Tasting Menu of loveliness
I like to work for my food which is why I enjoy mussels and chicken wings. Yes a bit finickity but you have then earned the right to eat what you have worked to discover and possibly burned several calories to offset the butter (more on butter later). To get to this restaurant I worked on staying sane. Gerald, who lets me live in his house because he is a very nice person and I help with the cooking. For example last night he invited some friends round for a barbecue and as always it started with 4 people at 6 pm to 8 people at 8 pm. Flexibility and patience is the solution when Gerald is Geralding. The work for this food involves terror as the restaurant is beautifully situated in Emsworth on the harbour and to get there you have to drive up a very narrow road with a sheer drop to the sea on the right. Terrifying. Worth it. Gerald is shown below.
Three butters, black garlic, chimichurri and natural. Butter is something I hold dear to my heart although I suspect my heart disagrees with my opinion. Indeed I have considered this carefully and think the ultimate butter vehicle is a crumpet. In the right circumstances you can get a third of a pack of butter on it thanks to those deep butter filled craters but be warned, you need kitchen roll or a squeegee to wipe the butter when you take the first squidgy bite. All of these butters were mildly flavoured but good.
Two very nice canapes, particularly the baba ganoush tarts, exceptionally fine pastry perfectly filled with just the right amount of baba ganoush. A moreish mouthful. The crab benoit was also good in its presentation hand. The tableware was all interesting, just a little extra to make the experience better.
Beautifully cooked scallops, fat and juicy (a little like me) with tomato, basil and couscous. We went with two good friends, Richard and Helena, Richard is a chef so it was interesting to hear his comments. He liked the tomato and basil sauce and the couscous but not necessarily together. I loved it all.
The sea trout with Asian salad and crispy noodles. Again well cooked and one of the favourites of one of our party.
A lovely piece of lobster with pesto in a garlic stock, we all loved it and it was delicious, every element
Lumina lamb with artichoke and mint. Lamb is one of my favourite meats and I learned that Lumina lamb is meant to be the best, organic and succulent lamb around and I really enjoyed this dish. My neighbour would have liked his artichoke to be warmer but mine was fine, absolutely delicious and now I am going to go down a rabbit hole trying to find Lumina lamb for myself.
Squab pigeon with beetroot and gooseberries. The table loved it but I am not so keen on anything gamey so not my favourite but that is my personal issue. It is also why I will never eat rabbit, I cant cope emotionally with eating rabbits. I wont go into it too much or I will sound like a strange person but I count rabbits throughout the year with the aim of ending each year with a full count of one a day. If I see one I shout RABBITTTT which can be of concern to whoever is driving and I have warned my children that if I have an accident while driving a rabbit will probably be involved. Actually my driving is a whole other issue. Gerald rarely lets me drive his car although he may if he wants to drink, I am sober so a good choice. However he is a very nervous passenger, as are all my passengers, which is strange as I rarely have huge accidents, the occasional nudge (or kiss as I like to put it) and I have been known to get home with fewer wing mirrors or, very occasionally, an extra wing mirror. It has been said that I drive in an approximate manner which is fine. I have never had any points and rarely been in accidents although seen a few. Hmmmm.
Wagyu sirloin, walnut, blue cheese and chicory. Another really nice course. The joy of a tasting menu is that you find the things that you want to go back to and order as a main course (or avoid) and again this was cooked perfectly, rare, and the walnuts were a nice addition that I wouldn’t have thought of. Again one of the joys of eating out is inspiration for the future.
Ok so this was a small dilemma but didn’t last long. I don’t eat rabbits, obviously because they are for counting, and I even feel guilty when eating chocolate rabbits so I start at the toes and nibble up to give the rabbit a fighting chance but here the rabbit was a very tasty white chocolate and pineapple pannacotta which came as the pre-dessert and it was lovely.
Dubai chocolate with fig, cherry honey. Beautifully presented and tasty.
The tasty little extras which we all love and they make us feel special. Each item was a favourite of one of our party, mine was the creamy fudge.
Last time we visited 36 it wasn’t full which was surprising and worrying but this time it was packed with a great party going on in the private room which got us thinking if we had ten friends who could justify us booking it for ourselves. The service was very good, not too much explaining but attentive enough to make the visit enjoyable. Also, as a side note, they have rooms which are very pretty with a stunning view over the harbour should you not have a designated safeish sober driver. Definitely worth visiting for a wonderful meal regardless.
Oh I nearly forgot my irrelevant photo –
This is Gerald and I last year when he was Lord Mayor of Portsmouth and I was one of his Lady Mayoresses (he was allowed more than one as his husband had recently passed away). So yes we live together but separately and he must have the patience of a saint as his room is absolutely spotless and mine looks like someone has thrown a grenade in and shut the door!
#portsmouth #food #finedining #tastingmenu #greatfood
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