Author Archives: henriettacooks

The Lobster Quadrille: The Yorkshireman part 2 – Brown’s Brasserie

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The Lobster Quadrille: The Yorkshireman part 2 – Brown’s Brasserie

In my last post I described the beer cake. It had one of the best responses to a cake I’ve had, simply because I walked in the room for the sparkling wine drinks, the birthday boy and gathered assembly were drinking large pints. However following the drinks we all headed over to Browns to continue the celebrations.
It was a little surreal approaching the restaurant for their weekly lobster night to walk through a throng of hand horns and placards being thrust in our plates by protestors protesting against lobster killing, but luckily once you got in the restaurant the regular blasts of horns and shouting dispersed into vague background noise.
I was quite hungry at this point and there was just one starter calling out to me and my neighbour, the sharing plate. This I would strongly recommend! I particularly enjoyed the calamari which were crisp but not chewy inside and went well with lime and chilli mayonnaise, which lacked heat but was tasty nonetheless. The honey mustard chicken again lacked a huge hit of the promised flavour but was still tasty and very well cooked. I really liked the prawn cocktail, chunky prawns and a hit of marie rose sauce which didn’t try to pretend it was anything other than what it should be, mayonnaise, worcester sauce and ketchup (it may have been more fancy then this but I loved it’s lack of pretentiousness). Again I really enjoyed the duck crispy chilli duck which was full of flavour but perhaps should’ve been described as hop-sin duck because that is what it was in reality. The chorizo sausage roll was very good and definitely lived up to its description, as did the lavish breadsticks which were so much more than breadsticks, more like morish buttery pastry sticks (this was not one for the figure conscious) which went so well with the rich lime and chilli mayonnaise for absolute decadence, carried the actually quite spicy harissa houmous and were complimented by the more plain and light aubergine caviar. Altogether perhaps browns could do with rewriting their description, but the finished product was delicious, although most definitely for sharing, perhaps we were a bit ambitious only sharing between the two of us…

 For the main I was told that I absolutely had to have the lobster surf and turf and was even offered sponsorship to order it (which of course I gratefully accepted -don’t judge, food lover+student – all donations accepted). The problem I had with the main was that having advertised this as a dish for lobster lovers, the lobster was significantly smaller than others I’ve had in the past (see dubai and Brussels) and was slightly overcooked and lacked flavour. For £25 you would have thought they could at least have run to a sauce for either the steak or lobster. Having had my rant the turf bit of my meal was lovely. I do like my steaks virtually mooing on the plate and I know a minute steak is quite hard to cook medium rare so I really should’ve asked for rare. Despite this they managed a good medium rare which I was impressed with and the fluffy thin chips were really good especially when dipped in Brown’s homemade ketchup, which I have had before and absolutely adore, it is so much better than Heinz (which for the record I love on brunch – this just goes the extra mile!) The steak doesn’t quite beat Cau, but at the moment that is a tough act to follow.

All in all in Brown’s, choose wisely and you will be rewarded. (I probably chose a little unwisely as I should’ve remembered Cambridge is as far from the sea as humanly possible.) Sometimes the most expensive choice isn’t necessarily the best, but what they know well they pull off well. (And trust me they know chips, calamari and breadsticks very well apparently)  

Beer Cake: The Yorkshireman

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Beer Cake: The Yorkshireman

The Yorkshireman’s birthday approaches. I am invited to a lavish champagne (okay prosecco) drinks reception followed by a meal at Brown’s. So what to give him….. When I have time (unfortunately this is not the case for all of my friend’s birthdays so I apologise – if any of my friends are reading this I promise you, your time will come soon – ) I like to make a cake and/or chocolates. The Yorkshireman is another one of my keen organist friends but since I have already made the organ cake, I turned to the Yorkshireman’s other love, Beer. I made a sheet plain sponge, first time using the brand new bright red kitchen aid!

4 Large Eggs
225g sugar
225g butter
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
225g self raising flour
pinch of Salt 
milk to loosen

Beat the butter and sugar till fluffy, add vanilla and eggs. Add flour and salt (TOP TIP: beat on a slow setting first unless you want flour all over your work surface). Add milk until the mixture is still thick but is pale and light. Bake at 180oC for 30mins or until golden on top and cooked through (use a skewer, if it comes out clean.

before carving the sides to resemble a beer glass.  Then I made some salted caramel icing

200g sugar
2tbsp water
60ml cream
250g butter
300g icing sugar
Vanilla extract
2tsp sea salt (proper flakes)

Let sugar and water dissolve over a medium heat and  DO NOT STIR. Leave till it turns to a dark amber and is beginning to smoke, you can swirl it but DO NOT STIR. Take off the heat, leave for 30secs then add the cream and stir. Leave to cool till roughly room temp. Meanwhile cream the butter, vanilla and salt. Add the icing sugar (see flour tip) then half the cooled salted caramel, if too thick add water, refrigerate till needed. 

