation earlier in the year, with new branding to match, and the focus is firmly on putting the highest quality seasonal fare on your plate. Pub grub traditionalists needn't worry too much about the change though, although there'll be plenty of fancy flairs, you'll still be able to grab a decent burger, fish and chips or a Sunday roast.

There was a special 5 course tasting menu on the night of our visit, crazily priced at £29.95 with an optional wine pairing at an extra £20 per person. Bingo. I drew the designated driver short straw, so just had a few sips of each wine, leaving The Chap double parked all evening.

We started with a glass of fizz alongside freshly baked focaccia (£3.50 on current menu - I'll include prices where applicable). Rosemary and sea salt would usually suffice, but when the bread's warm and there's creamy whipped butter at hand, slathering it on is the only option.

An amuse bouche of caramelised onion mousse with crispy chicken skin arrived at the table. The salty-savoury flavours were balanced by a sweet Sauternes jelly, and although caramelised onion isn't usually my thing, this was lovely. The Chap reckons he could happily have a bag of chicken skin 'crisps'... I don't doubt him. Actually, I'd probably join him.

There were two options for each course, so we did the usual thing of ordering one of each so we could try everything. My starter was truffled guinea fowl terrine with pickled mushrooms and roasted garlic. The light gamey flavour was pimped up with garlic, though it was the pickled mushrooms that totally made it. Some extra texture would've been welcomed, not just a scattering of pine nuts, but perhaps that's just me. This was paired with a Louis Latour White Burgundy Chardonnay, 2015. Just yes.

The Chap had scorched mackerel, beetroot and goats curd (£6.95); pretty large for a starter with a good amount of everything on the plate. Although the fish was beautifully cooked, it was sat on two big dollops of a beetroot-chutney-sort-of-thing, which felt rather overpowering. Less is more on this occasion. A 2016 Picpoul de Pinet was the match here; a classic fish friendly wine and happily guzzled down.

Confit escalope of sea reared trout, samphire, peas and fine herbs was my main course. It was a nice surprise to find giant bows of pasta in the dish, and they went so well with the silky confit trout. Greens kept each mouthful feeling fresh, and the citrusy sauce gave everything a bit of oomph. Oh so delicious, and possibly my favourite of the night. I had another Chardonnay to accompany this course (they clearly heard that I LOVE Chardonnays), but this time from Australia (Grant Burge 2016). More tropical fruit and less acidity than the French; I'm more of a Burgundy gal.

The Chap's dish felt comforting and gloriously autumnal. Ale braised beef cheek, smoked potatoes and charred onions. Again, quite a large plate in comparison to mine, but wowzas. So rich, dark and tender. The smoked potatoes were more like cylindrical croquettes, fluffy on the inside with a crisp chip-like casing. The perfect swooshing vessel to soak up every last drop of the ale sauce. A Beaujolais Villages (Louis Jadot 2016) came with this - maybe little too light - beef cheeks can definitely stand up to a fuller bodied wine.

A lemon curd and lime granita palate cleanser was next. It so reminded us of those Calippo Ice Shots we used to have when we were kids. Probably not the intention, but still...

There were absolutely no arguments over who would have which dessert. I'm not a soufflé lover, and The Chap hates coffee (I know - weird), so the dark chocolate tart with coffeé cream and mandarin was firmly on my side of the table. Great, because I didn't want to share anyway. The chocolate to pastry ratio was a chocaholics dream; so seductively shiny and not sickly sweet. I wasn't too sure how I felt about coffee and orange together, but it just worked, especially with the glass of orange blossom-y Floralis Moscatel I had.

The Bramley apple soufflé with salted caramel ice cream (£6.95) was a beast! Despite my differences, I did try a little, if only to help The Chap try and reach the bottom. I could just get that sweet baked apple flavour, but as showy as they may be, hot mousse-y eggs are not my bag. Hey ho. The salted caramel ice cream was just as tasty as it sounds, as was the Sauternes wine pairing; he was happy.

The evening finished with tea, coffee and glossy brown canelés; a little taste of Bordeaux before heading home. Though not before meeting Pershore Patty - you can read her review of the evening here.

All in all, I thought it was a great night showcasing Head Chef Chris Monk's skills in the kitchen to customers old and new. With the large portion sizes, I'd say it felt more like a three course meal with added extras rather than a tasting menu. That's fine, tasting menus aren't what they do; starter, main, dessert, and job done.

The glimmers of fine dining were there in the cooking techniques, the presentation, the fact that we had an amuse bouche, and so on. I just hope that they stay and flourish rather than changing to suit "Dave from down the road, who comes in every Wednesday for pie and mash". That said, I'm pretty sure Chris can make a really mean pie. I shouldn't worry, The Crown Inn is an awesome place and I'll be sure to visit again soon.

