Christmas at the Famous Royal Navy Volunteer

Happy New Year all, I still have an ounce of Christmas cheer left and I decided to spend it on writing about the Christmas meal we had at the Famous Royal Navy Volunteer. I was tasked, as the resident food fanatic, with organising the Christmas meal and it was a job I took very seriously.  With a very short amount of notice and a short list of favoured restaurants the tastiest option and one I fancied most was the menu for the Navy Volunteer, after a recent renovation this place has become hugely popular. Three courses for £27.50 with amuse bouche and mince pies tacked on the front and back end, plus I'd never eaten here before and had heard a great deal of praise for the food.

The menu had some mouthwatering options such as Salt Marsh lamb with a lavender crust and chocolate tart with an oreo base and peanut butter ice cream. I decided to opt for the goats cheese bon bons on a beetroot risotto, pheasant breast with sausage and sage stuffing and all the trimmings and to top it off an apple, brandy and cinnamon cheese cake for dessert. 

goats cheese bon bons on beetroot risotto

We began with some little canapés a creamy parmesan crisp which melted in the mouth and a fresh anchovy and cavier on a crunchy mini bruschetta. The risotto was beautifully smooth with that little bite you look for in a risotto. The sharpness of the goats cheese was pitched just right, a great starter. It only gave me the appetite for more, which is a good thing.

roasted pheasant with all the trimmings

Served with a shot of red wine jelly I had a feeling that this pheasant dish was going to be something rather special. Pheasant is not something I eat a lot of but I wanted to go for something a bit different from roast beef or lamb and this hit the spot. The sausage and cranberry stuffing was exactly how I like my festive stuffing, meaty and lots of flavour, stuffing should not be just an after thought. The portion of meat was huge and the roasties fluffy and crispy. I could go on about the parsnip pureé and smooth gravy also but I think you get the general idea.  Basically if their Sunday roasts are as good as this was get down to the Navy Volunteer immediately, a genuinely good roast, and I never go out for roasts as I am often very disappointed. 

Apple, Brandy and Cinnamon Cheesecake

In what looked a bit like a sea of beige and olive green the pudding arrived. A whipped apple, cinnamon and brandy cheesecake. This was again very good, quite rich, as all good puddings are. I couldn't taste the brandy much but I didn't mind this was an excellent dessert and a perfect ending to a wonderful meal. 

I don't want to pat myself on the back for booking such a successful work Christmas lunch but I think I do deserve it a little. I cannot wait to take Rich for a roast or dinner here, this pub offers some superb food and the service we experienced was friendly, intuitive and made the meal even more special. If you haven't already been to the Royal Navy Volunteer, what are you waiting for?  To find out what else they have to offer, check out their website.

The Kensington Arms for Cheese, Wine & Nibbles

In all the four and a half years I have lived in Bristol I have never been to the Kensington Arms, there I said it. Quite the secret I have been keeping locked inside for years, feels good to get it out in the open. The Kenny, as it is often affectionately known, is renowned for it's excellent food and cosy atmosphere. Wuthering Bites had organised us a wine, cheese and general grazing evening and as we were a little early Rich and I decided to check out the wine list.

The Kenny has a wonderful wine list, lots to choose from but our eyes were immediately drawn to the Chilean El Campesino Cabernet Carmenere. Being fairly recent converts and then quickly super fans of Carmenere we always jump on it when we see it on a wine list, and we were not disappointed. It was fruity, rich and slightly spicy an excellent choice and went down far to easily. We shall be tracking this one down to buy a few more bottles of to top up the wine rack.

Rich and I decided to order, a cheese selection, triple cooked chips and home made pork pie and after a glass of wine I was getting decidedly peckish. Talk of Pokemon, cake and cats eased the burden of waiting for our nibbles to appear. I had taken the precaution of ordering 2 bowls of triple cooked chips as one thing most people agree on is how irritating it is when other people pinch their chips.

Up Close and Personal with  Triple Cheese Treat

Home Made Pork Pie...

...now with mustard

Triple Cooked Chips

The home made pork pie was the star of the show for us, meaty, flavoursome jelly and the crunchy pastry you associate with a good pork pie, plus it really looked the business too. The cheese board was a little small for £7.50 I thought but the selections were good particularly the blue, slightly sharp but creamy and it melted in the mouth so delightfully. The only slight disappointment were the chips, though really crunchy and tasty they were really overly salted you can even see huge salt deposits in the above photo. The home made mayonnaise was however a real winner well recommended.

Having had a glimpse of what the Kenny is like I am really looking forward to having a meal in the restaurant part of the pub, the wafts of food coming from that area were divine. Plus it has given me a new favourite wine to enjoy and that can never be a bad thing.