I had wanted to try the food at The Ebrington Arms for quite some time. I’d heard good things about it. It was one of the many places on my long list. The executive chef, James Nixon, used to be sous chef at The Horse and Groom. Dad decided we’d go there for dinner the night before I headed back up north to Newcastle.
To start with; Mum had the home-made cauliflower and cumin soup, Dad had the twice baked smoked haddock and mature cheddar soufflé with a crab bisque and Tegan had the hot smoked wild duck breast, confit leg and liver parfait with sauternes jelly. The soufflé was my favourite of the three. It was gorgeously creamy and the bisque wasn’t overly rich which they can sometimes be. I’m becoming a fan of smoked haddock. I had a gorgeous smoked haddock gratin at my Uncle and Aunt’s house the weekend before. I had the seared scallops with pureed shallots and black peppered tangerines. The scallops had been cooked well. The warm, slightly sweet tangerines complemented the delicately sweet scallops and the black pepper gave a little kick. I ended up finishing Mum’s soup as she wasn’t feeling very well. I love cauliflower soup and the cumin gave it a light spice. It was a lovely soup. However, it had been over-heated as it took a long time for it to cool down. It came served in a mini casserole pot which I thought was a bit different and a nice touch.
For main; Mum and Dad had the braised belly of old spot pork with black pudding mash, crackling, curly kale and cider gravy and Tegan had the ballotine of Loch Duart salmon with wilted spinach, baby beetroot and chive butter sauce. Both dishes were good, I do love salmon and beetroot, but I particularly liked the belly pork, it wasn’t overly fatty. I liked it so much that I polished off Mum’s for her as she couldn’t finish it. Sometimes I really don’t know where I put it. I should weigh about twenty stone. I just can’t see good food go to waste. I had the local loin of venison wellington with fondant potato, Jerusalem artichoke puree, baby onions and cranberry jus. It really was an exquisite dish. The venison was beautifully pink and flavoursome. The Jerusalem artichoke puree complemented the venison wonderfully. The only disappointment for me was that as lovely as the jus was I couldn’t really taste the cranberry.
For pudding; Dad ordered the chocolate soufflé pancake with grand marnier custard, Tegan ordered the lemon meringue, angelica and lemon sorbet and I ordered the walnut and honey tart with malted barley ice cream. The chocolate soufflé pancake was really disappointing. Tegan’s pudding was nice, really zesty and refreshing. Mine was probably the nicest out of the three.
The food at The Ebrington Arms was good but I wasn’t over-whelmed by it. I’m not in any rush to go back. The Horse and Groom remains my favourite dining pub.
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