Then I smothered the cake with the remaining salted caramel before covering the whole thing in the icing. Finally I made some marshmallow frosting

1 egg white
100g sugar or 150g icing sugar

Beat the egg white till stiff peaks form. Slowly add the sugar and continue beating till stiff peaks form again and the mixture is thick enough to pipe, put in a piping bag.

Then I piped the icing on top to make the head. The final decoration was melted milk chocolate put in a piping bag which I piped on to try and emphasise the point…. Next time I promise it will be guiness made with Guinness chocolate cake






This Inmate’s Last Meal

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This Inmate’s Last Meal

Three years of pretentious, over-priced but very special 3 course meals and it all came down to a St Paddy’s day feast for my last formal ever at Kings. We’ve had hits, THAT venison steak, and spectacular misses, coffee in the starter…. but Kings has at least kept a consistency of too many things on the plate and geometric shapes, a level of pretentiousness far above any other in a Cambridge. However it is certainly an event every week, nowhere else is black tie virtually the norm for a weekly student dinner, nowhere else is there such a paradox within the generally perceived message of the organisation (nb communist flag in the bar), nowhere else would weekly dinners stop 8 weeks before they should. Lets not lie, I wouldn’t have it any other way, it’s more exclusive. I even splashed the boat out on wine – seriously rewarded, smooth balanced taste that was light but robust.
I wasn’t necessarily thrilled that our last ever formal was St Patrick’s day themed but I was pleasantly surprised in some areas, quite disappointed in others.

The menu read as follows
Haddock, cauliflower, squid chowder, smoked bread foam, dehydrated Irish moss and soda bread

Guinness braised beef flank stew, with caramelised shallots, thyme, champ, kale, baby turnip and blackened leeks

Irish chocolate coffee cake, vanilla and white chocolate malt, Baileys ice cream and raspberry glass

The first course had my favourite and least favourite parts. It was generally decided that the moss was possibly the most disgusting thing many of us had ever tasted, sort of like swallowing a mouth of sea water, a dehydrated mouth of sea water. We also believe that that is the reason the soda bread had an after taste of earwax (too harsh?). However the black guinness looking soup with potato foaming topping was delicious. The squid added a savoury element that lifted an other wise delicious but basic haddock and potato chowder to an morish soup that I could’ve kept eating for the whole meal (in some cases maybe I should’ve).

The second course was slightly deceivingly small on the plate – it had body, a huge body of supposedly  melt in the mouth meat, it was alright but it was quite stringy all in all although the caramelised shallots complimented it as did the buttery mash. Plus I love blackened leeks, but once again Kings decided sauce wasn’t necessary, they were wrong.

I didn’t realise how full I was going to be by this point and couldn’t finish the rich chocolate ganache they had called a cake.. It did go well with the delicious Baileys Ice cream and the raspberry glass was for once a welcome novelty, but ration of ice cream to ganache probably should’ve been the other way around….

It was a lovely night with my friends but I feel they should’ve let me redesign the dessert, oh and actually the main and why not the starter as well for good measure…

Playing House

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Playing House
There is a reason I cook less in Cambridge. Mostly because my kitchen this year consists of two ‘warming plates’ and a microwave and my fridge (as I’ve said before) resembles the toy fridge that came with the ‘my first kitchen’ I got at the age of three. I have minimal access to an oven and any attempt to use it involves running four floors down my staircase and two floors up on another one, which is always fun when you’re carrying a hot tray…. Plus I have limited (three armchairs) seating and only a desk to eat off. All this makes it less than ideal to throw a dinner party, but I took up the challenge when my friend the Girtonion persuaded me to throw one with her.

