johnadams.org.uk

Tom’s Kitchen was fully booked last night, but a little-known secret is that there the bar stools set around two sides of the room are all reservation-free. Not bad for a Saturday evening!

We’ve been to Tom’s Kitchen for breakfast before, but never been for dinner. Last night the dinner was excellent, the lamb was falling-apart tender and incredibly tasty; the chocolate pot dessert was utterly moreish. We’ll definitely be back!

7-hour cooked shoulder of lamb, onions and balsamic vinegar

treacle tart with clotted cream
milk chocolate pot, hazelnut ice cream and gingerbread madeleines.

P.S. Ruth, not a great veggie choice here, have you ever tried Leon?

The second visit to Hibiscus within 6 months! But oh so good!

The best bit this time was the surprise between the starter and the main course. One of Claude Bosi’s signature dishes is his foie gras ice cream with brioche and balsamic emulsion. J was disappointed that this was not on the starter menu, but it unexpectedly turned up between the starter and the main course, definitely making J’s evening!

In addition to the superb food, we had the usual excellent but unobtrusive service. A very relaxing and enjoyable evening.

Amuse bouche: cucumber foam, cucumber juice, pineapple, olive oil & black pepper

Mackerel - tartare of mackerel, strawberry and celery salad
Spring onion - ravioli of spring onion and lime, glazed broad beans,caramelised onions, broad bean and mint puree

Surprise special! Savoury ice cream of foie gras with a warm emulsion of brioche and balsamic caramel

Kid - slow-grilled Pyrenean kid, caramelised spring onion, broad beans, glazed white turnips, white onion and lemongrass puree, lemon thyme jus, shepherds pie

Pre-dessert: Fennel cream with frozen raspberry

White asparagus - white asparagus cream, black olive tuile, white chocolate and goats cheese ice cream
Caramel - balsamic mousse, salted caramel parfait, sorbet

Coffee & petit fours: smoked fudge, honey salted caramel, plain chocolate granache, white chocolate truffle

We’ve had a cracking weekend at The Samling in Ambleside. The Samling is a luxuriously comfortable hotel high up on the banks of Windermere.

We stayed in the Tyan room, with it’s striking blue Lake District wallpaper.

This room has a gorgeous view over Windermere, which was particularly special while eating a full breakfast brought to our room.

The hotel has a fantastic restaurant, with a coherent and complex menu featuring the best ingredients. We ate from the same menu on both nights:

Canapes: bread sticks and dips
- parmesan & green pesto
- beetroot & sour cream
- cumin & curried aubergine

Amuses bouche:
- boiled egg, white bean creme, chorizo
- pesto, red pepper, parmesan foam

Chicken mosaic with leek, prune & lentils
Roast scallops, chicken oysters, celeriac puree
Slow cooked Gloucester old spot, langoustine, celeriac puree
Red mullet, minestrone, crushed ratte potatoes

Wild venison, dauphinoise of roast vegetables, cabbage
Braised Herdwick mutton, shoulder, shank, langoustine, artichoke puree, potato
Fillet of brill, curried parsnip, kipper tortellini

Cheese (for one night only!): 5 Northern English cheeses

Pre-dessert: Cinnamon tuile, sherry jelly, catalan creme, acacia honey sorbet

“Apples from the Samling garden” - apple pie, apple parfait, apple brulee, apple sorbet
Chocolate delice, fennel ice cream, mandarin jelly
Poached pear, olive oil ice cream, upside-down pudding

Coffee & petit fours
- lemon meringue
- lemon & thyme shortbread
- blackcurrant jelly
- chocolate & hazlenut cluster
- madeleine

Phew!

To walk off the effects of this meal, we had some spectacular, although slightly snowy, walks, particularly from Patterdale

and above Windermere

Really great breakfast in Urban Angel this morning - a surprisingly light basement cafe at the bottom of Hanover Street.

Homemade organic meusli with greek yoghurt and fresh berries.
Crunchy, tangy, fruity. Mmm.

French toast with bacon, fairtrade banana and maple syrup.
Brilliant bread - sort of light wheaten, really tasty bacon (presumably from a happy pig) and caramelised banana. Yum.

Oh, and nice website design too…

Hat tip: Peter Irvine in Scotland the Best - Best for Sunday Breakfast.

After eating at Martin Wishart last September, we were keen to try out his near neighbour Tom Kitchin in Leith. So we bridged the East-West divide and went over to Edinburgh, wandered round Harvey Nicks and made our way to The Kitchin.

The restaurant is in an old quayside building in the old port of Leith, overlooking the new administrative offices of the Scottish Government. Calm and contemporary interior with dark wood and sage paint inside, warm and welcoming. Service friendly, knowledgeable and attentive (although at times too attentive).

Nibbles: Pissaladiere (Provencal pizza) & choux pastry stuffed with beetroot relish.

Amuse bouche: Parsnip soup, fresh apple, parsnip crisps.

Scallops: Pan-fried Orkney scallops with fregola pasta.
Pork and Langoustine: Roasted langoustine tails from Anstruther with boned and rolled pig’s head served with a crispy ear salad.

Hare: Hare with foie gras, cabbage & bacon farcie, butternut squash puree, celeriac puree, chestnuts and shallots.
Venison: Roast saddle of venison from Invercauld estate, with roasted apples from Moira’s garden and chestnuts,
served with a beetroot and celeriac gratin and a juniper berry sauce.

Cheese: Scottish and French cheeses.

Rhubarb and Yoghurt: stewed rhubarb, citrus yoghurt sorbet, cheesecake mousse, chocolate sauce, pecan crumble.

Coffee and petit fours.

All washed down with a nice D’Arenberg Laughing Magpie shiraz/viognier.

Unlike in Martin Wishart, the whole meal was coherent and worked well together. The starters were the highlight of the meal providing the best complement of flavours and textures. The venison was tender and worked well with the rich sauce. The hare was really dark and tasty, and came with a fairly powerful and concentrated reduction that could have been a touch lighter. But that’s the only minor criticism of an excellent meal.

Definitely a place to go back to, particularly as it’s only an hour or so away. I wonder how their Summer menu differs from their Winter menu. Planning already…