I feel as though I need to give this restaurant another chance—was it the rain that dampened my mood? It was absolutely pouring on the way; we gripped our umbrellas tightly, wading through the wet, slippery streets. Me concentrating on not slipping and falling flat on my face—at least I got my cardio power walk in this evening! Arriving a little flustered, we took our seats at an inviting table in the middle of the dining room. I wasn’t in the best of moods, and that feeling lingered throughout the evening, not helped by being slightly tired as well.
Before I go any further, I must mention the à la carte versus tasting menu debate. I felt roped into the tasting menu tonight, whereas if I’d been on my own, I would have chosen à la carte—always à la carte. Perhaps this is where the issue lay.
I might have had a better experience if I’d gone down that route, as I have a sense that this restaurant is better suited to it: a good starter, a solid main course, and a cracking dessert is all that’s needed in a bistro setting, in my opinion. I’m not sure if what I ate really displayed the restaurant’s talent to the fullest.
As I glanced at my guest’s servings beside me, their selections made more sense than what was coming from the set menu which was blind and offered no choice. The taster offerings were not making me excited. After all, ‘happy as Larry’ next to me was eating from the à la carte—the only person at the table! I kept turning to them, eyeing their food, and thinking, “Wish I had chosen that.” I wanted what they had: a good-looking sweetbread, with a well-coloured crust on the outside and soft in the middle—straightforward but achieving exactly what it set out to do. You knew what it was, with no unnecessary elements that didn’t work on the plate. That was a definite thumbs up.
Argh, I just knew I’d made a mistake tonight, but why didn’t I choose for myself, you might ask? The thing is, I had guests and tried to adapt to them, so this night wasn’t really my own. For this reason, I can’t give a fully exact account, so I’m not going to write negatively. The only thing for me to do is to come back on a better night for my à la carte. Once that happens, I can start again—without the dismal weather! Watch this space.
