paderewski slowpoke: My edible postcard from Devon ? Part 2

Continuing on from Part 1, here is the final food obsessed instalment from our holiday in Devon.

The Tytherleigh Arms

Our holiday was always intended to be predominately self-catering with maybe one night out for food. That one night was to be at The Tytherleigh Arms, a pub nearby to our accommodation and one that had a reputation for quality food.

Tuesday evenings aren?t normally the busiest time for restaurants, here though almost every table was occupied or reserved so something was working well.

The pub is traditionally decorated inside with stylish muted colours and atmospheric lighting with candles in the windows and on tables. The clientele are rather well to do with Harriet?s and Penelope?s, that didn?t make the place any less welcoming, it is just a different feel to our local pub.

We sat by the bar and perused the menu and wine list. The options were a cut above your typical pub grub. There were starters including scallops with crisp Serrano ham and balsamic jelly, and mains of lemon sole fillets with alforno potatoes and a crayfish beurre blanc. This was fine dining.

We ordered our food and enjoyed a drink at the bar, just watching the comings and goings. We were brought over an amuse bouche to stimulate our taste buds.

A crisp crostini style bread was topped with goat?s cheese and sweet balsamic dressed tomatoes, then there was a tiny bowl of noodles topped with sticky Chinese style pork and chilli jam. The presentation was neat and the tastes were delicious, the pork was the particular highlight.

When our starter was ready we were seated at our table, traditional service all the way. This was the theme for the whole night as we felt very well-looked after.

I had the duo of mackerel to start ? a pan-fried fillet and a ceviche wrapped in a beetroot ?cannelloni? with mizuna (?7.95). The plate looked precise in it?s presentation.

Where the soft ceviche was delicate in flavour, the fillet gave boldness with oily richness. The segments of grapefruit were zesty sour and worked nicely with the sweet glazed fig. I think there was maybe an order to eat the dish ? ceviche, fillet and then the grapefruit. As when I ate ceviche and then grapefruit it was too much and I lost the taste of the fish.

My husband had the seared pigeon breast (?7.75), this was beautifully cooked with a melt in the mouth texture, served with a perfectly matched creamy flavoursome cauliflower puree and warmed cubes of earthy beetroot.

After having time to rest and reflect on our starters, it was time for the main course. I?d gone for fish again with the seafood bouillabaisse, saffron rouille and ciabbata (?15.75). My plate was piled high with plenty of fish and seafood, it was a good job I was hungry.

The tricky part of making a decent bouillabaisse is cooking the different components well, and not going over or under on any of the ingredients. This was all cooked spot on, flaky white fish, plump mussels, clams and tender pieces of squid. The tomato sauce had depth of flavour and lightness that didn?t distract from the fish.

The rouille added richness. I couldn?t really detect much, if any, saffron though. The toasted ciabatta were great for mopping up the juices. Rustic and sophisticated at the same time, I thoroughly enjoyed my main dish and was left satisfied and full up.

The husband went for the cider glazed pork belly with glazed pig cheek (?16.25). This came with cider fondant potato, baby carrots, spinach and a carrot puree. The pork was thickly sliced and succulent, there was sweetness from the baby carrots and a subtle flavoured carrot puree. Further decadence was provided from the buttery crisp potato fondant.

He liked the meal very much but felt it needed something fresh tasting on the plate to break up the gutsy flavours from the belly pork and buttery vegetables. There was a bit of disappointment too at a lack of crisp crackling.

Overall we were impressed with our meal at the Tytherleigh Arms. We experienced seamless friendly service, the food was delicious and sophisticated. At ?62 (including wine) it was a treat that was worth indulging in.

The Tytherleigh Arms,
Axminster,
Devon EX13 7BE

Website: http://www.tytherleigharms.com/

Boston Tea Party

For a lunch we re-visited a past haunt that I reviewed last time we were in Devon, Boston Tea Party. This was the branch in Honiton.

Utilising local produce this relaxed style caf? offers a plentiful breakfast, lunch and cake selection. It may be a local chain of 13 now but I feel that the ethos and quality remains solid.

We had the home-made burger with bacon, local cheddar, a few chips and home-made coleslaw (?7.50).

The burger was juicy topped with strong tangy cheddar and a thick rasher of smoked bacon. The bun wasn?t quite robust enough for the job and did fall about about half way through. The coleslaw with carrot and cabbage was creamy with good texture. The shreds of cabbage were large and although I didn?t really mind this, I guess you shouldn?t need to cut coleslaw with a knife. The chips were golden and crispy meeting the decent chip requirement.

The zingy ginger beer was warming with fresh ginger. A perfect lunch stop to warm us up on a chilly day.

Boston Tea Party
53 High Street
Honiton EX14 1PW

Website: http://www.bostonteaparty.co.uk/cafe/honiton

The Wild Garlic, Beaminster

This was our third visit to the restaurant run by Mat Follas, I reviewed it last year as part of our Devon trip.

This time I?d got a ?49 (worth ?102) Travelzoo voucher for a 5 course tasting menu for an early birthday present for the husband.

It was a quiet Thursday lunchtime, with a handful of tables filled all obviously having the same tasting menu looking at the dishes that were coming out from the kitchen.

We started with a chilled glass of prosecco and then some pesto popcorn. Savoury popcorn is a good thing, in this case though I thought that there was too much pesto which made the corn a bit soft in parts, losing the appealing crunch.

