Lunch at Ronnie's of Thornbury

Last Wednesday Rich and I found ourselves in Thornbury doing wedding related things and we thought whilst we were here we would take in a tasty lunch. Ronnie's, run by the very talented Ron Faulkner, is somewhere I've been wanting to try for a while ever since enjoying Ronnie's taster menu at Eat Drink Bristol 2012. Ronnie's of Thornbury is situated just off the main high street and does some tasty lunch deals, a set 3 course menu for £13 or for a wider choice two courses for £15.

A lovely bright restaurant greeted us when we walked in, as expected for a Wednesday lunchtime it was not packed but there was a good stream of customers that wandered in as we were dining. We decided to go for the two courses for £15 option plus a bottle of wine, we were celebrating after all. The options for mains were great I could have happily eaten all of the five options. I decided to go for the mushroom risotto with champagne and truffle oil, after my heavenly experience at the taster menu last year, whilst Rich picked the rib-eye steak and fries. We also ordered some lovely Hobbs House bread to start us off as we were rather peckish.

mixed Hobbs House bread

rib-eye steak, fries and onion rings

wild mushroom and champagne risotto with truffle oil

Absolutely sublime food. Rich's steak which was perfectly cooked, was coated in a chimichurri sauce which really brought a light, fresh zingyness to the meat, perfect flavours for Summer. The menu doesn't give much away on detail, which I actually kind of like because you aren't completely sure what to expect and for the steak this was an extremely welcome and pleasant surprise. With regards to my risotto, I tried to eat it as slowly as possible to savour it. Terribly rich and indulgent but with ingredients such as champagne and truffle oil I would have been disappointed at an insipid flavour, it was gorgeous. The earthy truffle oil helped balance out the creaminess neither of which overwhelmed the mushrooms which were the stars of the show. I would eat this every week if I could. 

The delight of the main course made us wonder if the pudding could follow such an enjoyable dishes, our concerns were misplaced. I ordered an Eton mess and Rich the caramelized lemon tart with lemon sorbet, as I don't really like citrus desserts we rarely have them at home, here was a chance for him to go the whole lemon hog and he went for it.

caramelized lemon tart with lemon sorbet

eton mess

a closer look

As you can see the Eton mess in particular was a thing of beauty. Not at all what I was expecting but actually it was better than the usual expected Eton mess. As the slate arrived and was set down I got a waft of pure strawberries, this was the essence of Summer I cannot enthuse about this dessert enough it was sweet yet light possibly one of the best desserts I have ever had, and I don't really have a sweet tooth. Rich was very pleased with his lemon tart, described as wonderfully refreshing and definitely satisfied his craving for a good pudding, they are his speciality after all.

We left in a very satisfied haze of good food and wine remarking that it is worth the 50 minute bus journey to Thornbury just to take lunch at Ronnie's, it's a lovely family friendly restaurant with superb food, we even saw the man himself checking in with diners, which is a nice touch. So hopefully this has all peaked your interest and will get you planning your trip to Ronnie's, check out the sample menus on their website.

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.