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.

Eckington Manor with Masterchef Professional Winner Mark Stinchcombe

A few weeks back, a group of us ventured over the Gloucestershire borders to Eckington. It was summer last year that we'd first all gone out for dinner together - having the tasting menu at Lumiere Cheltenham - and we'd planned this next date quite a while before Christmas. The reason being?… Masterchef.

As you'd probably have guessed, I am a massive food programme lover; if I'm not watching them at home, I'll be listening to them at work. And although there are probably a few too many on TV these days, Masterchef is one of the ones which draws me in every time. Unfortunately, whilst I'm drooling over the dishes on the screen, my list of restaurants to visit only gets longer and longer, sigh. 

As a stroke of luck, one of the chefs taking part (and wowing all the judges) was from a restaurant just half an hour away, and after a quick text around during one of the shows, we decided that we should all go. 

Fast-forward to Christmas Eve, when the title of Masterchef: The Professionals Winner 2015 was handed to Mark Stinchcombe, we were all feeling incredibly smug with ourselves having preempted his success and bagged a reservation at the restaurant he works at; Eckington Manor.

Mark is in fact just one half of the culinary couple behind Eckington Manor's kitchen. Him and his wife Sue - who has also appeared on BBC's Great British Menu - met whilst working at Le Champignon Sauvage, and having explored the edible offerings in various other countries together, they returned to the area to share their own vision for food.

With Eckington Manor's award winning farm, orchard, vegetable and herb gardens to hand, it's not been difficult for the pair to hone in their style. They honour seasonality, maintain natural flavours, and illustrate the importance of using quality ingredients. It's field to fork in every sense - the restaurant, cookery school, hotel - and in being on Masterchef, Mark has showcased this unique set-up to a much wider audience. It's now pulling in food fans from across the UK, and rightly so.

When we arrived, we were offered a drink at the bar downstairs, but seeing as it was 8:30pm and we were almost eyeing each other up to eat, we went straight up to the restaurant. It was full and had it not been pitch black outside, I imagine there would have been picturesque views out of the large windows. Sipping a glass of Champagne, we browsed the menu and nibbled on some tuile-like breadsticks dipped in a creamy truffle butter - a perfect start don't you agree?

Decision making was tough despite there being just four options for each course, but after committing, we were presented with an unexpected appetiser brought out by Mark himself. A little glass dish filled with a Waldorf Salad of sorts - celeriac panna cotta topped with blue cheese and walnuts - salty, creamy, refreshing, nutty and tangy; teased and tickled our taste buds in all the right places.

Warm bread followed, of which the pillow-like focaccia was the favourite.

My starter was the Eckington Manor beef tartare, radish, hazelnuts and pickled mushrooms. What surprised me was how delicate the dish was; beef tartare can be quite a punchy little number thanks to capers, etc. But here there was just a light pepperiness from the radish, texture and depth from the nuts, and a little acidity from the pickled mushrooms, leaving the flavour of the beef to be the star attraction.

The Guinea Fowl Terrine at the other end of the table looked perfectly formed, and I managed to sneak a taste of The Chap's Smoked haddock, leeks, macaroni and artichoke, which was a great arrangement of flavours. Our crisp glass of Riesling paired particularly well to this one.

Main course, I opted for Breast of poussin, chestnut purée, sprouts, confit parsnips and lentils. There was an air of Christmas about it, what with the chestnuts and sprouts, but the earthy lentils, sweet parsnips and purple flower sprouts made sure it was a far cry from your festive roast.

As lovely as it was - especially with the Pinot - sat next to the larger, architectural beef and pork belly dishes that surrounded me, it looked and felt like something was missing. The Chap's Pork belly, prune, sweet potato and spiced granola was a stunner. Reminding me of the piggy starter Tom Kerridge serves up at The Hand & Flowers, it was a fatty piece of meat complemented with dried fruit sweetness and spice.

For a £3.50 supplement though, I could have (and should have) ordered the Eckington Manor rib eye of beef and braised shin, caramelized onion, wild mushroom and red wine jus. It was by far the best thing on the menu, and the three of us who didn't choose it simply gazed longingly at its glistening beauty.

I suppose it's somewhat controversial serving mains without a hefty portion of carbs, but this seems to be something that Eckington Manor take pride in, and they've actually just won a Gold Award in the Healthier Choices Food Award scheme. It's certainly not to be confused with healthy eating - you won't lose any weight by visiting here - but careful choices and cooking techniques mean that you wont leave overly stuffed with a feeling of guilt.... Which leads me onto dessert...

I personally feel I had the best of the bunch; Banana bread, milk chocolate and banana sorbet, peanuts and caramel. Seeing as I'm obsessed with (as are a lot of other people) the combo of peanut butter and banana on toast, adding chocolate and caramel into the mix and hello! 

The Malted milk ice cream, praline, 70% chocolate and warm spices was served on a black plate, emphasising its naughty cocoa indulgence, whilst the pert Rhubarb soufflé and gingerbread ice cream came with candy stripes and a pretty-in-pink rhubarb juice - fun! 

We finished our meal with coffee, cocktails and petit fours down in the bar - a nice finishing touch - and settling the bill we were pleasantly surprised at the price. Three courses at Eckington Manor is £42 (plus supplements for specials), and with champagne, a few bottles of wine, dessert wine, cocktails and service charge, we ended up paying just over £80 each! I think we were all expecting to pay much more than that. 

Being the last to leave - as ever - we boozily chatted to Mark, expressing how much we enjoyed ourselves and quizzing him on Masterchef. As for his future plans, it turns out he's insistent on staying in his current position, with the desire to grow and expand the business alongside Sue and the owners of the manor. Great news for us local folk!

I'll consider it a lesson learnt; it's about time we took more notice of what's on our doorstep. Eckington Manor has been firmly put on the map... And I already want to return.

Eckington Manor, Hammock Road, Eckington, Pershore WR10 3BJ