Gin & Jelly Night

I've been to a fair few tastings in the past year - be it wines, gins, vodkas, etc - and have learnt that I much prefer premium spirits and the more unique distilled goods over the mass produced (alcohol snob, I know), and whilst my conscience feels a lot better for it, and my hangovers less severe, it is not so great for the bank account.

With this in mind, we decided to hold our own G&T tasting, a DIY Ginstock if you will (which you may have caught in London this summer on World Gin Day). We asked each of our guests to bring a gin of their choice, ideally something a little unusual, so we could learn about them, sample, compare and then score. Alongside this we'd be tasting the controversial Aldi Oliver Cromwell London Dry Gin, priced at an almost penny-saving £9.65, winning a silver medal at the International Spirits Challenge, beating the likes of two of the biggies, Bombay Sapphire and Hendrick's.

As we haven't staged 'an event' like this before, we were out to impress, so after much thought into alliteration and all things British, we made it a 'Gin and Jelly Night'; a boozy kids party, full of wobbly treats - gin based of course - and bunting, plenty of bunting.

We welcomed guests with Red Snapper shots, aka Bloody Mary's with gin, not vodka, made with lots of Tabasco to give it that fiery kick you get from a regular shot, and garnished with a teeny celery stick. Then after a few of those, we moved onto an 'English Garden' cocktail - gin, pressed apple juice and elderflower cordial - made into a punch concoction with the addition of vermouth, lemon juice, tonic, oh, and more gin. We served these in an assortment of jam jars tied up with string, and a stripey straw.

Now, on with the tastings. Firstly, tonics. We scoured the supermarkets in the past week trying to find various brands, and we found Schweppes, the pub favourite, Fevertree, the new classic, a supermarket own, of which we chose Waitrose, Fentiman's, and the local 6 o'clock tonic, made in Thornbury. Lack of glasses meant that we couldn't sample them all at once, but we were able to compare two at a time throughout. I took charge at this point, and let everyone else taste the tonics blind; after scoring, they had to guess which brand they were. Most were able to spot the obvious Fentiman's with it's lemongrass and herbal flavourings, alongside Fevertree's aromatic citrus version, which was a favourite amongst many. Schweppes was the least interesting, with pretty much no flavour at all, and everyone found the 6 o'clock too dry and overly fizzy. The surprise winner was the Essential Waitrose Indian Tonic Water; great value at 50p a bottle, and an all round clean tasting, refreshing mixer.

Being floral fiends, we also had a battle of the elderflower tonics; Fevertree and the brand new Bottlegreen one. With a much stronger taste, the locally produced Bottlegreen was the favourite of the two, and we all agreed that it would easily spruce up a cheap spirit.

At this point I cracked out the first of the jellies; Autumn plum jelly sweets taken from the latest Waitrose Kitchen magazine. High on sugar we hit the hard stuff, starting with our own purchase, Boodles Gin, winner of Ginstock 2013. "Famous for having one of the more understated juniper flavours among the top gins distilled in Britian", it unusually contains no citrus, but includes rosemary and sage instead. Alone, it was strong but smoother and sweeter than most, then with a splash of tonic, the herbiness made itself apparent.

Next we had the famous Williams Chase Elegant Crisp Gin, "a single estate apple spirit re-distilled in small batches in their own Copper Gin Still." Being made from apples, and including Bramley's and both orange and lemon in the botanicals, this is a bold, sharp tasting gin, which might be best used in cocktails over a traditional G&T. Nevertheless, it was a crowdpleaser and scored highly. 

Luckily for us, we had a couple of drink connoisseurs round, and were treated to a sneak preview of the new Cheltenham Gin, Brennen & Brown. Made using a complex vacuum distillation method, the gin is classed as having a 'hint of ginger' and notes of orange and lemon. As much as we wanted it to be great, unfortunately it was a bit of a disappointment for everyone. No one managed to get any ginger whatsoever, making it a really non-descript gin.

Following that, we had the mighty Plymouth Gin. We had visited the distillery last month, where we took the tour, and sipped some mean Aviations in the bar, so from experience and reputation, we knew this would be a firm favourite. With an interesting history dating back to 1793, Plymouth is a blend of 7 botanicals giving a fresh juniper taste, and an aromatic corriander aroma. Another high scorer, this a versatile gin which would work just as well in cocktails as it would simply with tonic.

By now we were feeling the effects of a fair few drinks, so it was time to bring out the show-stopper jellies; I needed to make sure everyone remembered them, didn't I? A White Lady jelly - gin, lemon juice and Cointreau - made pink with the aid of food colouring, and put into hollowed out strawberries and lemon peels. Clearly clinging onto the summer with British strawb's and pink lemonade jelly wedges, both of which went down a treat. 

