Friday 11 November 2011

A cosy gastropub to warm the mood

Is there anything better than that feeling when you discover a cosy-as-hell gastropub, equipped with fireplace, traditional English charm and saliva-inducing food? Places like the Bolingbroke pub remind me, on a cold winters day (I've recently brought myself to accept that its winter by switching from my trench coat to full-on winter coat) why I chose to move to London from sunny old Dubai.

The dining room towards the back of the pub is less noisy than upfront, the glass-roof adds a sense of romance to the mood and contrasts the dark-wood paneled floor. Doesn't it sound delightful - and I haven't even mentioned the fireplace yet.

There's a list of specials on the chalk-board but we decided to stick to the main menu. We started with smoked salmon, lemon and coriander sorbet. A simple appetizer which is carefully prepared to ensure the flavors balance each other. It was a light and fresh start to the meal.

Moving on to the main course, I decided to opt for the Viscount seasonal salad - I was tempted by fried camembert and lemon vinaigrette. Instead of telling you more about my rather dull choice I'm going to focus on the great food choice that mustache-man made - Sea trout with steamed clams, tender-stemmed broccoli and saffron cream sauce. Sadly for him he had to continuously give me bites of his magnificent meal. Cooked to perfection, the sea trout had a crispy layer of skin on the top which was a wonderful compliment to the mussels and broccoli. The best part for me was the saffron cream which the food was swimming in, such a settle yet distinct taste to really bring the entire meal together. I'm definitely ordering this on my next visit.

Time for the pudding menu and boy, oh boy, I'm salivating just thinking about it. To make up for my boring choice of main course we decided to order two desserts. The champion of the night was certainly the Lemon posset with passionfruit and homemade shortbread. If you like sour, tangy treats, you're going to love this as much as I do. The lemon posset itself is delightfully creamy and tastes like fresh lemon, there's a passionfruit drizzling on top which adds sweetness and tanginess. The soft, crumbly, sweet shortbread is the perfect balance.

We also had the chocolate pot with white chocolate sabayon. Chocolate hardly ever gives me a reason to complain so chocolate lovers this is a safe choice.

The bill came out to £50 without any drinks. Not a cheap meal but definitely worth it.

Voila, taking about that has gotten me ready for seconds.




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