We optimistically set a date in a month and a half’s time, although being me, I planned the menu about a week later. Limitations included budget ( if we had a fish starter, we went with a veggie main), gluten intolerance and logistics, oven space (I went with no-cook starter and dessert). 
On the day itself, about an hour and a half before the start of the party, we had an offer of a better venue, with a proper table and enough chairs and and oven in the next door room. While fantastic, this proved an entertaining challenge as we carried 3 large lasagnes through college and across the road, I was surprised we managed to pull this off but with 3 minutes to go we were semi-organised. 
While enjoying a fine selection of wines (my friends have good taste) we sat down.
Gin and Juniper cured Salmon, pickled cucumber and creme fraiche 
( see christmas blog for the recipe)
This was possibly the easiest course to do within our limitations and relatively cheap with Sainsburys basics salmon fillets, who knew. Although I panicked and left the cure on too long so they were a little too salty but luckily managed to balance out with the mellowing flavours of the creme fraiche and cucumber.

Goats Cheese and Butternut Squash no pasta lasagne, with sage and garlic chips and broccoli.
Why I decided to cook a lasagne for a gluten-free meal I am not entirely sure, but I love the Nigella goats cheese and pumpkin lasagne 
So in order to tweak it to suit my limitations, we used squash instead of pumpkin, cut down on expensive goats cheese and upped the mozzarella, increased the garlic (always makes things better), replaced the pine nuts with walnuts and replaced the pasta with slices of courgette and aubergine. my original idea as an interesting side was fried garlic polenta, but alas a lack of interesting ingredients in the supermarkets of Cambridge scuppered this plan. Instead we went with chips. We parboiled the potatoes with salt, sage and garlic, tossed the drained contents in oil and roasted for about an hour – they appeared to go down well, my neighbours at the table started grazing on extra chips of the tray before we had even served all the food. 
Lemon Posset, popping candy and gluten free shortbread.
Lemon posset is a delightfully easy dessert, in this case quirkily served in plastic cups (Ok maybe that is all I had…) Simply bring 600ml cream and 150g sugar and the zest of 3 lemons to the boil, boil for 3 mins before whisking in the juice of 3 lemons, pour into glasses and leave to set. Note to self, next time don’t put the popping candy on till the last minute otherwise you simply create a sort of strawberry flavour creme brûlée topping to your posset…. 
For the shortbread I got to use my new bright red Kitchen aid for the first time. Again devilishly simple. Cream 150g butter, 75g sugar, 1tsp salt, add 250g gluten free self raising flour, roll into flattened balls and bake at 180oC for 12-15mins till golden brown.
There were moments I thought a three course meal for nine would be impossible in college, it wasn’t, but boy it made me appreciate my kitchen at home. 

Steak take 2 – Cau

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Steak take 2 – Cau

This is a little belated given this jumps all the way back to the parents visit, but what can I say, I’ve been busy. Cau has got to be one of my best recent eating out experiences. Not only is the food really good (especially the traditional argentinian dishes, we tried the flatbreads which were nice but didn’t blow pizza express away), but the argentinian wine is worth remembering. The only issue here is that I forgot to take pictures, we were a little too busy enjoying the food.

We started with Empanandas, like little cornish pasties with slightly more exciting flavours. We ended up trying all three, through a slight communicative error with our waitress but it was good to try all three. The first, spicy ground beef and onion, was actually my least favourite, ironically probably the most similar to a cornish pasty but it lacked interesting flavour, better for the less adventurous. The next, spanish chorizo and cream cheese was my favourite, spicy and creamy at the same time, good flavour/texture balance. Finally the spinach, ricotta and date which was also really good, the date adding a sweet edge to an otherwise classic combination. We found half of each of these and a chicken skewer was perfect for a starter. We went for the chicken with guacamole (you may be noticing an avocado trend in this blog) which had some of the best guacamole I’ve had in a while, so creamy and delicious – even my dad (who is generally spice phobic) enjoyed the balanced flavours in the guacamole, and very well cooked chicken,  not over or under done.

For mains we all went for steak (why not?) My dad and sister (the mother was off doing her job back in Oxford) both had the thinly sliced tapa de cuadril which was apparently very good and suited both of them perfectly, they aren’t generally so keen on the bloody steak. My sisters salsa style chimchurri sauce was ok but my dad’s garlic and herb aioli fought off stiff competition of any aioli I’ve had before. Likewise dad’s chunky chips were good but my thinly sliced ones were better, and definitely much better than McDonalds while retaining that addictive tendency. I enjoyed the red juices oozing from my perfectly cooked medallions and they were complimented by the creamy and salty mustard sauce which I am ashamed to say I wiped off my plate with the chips, it was that good.