Venturing into the more unusual, we tried Zuidam 5 Year Old Single Barrel Genever. "Distilled from malted barley, rye and corn, then infused with botanicals such as juniper, liquorice root and aniseed, the genever is then aged in a whisky barrel." The smell and taste of whisky was so strong that no one was able to tell that it was in fact a gin based spirit, and with a rich caramel colour, it would be easy to mistake it for one of those Scottish barreled drinks. It had an oaky vanilla-y finish, which was great for the whisky lovers, but scored very low for the haters (like me!), though a bit of ice did help it go down.

Greenall's London Dry was next, a gin you'd probably be able to find in most supermarkets, and actually produced in the same distillery as the Boodles we had bought. Weirdly they don't give any information about botanicals or product history on the bottle, other than the fact it was established in 1761. Clearly it must be a closely guarded secret, but nothing out of the ordinary stood out, so I'm guessing its a blend of the usual juniper/citrus suspects. As it's branding suggests, its a good everyday gin.

Last jelly of the night was an elderflower, lemon and gin combo, topped with blueberries and served in vintage crystal sherry glasses, which I forgot to photograph - I'll blame the booze - and rounded off with a taste of the Aldi Oliver Cromwell, that was used in all the jellies and cocktails served that evening. The verdict? An incredibly cheap gin which doesn't taste cheap in the slightest. Sure, it hasn't got any unique selling point - it does look very much like a Gordon's rip off - but as a clean, well rounded drink, it is one which most of us would be happy to keep by for when we get home after one of those hard days at work.  

All in all, a bloomin' good night was had. We learnt that everyone had different favourite gins but were able to appreciate the range of botanicals and qualities of each - apart from the whisky one.. That really did divide the room. Bottlegreen has come up trumps with it's new Elderflower Tonic; I'm intrigued to taste it's other new addition - pink pomegranate - so very girly. And probably is the best tonic around at the moment is Fevertree, but at a third of the price, the Essential Waitrose one seems like a no brainer for your G&T.

SO much gin, and not a single tear was shed, so maybe it's not Mother's ruin after all..

Lumiere

Right in the centre of town, next door to an Indian takeaway, and a mere stones throw away from the horrors of Vodka Rev's and Yates', sees Cheltenham's hidden treasure. With its modest signage, you'd be forgiven for missing it, but you really don't want to; this restaurant is a gem. Its ability to camouflage itself, like platform nine and three quarters in Harry Potter, makes it seem like some sort of secret dining experience, and the fact it only has 10 tables, adds to its exclusivity.

We'd been before, and instantly fell in love with the place; three perfect courses made us vow to return to try more. A little over two years later, here we are, though this time opting for the nine course tasting menu - a selection of chef Jon Howe's latest and favourite creations. Now, when it comes to eating out, I can be a bit of a control freak; I tend to completely disregard the 'big chain' restaurants, and insist on going to independant foodie faves, which I've probably researched weeks in advance and know the menus inside out. So having only seen a few sample dishes on the website, and not even looking at the menu when we arrived, our evening at Lumiere promised to be an exciting and unknown affair. After all, who doesn't like surprises?

Whilst browsing through the well stocked wine list, our appetizers arrived, a mini cheese scone and what I'd describe as a posh Quaver, topped with a gorgeous edible flower... Before I carry on, you'll have to excuse me for not remembering every little detail; there really were a lot of aspects to each dish!

The waitress brought round some freshly baked bread, of which there were four varieties to choose from. I went for the most unusual sounding one, celeriac and raisin, then out came our first course of the evening; a sweetcorn velouté with pancetta, so sweet and salty, light but flavorsome. A majestic scallop followed - diver caught from Oban - nestled with a piece of pork belly, and decorated with a caramel shard, carrot and cumin puree, and 'pork scratchings'. Next came another fish course of sea trout, with its super crisp skin and still rosy flesh, it sat on a bed of citrusy quinoa, cucumber, salmon roe, and topped with smoked eel. It was such a fresh dish, which led perfectly onto the last starter; a chicken terrine, with truffle, girolles, watercress, sweetcorn, and a langoustine. Without even swooping in for a sniff, you were hit with the aroma of truffles, and with a structural scattering of a sweet/sharp 'pickle powder', it made for an interesting dish, and one which I would never normally have chosen in a restaurant otherwise.

Now halfway through, we were given our 'refresher' - a take on a Tequila Slammer. There was a salty sugar crisp, that was to be eaten first, then a tequila sorbet, which tasted like a margharita. It was 'washed down' with a lime-y lozenge; a delicate jelly case with a punchy sour syrup in the centre that exploded in your mouth when you bit into it.

