Besides, we've been to some top small plate restaurants in London of this ilk, and in the case of say St. Leonards, we were not blown away.
So as we were invited down to Erst, we thought we'd give it a go and we were pleasantly surprised. Surprised at how accomplished the food was. We actually preferred Erst to the much rated St Leonards and even enjoyed it more than their high end neighbour.
We sampled:
Carlingford Oyster with Apple and ginger mignonette. I mentioned at the time I'd prefer my oysters naked as for me this accompaniment is overpowering but this is really down to personal preference. The produce, lovely plump oysters are excellent.
Pickles & Ferments.
Flatbread with Whipped Lardo. I bloody loved this. You can just inject this lardo into my veins and the flat bread was perfect as you might expect from Trove bakery.
Salt Cod, Tomato, Capers and Oregano. Beautifully fresh and clean dish. The tomatoes are reminiscent of the flavoursome fragrant ones you eat abroad. A favourite. Followed by Mussels dashi and pork fat oil. This has a wonderfully rich broth.
Partridge, ajo blanco & grapes. As Mrs B said at the time, 'this is how we prefer our game, roasted and not raw'.
Finally dessert, a lovely rich Wintry Baked Apple, pecan and vanilla ice cream.
The moral of this story is never try and judge a restaurant you've not visited yourself yet. Erst is an absolute delight and good value. You could come here at least twice instead of higher end options. I'd prefer to visit here myself, the staff are lovely, it's unpretentious and everything actually works well. Highly recommended.
Follow @Bacononthebeech
No comments:
Post a Comment