The Only Running Footman

I finally managed to book the chef's table for a work function. Great set-up. Really enjoyed being able to stand around with a glass of wine and chatting to the chef. Everyone got into the spirit of asking what he was doing and checking out all the pots and pans. The food was very good and the service excellent. The Beef consommé with herb pancakes & bonemarrow was especially good. Would definitely recommend and will go back to try their normal menu. The only complaint I heard was the 3 flights of stairs up to the private room !

We arrived a bit late, climbed the stairs besides a heaving pub and, passing between the ladies and gents loos, arrived in a half empty room devoid of staff.

After politely waiting around for a few minutes, we were just about to go to the table obviously set for us (unless they happened to have another party of 5 to go with the few couples scattered around) when a waiter appeared and brusquely enquired how many we were; not whether we had booked, or our names, or our inside leg measurements, but the one item of information that he could have determined for himself had his maths been up to the task.

He then pointed us to the obvious table and brought menus and a wine list. When it became clear that my wife’s requirements extended beyond the usual still, sparkling or tap, he sensibly got out a notepad and quickly and efficiently dealt with the orders.

Just to keep me going, I had a glass of Albarino (£7), very pleasant, and a generous size glass. Subsequently, I ordered a bottle of Mansion House sauvignon blanc (£27) and Dillons Pinot Noir (£32), both from NZ and both good examples of their type.

I did not follow what everyone else had. However, their consensus was that it was good but not exceptional.

I started with a warm salad of pigeon, pigeon tasty and moist plus a few odd leaves (not too many) and other stuff. I then went on to wild duck, with a side order of chips. The chips were large, but crisp on the outside and fluffy within. Although I prefer my chips more chip-size than quarter potato size, these were good. I did, however, have a problem with the duck. This came as a breast, cooked pink and a confit pie. The breast was cooked as it should be and tasted ducky. It did not, however, taste especially wild. The pie had a thin top and a thick and claggy base. I think the base was somewhat thicker than the filling. After a couple of exceedingly unpleasant mouthfuls, I took off the top, scraped off and ate the meagre filling and left the pastry, which rather destroys the point of the pie, doesn’t it?

I finished with cheese – a good, albeit small, selection.

Although the waiter was assisted a couple of times by others, for most of the time he was the only running waiter, and this showed in the service as the room slowly filled. He also had a strange accent, which my daughters speculated was fake. However, given his occasional problems understanding English, I imagine it was genuine.

All in all, despite some good points, this is not somewhere we are likely to go again.

The total cost at £286 was reasonable for 5 of us, although 2 did not have a starter.