After such a feast we were all quite stuffed, no matter how valiantly I tried to fit dessert in. Luckily my dad had the answer, sharing the Dulce de leche pancakes. I am so glad he forced this on both his daughters as I haven’t had such amazing caramel sauce, really ever. I may just go back for these pancakes they were that good.

I think the picture below speaks for itself, that is a satisfied table – while Cau will never be cheap cheap, it is better value for money given the quality of the produce and wine then most places. Ive never tasted Argentinian food before but I will definitely be trying it again (maybe just at Cau).

If you go down to the woods today…

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If you go down to the woods today…

So as you may have realised from this blog I am generally not very good at spontaneity. Of course this is a benefit when it comes to cooking elaborate 5 course dinners…. but generally as a student I am learning to juggle everything with a tight schedule and a bit of spontaneity every now and then is a welcome stress release. Of course spontaneity can vary from taking a long cycle ride, heading to the museum or in my case soaking gummy bears in gin….
It was one of those weird afternoons following brunch when I wanted a snack because I can’t cope with only having two meals a day, so stopped off for a healthy cereal bar. Of course I met my friend who suggested tangfastics were a more juvenile approach and I should probably start acting like the kid I feel like inside rather than the mature soon to be graduate I actually am. Upon spotting the gummy bears I mused that I had always wanted to try gummy bears in vodka having read they grow to about 4 times in size, he suggested we actually try it. Of course I only had gin (being more a g and t girl than a vodka coke) so we used that instead. A few days later and all I can say is that half a packet of gummy bears engorged to the size of a key with gin, makes for rather good pre-drinking.

Same friend, different experiment. Following on from the successful gin gummy bears, we decided to try the much talked about skittle vodka. Deciding that skittles wouldn’t make our final vodka enough like sours, we used skittle sours. Trying not to eat too many we skilfully divided all the skittles into colours, this was the fun part, brought out the ocd in us, I think all Cambridge students have it a little. We then downed 5 bottles of fizzy water and filled up with vodka, I’ll keep you updated on the results

In another note, same friend and I headed to chophouse again (I am not normally this decadent) and had the exciting sharing plate. I have been wanting to try this for a while but this plate is rather difficult to share between four…much better between two.

 Venison Pate with sweetcorn relish and brown sourdough, possibly my favourite part of the dish , meaty and chunky, balanced by the tangy relish. Then there was the pork crackling, crunchy and salty – not quite up their with the maypole’s but then the maypole is specifically tailored for drunken munchies. The cheese, I was assured, was very good cheddar, as detailed many times, I am not a cheese fan. Likewise personally I wasn’t such a fan of the gammon although that is more personal taste as it was smokey and I’m sure hit the spots for more of a gammon lover. I am always a big fan of cured salmon, especially beetroot cured and this was good, although I think it was sliced a little thinly, I think cured salmon tastes better a little thicker so you can taste how much meatier it is than smoked salmon and not so salty but they still did well, plus good value for money, we were stuffed.

Juicy Times

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Juicy Times

In some sort of crazy plan to try and actually stay healthy this year, I have decided to start juicing for breakfast. Well that and also wanting to constantly use my shiny new blender which works so fast the bigger stress about making this juice is washing up and it works out a lot cheaper than the pret a manger   version. Having tried and failed a almost totally veg juice ( U7 as my faithful taste tester informed me it was a little lacking in flavour…)
The great thing about this juice is that it is tasty but also makes you glow.

Makes about 6 servings
1 avocado
1 banana
400g blueberries
250g spinach
400ml orange juice (according to taste)
water

Blitz all the ingredients in a blender, adjust orange juice and water to taste and texture, pour into bottles and chill. Hey presto healthy breakfast on the run for a week

 

Kitchen work

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Kitchen work

for anyone who’s ever asked me what it’s like to work in a kitchen this guy hits the nail on the head!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/emofly/cooks-photos-of-restaurant-life

