5 Course Menu by Ronnie at Eat Drink Bristol

Friday it was finally time to enjoy my second Eat Drink Bristol event. I had chosen the 5 course a la carte menu from Ronnie's out of all the great choices available. I was so glad I did because it turned out to be some of the tastiest food I have had in a good long while.

Rich was unfortunately too poorly to attend so our friend Phil stepped up to the challenge and continuing in the weather theme for the country we arrived, rather chilly to the giant tepee. Before I continue I must add how difficult a process Amiando, the ticket company used to set up this event, made of actually attending the event. Even though I had paid for my tickets I had been left off the list, apparently I was not the only person to have this happen to. I only found this out when I rang The Muset to find out what time I should show up on the evening, as required to do by Amiando. Luckily Ronnie himself sorted out squeezing Phil and I in on a table and the staff could not have been more sympathetic.

The tepee looked beautiful once again, there seemed fewer tables than when we went for Sunday lunch and the atmosphere was very relaxed. After sipping my large glass of Malbec and chatting to Phil the food began to arrive. Everyone was brought an appetiser of garden pea soup with soured cream foam, this was really delicious really fresh and brought the best flavour out of the peas.

We then had the difficult task of choosing our starters and mains, although the main for me was no contest I was going for Mussel End Farm lamb, herb crust, leek & onion compote and dauphine potatoes. I mulled over the starters with Phil, whether to go for the duck rilette: duck speck, black truffle mayonnaise and pickled wood blewits or the wild mushroom risotto with Champagne. I have a bit of thing for mushrooms, but mushroom risotto is rarely done well in my book. It often comes out bland and very disappointing, I put my faith in many a restaurant hoping this time that they will come through for me when I order it, it rarely does. Tonight however, I was feeling confident of a good result, so plumped for the risotto, whilst Phil went for one of his favourites, scallops.

Wild Mushroom Risotto with Champagne

I could not have been happier with my decision. My first forkful and I was in heaven. If I had left that tepee after just sampling that risotto alone I would have floated home on a cloud. A big mushroom flavour that really made them the star of the dish and white truffle oil to bring out the earthiness. It was rich, creamy and very indulgent, easily the best mushroom dish I have ever sampled, it was the stand out dish for me and I hoped that one day I would get to eat it again. I noted later when checking their menu that The Muset does do a mushroom risotto on it's lunch menu so with any luck this foodie dream could be fulfilled.

Lyme Bay Scallops with Pancetta

Phil's dish, Lyme Bay scallops, pancetta, garlic puree and sage was also a winner. The scallops were meaty, perfectly cooked and melted in the mouth and were beautifully flavoured, although once he sampled my dish, Phil declared he preferred it ever so slightly to his. So far the evening was a delicious delight.

Herb Encrused Lamb with Dauphine Potatoes 

Phil and I both opted for the lamb, as you can see from the photo, it was nice and pink inside, which is how lamb should be. The creamy garlic flavour of the potatoes really complimented the meat, which was wonderfully juicy, the quality of the lamb was superb. The sign of a good meal for me is when you don't want it to end, although you know the plate won't refill itself you try and eat really slowly to savour each and every mouthful. That was definitely how I felt about the starter and main courses.

I wasn't sure how I felt about having two desserts. I am not an overly sweet toothed being, though don't get me wrong a good pudding can really hit the spot, I usually leave most of the sugar eating to Rich, he is quite the connoisseur.  The fourth course was Ronnie's bread and butter pudding followed by a choice of two desserts or cheese. Normally I am a cheese fiend but I was won over by the sound of strawberry sundae with clotted cream ice cream. Luckily for me Phil picked the cheese so I would get to sample a bit of that as well.

Ronnie's Bread and Butter pudding

My bread and butter pudding some what fell apart so the photo doesn't do the flavour justice. It was very creamy a bit like a creme brulee and bread and butter pudding hybrid, the apricot jam on the top was delicious, which is saying something considering I am not a huge fan of apricots. It was a nice dessert but if I had to pick a course to come last it would be this one, but only because the second pudding was just so good.

Strawberry Sundae with Clotted Cream Ice Cream

Selection of Local Cheese, Pear Chutney and Crackers

The cheese was tasty but what made it was the pear chutney, it was quite unlike any fruit chutney I've had before. I could taste Chinese five spice in it which really worked especially with the blue cheese. Phil was almost positive he had located popping candy in the bruschetta cracker, I thought I could taste it but wasn't entirely sure. It would have been nice to have some sort of indication as what each cheese was and where it was from.

My dessert was very sweet, mainly thanks to the honeycomb but also very tasty. The strawberries were fresh and vibrant without being soggy like they can be in some desserts and the ice cream was beautifully creamy. There was quite a lot of things to try in this one dessert, as I dug down deeper I found strawberry mousse. I think my favourite bit though was the pistachio marshmallow, totally unexpected, wonderfully quirky and very tasty.

My experience of Eat Drink Bristol this time round could not have gone better and I really hope they do another one next year. After having a quick impromptu chat with Ronnie as we paid for our wine I left with that excited buzzy feeling that I sometimes get after a brilliant meal. Although I was sad for poor Rich missing out on such a great meal we are planning on lunch at The Muset on our next day off. For info on Ronnie's Restaurants visit the website here. Reviews to come include our visit to Hotcha, by Rich and our trip to newly renovated Cosmo.