Quite often, when going for a 'fancy' dinner, I find that I get enchanted by all the savoury flavour combinations in the starters, then when it comes to the main course, I feel a little uninspired. Lumiere ousted this preconception by serving a main of goat.. Yes, goat.. In a British restaurant. As the waitress was explaining the dish, I was so eager to dig in. A goat loin wrapped in parma ham and a croquette of braised goat, with a hasselback potato of sorts, fennel/artichoke (to be honest, I don't remember) and goats curd. Pretty much anywhere you go, you will find goat's cheese on the menu in some form, so it was a nice surprise to have the rest of the animal being used rather than just it's milk. I guess I would associate it more with Caribbean cuisine - goat curries, etc - but it was so tasty not disguised in a tonne of spices that I'd recommend giving it a go just as it is.

Still none the wiser as to what was coming next, we were presented with Pimms, though not in drink form; an almost savoury cucumber sorbet, a bite-size strawberry meringue, Pimms flavoured mousse, and finished with sprigs of mint and apple. Then came a stunning strawberry dessert, which seemed like a nod to the classic Eton Mess. A strawberry sorbet ball, covered in little meringue pieces, pistachios, and elderflower jelly 'beads', with fresh strawberries and Aero-like white chocolate slabs. The not-so-secret ingredient here was popping candy, which made the whole thing a sensation extravaganza. By this point, everyone dining were roughly eating the same course - apart from the gentlemen on the next table who were bravely working their way through an epic looking cheese board - and you could just hear waves of crackling soaring through the restaurant.

Finally, a triumphant peach melba soufflé was brought to us, standing very tall and proud, with a raspberry sauce, almond ice cream, and an attractive sugar spun spiral. I'm still unsure as to how much I like sweet soufflés, so personal preference would've probably wanted the last two the other way round, but that would be my only little niggle on the whole evening.

The staff were attentive but not intrusive, both friendly and chatty; not the stereotypical stern looking waiters who look like it pains them to serve you food, and insist on explaining the dishes so quietly that only a mouse would be able to hear. We chose not to go for the accompanying wine flight for £50pp, which we noticed that many other tables did, but nevertheless our glasses were continually being topped up, so it didn't feel like we missed out too much.

Nine courses seemed like a steal for just £70, and as we said two years ago, it surprises me that Lumiere has none of the oh-so-coveted stars. Surely it can't be long, so I'd advise to go there now, or you might end up on a long waiting list.

Lumiere - Clarence Parade, Cheltenham. GL50 3PA

Tuesday is Wine Night

.. And Wednesday starts with a bit of a sore head.

It was a little over a month ago, scrolling through my Twitter feed during another dull lunch break at work, that I spotted The Suffolk Kitchen declaring a table for two had become available for their monthly wine tasting dinner. Now, to give you a bit of background, me and my chap have been eyeing up various wine nights in the restaurants around Cheltenham for quite a while. However, we never seem to have enough pennies at the right time, or, for some reason, we stupidly manage to talk ourselves out of booking onto one, which we inevitably regret. Its true, we are FOMO's. We have a fear of missing out. And when we hear of how much fun people are having - about the tasty food and bountiful wines - we become green with envy, kicking ourselves for trying to be "responsible adults". But not this time. A quick phone call, and an average Tuesday excelled into being an impromptu dinner date night.

 With 'Old Wines vs. New Wines' as the theme, this seemed like a good introductory evening. A chilled glass of prosecco was handed to us as we were shown to our seats, and a menu/scorecard on our table, alongside some freshly baked bread, kept us amused whilst waiting for the restaurant to fill up. Simon, the owner, and Ranulf, the wine merchant, explained that during that particular week both the food and wine menu had been changed, and as a result they were using this night to showcase what was on offer. There are three courses, each having a choice of three different dishes (meat, fish or veggie) with the exception of dessert, which, thankfully - because I couldn't choose - is a sharing platter of all three. Then with each course there are two wines, in this instance, one brand new to the restaurant, and one that had been booted off of the list. 

A bit of banter between courses, a few Q&A's, and one to one chats at the table; we tasted, scored, and slurped our way through the night. The more we drank, the more critical we got, having to re-evaluate our earlier scores, debating over finish and flavours; clearly in those couple of hours we'd become wine connoisseurs. At the end, votes were counted, and unsurprisingly the New Wines reigned supreme; a bit of a win/win scenario for the two 'opponents' Simon and Ranulf.

It all seemed to go like clockwork, not once were we left waiting, and they definitely weren't shy on the wine.. So, naturally, after such an enjoyable evening - a steal at £35pp - we booked straight away for the next one. We won't be missing out again. Lesson learnt.