Next up was ham hock terrine. The slice of terrine was attractively presented with black pudding crumbs, capers, micro herbs, a slice of apple and an apple pur?e. The parsley flecked chunky ham was nicely seasoned, the texture from the shreds of meat contrasted with the soft flavoursome jelly. The capers gave a pleasant pickled hit and together with the crunchy sour apple these balanced well with the salty ham. Unfortunately the apple puree was a little watery and the black pudding flavour got a little lost against the terrine.

The cheese and pickles dish was something that I have had before when we came last time. Scaled down considerably in size for the taster menu, I still savoured and enjoyed the piquant pickled crunchy vegetables, together with the tiny cubes of tangy goat?s cheese on a beetroot ?brush stroke?. My highlight was the final piece of cheese that had been caramelised cr?me br?l?e style, sweet with a sugary crunch.

The parsnip velout? with a parsnip crisp was presented in a lovely blue pottery bowl, the dish was simple and elegant looking. The velout? was thick and sweet with parsnip flavour, and then came the surprise to your taste buds with the occasional hit of intense aromatic liquorice from fennel seeds (or it could have been pollen).

Onto the main dish, triple cooked pork and crackle. The pork was cooked sous vide style, then in stock and apple juice before being pan fried. It was succulent with a caramelised apple taste running through it. The accompany beans and broccoli were perfectly done, a couple of potatoes wouldn?t have gone a miss though. The colourful sweet carrot puree was well portioned so you could get a proper taste.

To end the taster menu we had a white chocolate mousse with a cherry compote and chocolate crumbs. Creamy and sweet, this was an enjoyable indulgent finish. I?d would have liked a little more of the fruity compote to give to balance the richness.

Although the food was pretty good, it didn?t blow us away like on our previous visits. The atmosphere felt lacking somehow and I don?t think the food we had was worth ?102 as quoted in the Travelzoo deal. We both left a little disappointed.

The Wild Garlic
4 The Square, Beaminster,
Dorset DT8 3AS

Website: http://thewildgarlic.co.uk/

Local Produce

With the plentiful local produce to try in this area we barely made a dent in trying the ingredients available.

Here?s some of what we did try?

Smoked mackerel pate from Sidmouth with salad dressed with some Olives et Al orange and shallot marinade. This was pimped up with a little parsley and lemon zest. Served with beetroot and horseradish chutney on the side and toast.

So much cheese and so little time. A couple of evenings we settled down to a meze of cheese, meats and salad. A nice way to try a few different products. Our favourites were Dorset Vinny, a traditional crumbly soft blue. The other was Sharpham?s Rustic from their farm near Totnes. This unpasteurised cheese is creamy with a pleasant citrus tang.

Drinks

Cider is not normally my favourite drink I must admit. I did find a favourite though in Orchard Pig?s Reveller. Not too strong or dry with a nice natural apple flavour. At just over 4% it was a sensible percentage, unlike some ciders.

In terms of ale, the Otter Bright was a light refreshing beer with a subtle hoppiness.

Bread

We enjoyed a bloomer from the artisan Phoenix Bakery in Weymouth. Then some we bought some compulsory hot cross buns for an Easter breakfast from the traditional Leakers Bakery in Bridport, as well as some rather fiery chilli, cheese beer bread.

Spring Fair @ River Cottage

We impulsively bought tickets to the Spring Fair at River Cottage and weren?t sure what to expect. The programme offered demos, activities for kids, music and stalls, so we thought it was worth a trip.

We were thoroughly entertained by the interesting and funny 30 minute demos from familiar faces from the River Cottage TV programme. John Wright talked about the culinary uses of seaweeds and seaside foraging, Tim Maddens gave a humorous packed slot where he cooked liver with fennel and coriander seeds and made tortillas. These were filled with the livers, fried onion, toasted almonds, wild garlic and yoghurt. He was aided or hampered depending on how you look at it by Steve Lamb who was his ?mic stand?.

Gil Meller?s following session ran through the making of a few dishes which included pan frying a rib eye steak from an 8 year old cow and serving it with wild garlic butter, together with Jerusalem artichoke pur?e topped with their deep fried skins. Then some razor clams were quickly steamed and served with parsley, garlic and wine. Finally, he speedily put together pancetta and some hand dived scallops with nettles. All of the sessions were educational in sharing cooking techniques and ingredient combinations, and there was plenty of comedy banter.

We had a walk around the farm taking in the sights of the kitchen garden, great live music, checked out the animals particularly the cute pigs and meandered round the various stalls. For lunch we tucked into a delicious creamy onion soup with a hunk of rosemary and sea salt focaccia.

We paid ?15 each a ticket and really weren?t sure if it would be worth that, I can honestly say it was, as we had a fun morning with plenty of food orientated activities. If it has rained then it might have been a different story?

Tierra Kitchen, Lyme Regis

Relatively new to Lyme Regis, Tierra Kitchen opened in February near to the Town Mill Bakery. It is a small vegetarian caf? restaurant that is modern in style with a Mediterranean influenced food. The seasonal menu has small plates of falafels, salads, olives as well as hummus, to mention a few. They do evening meals too.

I?d heard good things via Twitter and we called in for coffee and cake to fuel us for a coastal walk. These sweet treats were displayed in the window to tempt us and there was a wide choice from carrot cake, lime and coconut to chocolate fudge.

After a bit of a chat with the owner who recognised me from Twitter. Me and the husband shared a slice of the lemon polenta cake and a chocolate, plum and almond brownie. The brownie was gooey, cocoa rich with sweet plum, I was glad I was sharing it. The lemon polenta cake was beautifully zesty, with a light crumbly texture and a palate cleansing flavour. Next time we are down, we will definitely try the lunch as the food we saw looked great.