Jazz Dinner at The Pump House

Whilst browsing the list of restaurants involved in the Eat Drink Bristol Fashion event, trying to decide what tickets to buy. I considered all and took a peek at their sample menus online. When I reached the Pump House website what caught my eye was that they were doing a jazz evening a week or so before Eat Drink Bristol started. Rich is a big jazz fan so by this point my mind was made up. The Pump House was out of the Eat Drink Bristol race but still in the spotlight.

When I rang to book I was offered the bar or the restaurant menu, I went with restaurant. I wanted to fully experience everything the Pump House had to offer. So Wednesday last week Rich, myself and Claire went to immerse ourselves in the musical stylings of Bristol born saxophonist James Morton. We were greeted very enthusiastically by their front of house and led upstairs to the dining area.

The Pump House offer a 3 courses for £20 on selected items on their menu which is an excellent deal. Rich and I however weren't swayed by the main courses in the deal, something more thrilling had caught our eyes. The name of our paramour was Celebration of Local Beef. This was a sharing main so Rich bowed out of having a starter in order to focus his full attention on the beef party. Claire and I did decide on a starter however. I went for the slow poached duck egg which sat on top of new season English asparagus topped with hollandaise and with dots of pink grapefruit surrounding it. Claire picked their smoked eel and Parsonage Farm egg with grain mustard mayonnaise, apples and field sorrel.

Slow Poached Duck Egg with New Season Asparagus

Smoked Eel with Parsonage Farm Egg

My duck egg I was informed had been cooked for 5 hours at 50 degrees which seemed baffling that it could taste so creamy and smooth after 5 hours of cooking even at a low 50 degrees. Duck eggs are for me always a rare delight. I hardly ever have them but each time I do I think how I want to eat more of them but I always forget, a bit like pancakes on pancake day. The asparagus was cooked to perfection, the whole dish was a light delight. Sampling Claire's smoked eel I found it to be delicate and much tastier than I was anticipating. I have only ever had eel cooked in tempura as part of a maki roll at a sushi restaurant. The egg was described as perfectly cooked and delightfully flavoursome. You can see from the photo that it pays to get decent quality eggs, just look at the vivid orange of the yolk, no insipid colours here.

A Celebration of Local Beef, Main Board

A Celebration of Local Beef , Steak and Kidney Pudding Side Dish

The Celebration of Local Beef did not give that much away from the menu description: "celebration of local beef with triple cooked chips and horseradish ice cream". When it arrived there were some surprises that greeted us. Some wonderfully rare steak, shredded fried ox tongue pieces, a small steak and kidney pudding and two portions of bone marrow. I pride myself on mostly being up for trying everything but I appreciate that some aren't as adventurous as myself.  The steak pieces were the crowning glory on this board, simply cooked and it really showed off the quality of the meat. The ox tongue was really tasty and slightly crispy it sort of reminded me of the crispy shredded beef you get in Chinese restaurants, salty and completely different in flavour than I was expecting.

The steak in the steak and kidney pudding melted in the mouth, the suet crust was rich and complimentary, nothing like the horrors some people might have experienced from such a dish when presented it at school.  As for the sides, the triple cooked chips were enormous and deceivingly filling but really delicious, fluffy on the inside crispy on the outside, just as chips should be. For me the beetroot was a revelation. I am not that big a fan of beetroot, but roasted lightly it was slightly sweet but still so moist we both couldn't get enough of it. The horseradish ice cream was interesting because once on the plate it melted pretty quickly but the taste was a light cream with the delicate flavour of horseradish. I would argue it could have been a little stronger flavoured but that is just a small quibble. Rich and I were more delighted with the beefy gravy that came with the board, strongly flavoured and perfect with the beetroot and chips.

The only let down for us personally was the bone marrow. I think this is just a personal taste thing because I have never got on with bone marrow that well. I have tried lamb bone marrow before and found it a little nicer in flavour than beef.  It was heavily salted and very rich. I just could not get on with eating salty fat on it's own, but the quality of the bone marrow was superb, in stock or a soup this would be divine, alone however, it was just not for me.

Steamed Cornish Hake 

Claire had the Steamed Cornish Hake with Palourde clams, Clevedon coastal vegetables and Jerusalem artichoke puree. Stating she had never had clams before, proclaimed them to be delicious. I tried a little of the hake and agreed with her that it was a little dry. I think this may be hake in general though from what I have sampled of it in the past. The accompaniments were perfect and complimented the clams and hake beautifully.

Although we were all pretty full we thought it best peek at the dessert menu. I was immediately drawn to the apple tarte tatin with cinnamon ice cream and calvados custard. Readers of this blog may already know how   much I adore cinnamon. Rich and Claire went for the crème brûlée cappuccino with cinnamon doughnuts.

Apple Tarte Tatin

Crème Brûlée Cappuccino with Cinnamon Doughnuts

For me my dessert was quite disappointing. The tarte tatin wasn't caramelised at all and the pastry quite dry. I was really looking forward to a sticky sweet caramel and it was just not what I would call a tarte tatin it was more like a miniature apple pie. The saving grace was the cinnamon ice cream which was absolutely gorgeous. Claire and Rich really lucked out on their puddings the home made doughnuts had a different filling, one was apple and the other chocolate then coated in cinnamon sugar.

Sleepy and full of food we headed down to watch the rest of the jazz and discuss the meal before walking home. The Pump House's food is high quality throughout with some different dishes that you may not have tried before. It is definitely worth booking up for a visit because you will not be disappointed. I am looking forward to going back for the next jazz night and this time sampling the bar menu. To check out events and sample menus for the Pump House visit their website .