St John’s Chophouse

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St John’s Chophouse

It might be only me, but when anyone offers me an all expenses trip to a restaurant all I can think about is STEAK. So the inevitable termly visit from the parents is centred around a decadent 3 course meal at none other than the St John’s Chophouse. Not only is this probably the best steak I have ever had, every time I go, but they also play Blackadder in the loos, what more could you want. This time round it was especially exciting as my aunt was up (she’d treated me to a romantic meal at Pizza Express on Valentine’s day – giving me something to do, couldn’t have spent it better) and even my busy london-lifestyle sister was gracing us with her presence. Turns out I’m not the only one who thinks the chophouse is an excellent choice as the whole place was packed, probably a good thing we’d booked on a saturday night…
Since I’m not very good at spontaneity (I’m working on it) , I had of course already perused the menu and was set on starting with some of their interesting sounding Three Squirrels English Sparkling Wine. This turned out to be only one of a set of excellent choices I’d already made before I sat down – yes I had looked at the menu that much. While sipping a glass of the bubbly stuff with distinctive notes of elderflower, we ordered a diverse range of starters much to my internal blogger’s delight. My aunt and mum went for the special, a salmon gateaux, layered with creme fraiche, beetroot cured salmon and smoked salmon. My dad, the quirkily retro prawn cocktail, with slightly more flavour and less acidity than its namesake but still served in a cocktail class. My sister had the cured pigeon and beetroot salad, which indulged every meat lovers dream, the pigeon melting in the mouth due to the curing process, while still maintaining the flavour of a piece cooked rare.

I opted for the poached egg on toast with mushroom/ mustard sauce – tempted by the similarity to my favourite breakfast treat, eggs benedict – the intense flavour and saltiness of the sauce was balanced by a perfectly cooked poached egg, the yellow yolk oozing lusciously from the centre.

We accompanied our main course with a lovely red wine served in big goblet glasses, something I can’t wait own when I have a full set of glassware for dinner parties (although the crystal glasses from Oxfam given to me by my parents for my birthday do look rather good on my cupboard shelf).

 Of course for me this course was what I had been looking forward to pretty much all term, a sirloin steak, brandy and pepper sauce, bashed butternut squash and chunky chips. As any foodie should, I like my steak rare and bloody, and the chophouse didn’t fail me. Likewise the chips crispy and fluffy at the same time as expected, which I used to soak up the deliciously savoury brandy sauce. However the pleasantly surprising highlight of the dish was the butternut squash, it worked so well bursting with sage, I only wish I got more than one spoonful. They say all great women turn into their mothers, and that must be the case as my mum and I unwittingly chose exactly the same main course.

While regaling us with tales of her business course in London, my sister tucked into the market fish, a pan fired sea bream, kale and crushed new potatoes. While I was assured the fish was delicious, she was slightly underwhelmed with the crushed potatoes which appeared to lack buttery flavour and was slightly overwhelmed by mint.

My dad went for the supreme of the menu, the beef wellington. I’m trying not to hear the cries of outrage as I admit that I have actually never tried Beef wellington. The truth is that I’m scared of making it (it is one of the hardest dishes to make without over cooking/ soggy pastry etc) and I’m scared if I have it at restaurant it will be better than I could ever make it. Dad’s did not disappoint. I hardly had a chance to take a picture of it before it disappeared off the plate…. but I was assured it was delicious.

 My aunt was clearly enticed by the specials again as she went with the seasonal duck with haggis hash and roasted carrots and parsnips. Again it hit the spot, crispy skin and melting meat.

I’ve never been one to turn down pudding, despite feeling both well fed, watered and intellectually stimulated by this point, having filled everyone in on my latest work and social highlights and being treated to equally exciting tales, mostly of my parents having gone out to free work dinners and invites to the opera (not that I’m jealous or anything..) The choice isn’t large, and certainly not exotic at the chophouse, but they certainly do Great British Menu incredibly well. I made my third good choice of the evening with the chocolate bread and butter pudding with marmalade sauce. The bitter chocolate was off set by the creamy and sweet marmalade custard, as if you were eating sophisticated chocolate covered orange peel while simultaneously indulging in your mothers most comforting stodgy sponge.

