A short stay at Tegan’s, in High Wycombe, over the New Year period resulted in us having lunch, before I headed home, at The Nag’s Head, a lovely little15th century pub in Great Missenden. We walked through the door to an empty pub, quite unsurprising due to it being everyone’s first day back at work. However, the pub felt very inviting due to the cold and windy weather outside. It was pleasantly cosy and the open fire by the bar created lovely warmth. We decided to tuck ourselves away in a corner in order to avoid that uncomfortable fear that your entire conversation is being overheard.
For starters I had; Mille feuille of roasted beetroot, pumpkin puree and goats cheese with wild rocket and honey drizzle and Tegan had; Foie gras mi cuit shavings on rocket and pan-fried foie gras on milk bread with red onion and pear jam. My mille feuille wasn’t what I expected. The rocket covered the whole mille feuille which I thought looked weak in terms of presentation. There was just too much of it. The colours together on the plate were really bright, the purple of the beetroot and the orange of the pumpkin looked great together. I was expecting the dish to be warm, but it was cold, which I didn’t feel suited it. I felt it dampened the flavours quite significantly. The pastry, especially, tasted strange cold. There wasn’t as much goat’s cheese as I had expected, I had imagined this to be the key ingredient. The flavour of the goat’s cheese hit after that of the beetroot and pumpkin. I couldn’t really taste the honey drizzle. It was a thoughtful vegetarian dish but I felt it would have been better served warm. 'Food envy' came to mind when I saw and tasted Tegan’s starter. The pan-fried foie gras had a gorgeous charcoal texture on the outside whilst remaining perfectly cooked inside. The foie gras mi cuit shavings were rich but lovely, ‘mi cuit’ meaning semi-cooked. The pepperiness of the rocket really complemented them and the crunchiness of the filo basket they were served it contrasted with the soft texture of the foie gras. The milk bread was incredible, as was the red onion and pear jam. The richness of the foie gras was complemented by the sweetness of the jam. A lot of people argue that eating foie gras is wrong but this starter provided an argument for why it’s SO right! Foie gras is just too good not to eat!
For mains I had; 21 Day aged fillet of Bedfordshire beef served with port jus with duck liver and
foie gras mousse and Tegan had; Lamb shank slowly cooked in local ale on a bed of spinach & wild rocket. I rarely order steak in a restaurant but I couldn’t resist this dish, it sounded so good and it didn’t disappoint. I’d asked for it to be cooked medium-rare and it was perfect. It was so flavoursome. The duck liver and foie gras mousse was smooth, rich and creamy and came served on a circle of puff pastry. The port jus was moreish, I wanted to lick it off my plate it was so good. The steak, mousse and jus tasted delicious together. The dish was like a deconstructed beef wellington without the mushroom duxelle. Tegan’s lamb was so tender it just fell off the bone and melted in your mouth. The slow-cooking of it in local ale gave it great flavour. Both dishes were served with a generous helping of dauphinoise potatoes which were gorgeously creamy. We also ordered a side of; Cauliflower béchamel and Camembert cheese which was the best ‘cauliflower cheese’ I have ever tasted. It was very very rich but unbelievably scrumptious.
None of the puddings jumped out at us so Tegan decided to pass. However, I decided to be greedy and order one for the sake of it. I ordered the; Warm apple and rhubarb tart with vanilla ice-cream. As if I hadn’t had enough pastry by this point! It was nice enough, but nothing special. The rhubarb dominated the apple and the pastry was a little too soggy for my liking.
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