Hampton
Court by the river
Back in the summer, we were off to the Hampton Court
Flower Festival for their opening evening event. So we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at
the Mitre Hotel
by the bridge. It was a lovely day, so we were pleased to find there was still
a table available outside on the terrace by the river, even one with an
umbrella to shade us from the sun. It’s a gorgeous place to be, watching the
ducks and the boats, and the occasional paddle steamer pottering around.
We started with (what else?) a bottle of Chilean
Sauvignon Blanc (£22.50), and some sparkling water. B wasn’t that hungry so we shared a starter
of chilli salt and pepper squid, which came with a good cucumber and onion
salsa. It was lightly battered and gently cooked, so avoided the rubbery
texture, and would have been an ideal snack at any time. For main course B had the
spicy garlic lime chicken breast, lightly fried with rocket & red onion salad. The lime did really
shine through, so this was a very refreshing summer dish. I had the “Oriental style” fish and chips,
which was strips of salmon deep fried with chilli, chips and a soy dipping
sauce. An unusual variation on the classic, this was also a good dish for a hot
day.
Not everyone was enjoying their
meal however. One lady complained that the fish in her (ordinary) fish and
chips wasn’t fresh. The manager responded
quickly (though at first believing it was we who had complained) and tried to
assure her that it had been freshly delivered. Unimpressed the customer chose
to switch to a risotto. Perhaps this reinforces the general rule of not ordering
fish on a Monday.
Service generally was a little
brusque, though with a change of shift we did get a more charming waitress eventually.
All in all a pleasant place to be on a nice day, and at £70 pretty reasonable.
Brasserie Vacherin
Malcolm John’s Fish
and Grill has been re-branded as Brasserie Vacherin to match
his other restaurant in Sutton and Le Vacherin in Putney, so we had to go along
to see what this meant for the menu. We
are again eating early, this time ahead of a comedy show at the Fairfield
Halls, and so it’s fairly quiet on a Sunday afternoon. After Kir Royales to get us going, we order
the Viognier, from Languedoc, at £23 – full of fruity flavour.
My favourite tuna tartare is still on the menu, but B
beats me to it. It’s a fresh and zingy creation, with chilli and ginger, and more
substantial than it looks. I start with scallops, cooked just right, with black
pudding and bacon to make it heartier. B’s sea bass is also a standard from the old
days, and is still a sound version of the dish, presented quite simply. My
supreme of hake off the specials list is rather flavourless in comparison, but
meaty enough, accompanied by chips in the signature tin can.
Unusually for us we decide to share a dessert – crepe suzette. This is a very fine example, retaining a good
degree of sharpness in amongst the melting sauce. With a 12.5% service charge added, this lot
comes to £95, much the same price as it used to be.
Just 3 weeks later we decide to visit again, on a
Saturday night so we have booked. The place is virtually full, and we’re rather
shocked as we’re to our table to find a
live singer belting out the classics directly at us. It’s so loud you can
hardly hear yourself think, and the choice of songs so hackneyed it makes Radio
2 look cutting edge. The ladies night
out at the table alongside him are lapping it up though.
We have Kir Royales and Viognier again and this time I
get the tuna tartare. B has prawns with garlic and parsley, three of them
nicely grilled in their shells. My main course veal escalope is rich and
oozing. B has the grilled crab, again with chilli and ginger, which is a bit of
a battle to extract from its shell. And again we have the crepes suzette –
nothing too adventurous!
The couple at the table next to us are sharing the
chateaubrand which comes served on a stand complete with bone marrow and saucer
sized mushrooms. Even at £50 this looks like an excellent option.
This time we’ve racked the bill up to £120, with a couple of extra glasses of Viognier. Still pretty good, though I’d avoid Saturday night next time.
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