A gala meal out

So yesterday I got the ironing done in the morning. I even planted out a dozen petunia plants we'd bought the day before to bring a bit of colour to the garden. In the afternoon the Fox went to the barber's, then we had our lie down. It didn't stop us from being tired. Personally I was almost too tired to eat. By the time I got to the desserts I'd almost ground to a halt, not because they didn't look delicious, or I wasn't hungry, but because I was just feeling too tired to make the effort to eat them. I felt more like just putting my head down & sleeping. Then the Fox suddenly suggested going to pay. His leg was beginning to bother him again. I hastily finished my desserts, hoping he felt up to the drive home, because I doubted I was in any state to do so. Once home it was a mug of tea & bed for me. The time? We left the Pub around 9.30pm, not unduly late for a night out.

As for the meal, it came beautifully presented. Some of it was delicious, some a bit over the top or just not quite made it. 

The menu? We started with canapes These turned out to be warm pork & black pudding sausage rolls & deep-fried risotto balls. The cold canapes were mini bagels filled with cream cheese & smoked salmon, little pastries topped with pate,a cherry tomato topped creamy thing. We were each presented with a glass of sparkling pinot grigio rose wine (rather bland to our minds) & a bottle of a sparkling mineral water for the table.

The next course was a guinea fowl terrine, served with salad leaves on a coleslaw base, a fruity marmalade/chutney and a warm fruit brioche. Lin & I both found the brioche too sweet for the terrine & would have preferred a simple piece of toast. The brioche was good & would have been a delight for afternoon tea, just not with the terrine.

Then came the sorbet. Mojito sorbet. We think we were all converted to mojitos. It was all a sorbet should be - light,  creamy & refreshing. The biscuit it was presented on crisp.

Onto the main course. This was lamb fillet slices on hotpot potatoes, a few spinach leaves, & a tomato jus. The meat had been cooked as a joint, then coated in chopped mint. The green looked so fresh against the pinkiness of the tender meat & tasted it too. The tower was topped with a piece of lamb sweetbread. None of us had ever had sweetbread. PD loved it. The rest of us were more dubious.

Then came the desserts. Each plate came with five desserts, each little more than a couple of mouthfuls. There was a sticky toffee pudding & custard, warm of course. Neither the Fox or I are great fans of sticky toffee pudding, finding it too sweet & rather sickly, but these were something else. So light. Sweet but not cloyingly so. In the middle of the plate was a scoop of ice cream wafered in between hand-made tuile biscuits. I've no idea what the flavour was. It was a pinky fawn colour. The consistency was perfect, very creamy. There was also a slice of custard tart, with plenty of nutmeg on top. Then there was the mini pavlova type dessert. The meringue at the base was crisp, above was soft, a thin bit of whipped cream, topped with strawberries. Then there was the very rich chocolate mousse, kept in shape by a thin teardrop of plain chocolate - a delight to the eye but a bit rich for the Fox & I. 

Finally on the table was a bowl of Thornton's chocolates to fill any remaining holes.


And all this just for £25 & some of that going to CancerResearch charity. Great value. I just wish I'd felt more up to appreciating it more.


Today Mrs B is having her birthday bash at the Pub. I can't see us going. Right now I feel more like going to sleep than more socialising. We'll see when the afternoon comes. Maybe we'll both feel a bit brighter by then. I suspect it will just be pushing things too much.