My mother enjoyed her creme brûlée or more geographically correct ‘Cambridge Burnt Cream’, which of course Trinity college take credit for oner french paste chefs… http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1298534/Which-came-Cr-br-l-e-burnt-cream-UK-claims-French-classic-own.html

Yet again the only disappointment was slight, in this case my aunt’s dessert was too large. No-one can eat quite that much chocolate pot (a very thick and rich chocolate mousse), I personally would’ve upped the shortbread and cut a little of the chocolate stuff, but I tried a little and the orange and ginger came through nicely , meaning it wasn’t too sweet.
Being the hugely organised family that we are, we spent most of the dessert discussing where our next meal out was – watch this space. Meanwhile check out the Chophouse website http://www.cambscuisine.com/st-johns-chop-house

Burns Night

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Burns Night

The celebration of the Scottish poet Robert Burns which I only came across in Cambridge, England…..  It is the sort of occasion where the menu reads like a witches chant from Macbeth, the men wear skirts and everyone toasts a sheep’s stomach with what some consider to be the nectar of gods and what others (me) consider to be absolutely disgusting. I’m not entirely sure why this English institution feels like it should celebrate such a scottish tradition but I am very glad we do, I love haggis. If someone had told me at the age of 6 that I would love to eat sheep’s offal minced with oatmeal and boiled in a stomach I probably would have thrown up, but ever since I tasted offal for the first time at 16 (a black pudding stuffed pork loin) I absolutely loved it. (The exception being Tripe which I tried once and never again…) Offal tends to lift a dish with its’ rich, earthy flavour and  works well in small doses such as the lovely offal risotto The Fat Duck serves with its’ lamb dish, or a slice of black pudding pan fried with brunch or even pan fried liver with caramelised onions (lots of iron – good for you). Offal should really be on people’s menus more often, plus just think how sophisticated you’ll look with deep fried sweetbreads on your menu.

We started off as usual scrambling for places on the tables, decorated with topical tartan tablecloths. Settling down with warm rolls and butter and a glass of wine we awaited the first course eagerly; the enigmatic Cullen Skink espuma, home made haddock and oat rumbledethumps. Roughly translated what this actually means is foamy potato and fish soup with haddock and oat fishcake/dumplings. Tasty stuff. I especially applaud the Scottish for their love of strong flavours, it makes a dish so much better. I found dipping the oaty dumplings into the light soup was particularly gratifying. The man with the colourful hair’s vegetarian option was incredibly good (I’ve mentioned my aversion to king’s vegetarian options in the past – a whole slab of goats cheese….) He had a colourful green leek and potato soup along with his own cheddar cheese ‘rumpledethumps’.

Having satiated rumbling stomachs for a little while we were treated to what some might call the main entertainment. The first I heard about the traditional ‘Address to the Haggis’ was about 12pm that afternoon, when I was asked. as a music student, if I knew anyone who played the Bagpipes……I wish I did. Luckily they managed to find some Bagpiper who played the haggis in as it was paraded around the hall in procession. At the top of the hall came the traditional poem spoken to the Haggis (to read the full thing http://www.robertburns.org.uk/Assets/Poems_Songs/toahaggis.htm) which is brilliant when seen alongside the Anglicised translation. The haggis was then pierced and we all raised a toast to the haggis with a shot of whisky. Whisky is possibly the only thing that the Scottish and I disagree on. Then again whisky appears to be the marmite of alcoholic drinks. I have never met anyone who merely likes whisky, generally there are the devotees and those who find it hard to stomach and unfortunately I fall in the latter. Having said this as this was burns night (and egged on by friends around the table) I did finish my whole shot. I don’t know whether it was because I hadn’t really had whisky before or because it was strong but it did slightly knock me for 6. Therefore I was incredibly grateful to have the main arrive. MacSween Haggis, neeps, tatties, giroles, curly kale and Glayva sauce. Translation: Offal minced with oats boiled in a sheep’s stomach, turnips, potatoes, kale, mushrooms and whisky sauce. It was wonderful. The Haggis was peppery and rich, the potatoes were mashed, buttery with a hint of mustard and the sauce was thick and savoury, complimented well by the less strong turnips. It all went together perfectly and was warming and filling. I particularly liked the combination of the mustard and pepperiness. The man with the colourful hair is also allergic to nuts so couldn’t unfortunately have the vegetarian alternative Haggis. However his mushroom risotto was filling and warming if a little disappointing (a bit carb heavy).

Dessert came and I was very pleased. It had a wonderful combination of textures and a lovely strong honey flavour. Honey and Oat Parfait with soft chocolate and Drambuie Celtic layer. I particularly liked the parfait, although perhaps the dark chocolate fondant was a little rich considering such a rich main, I would have preferred just the ice cream or maybe more of the wonderful parfait. The best part about the Scottish is after such a rich meal they know exactly what to do, dance. Great fun, although admittedly Kings scottish dancing following a large consumption of wine was possibly a little more slap hazard than the Scottish. Having said that it probably depends how much whisky they drink…