So James' mum didn't make a Sunday dinner last week (how dare she?!). We'd been meaning to visit The Wig and Pen for Sunday dinner for a while and since it was Tramlines weekend, we got the bus into town and exploited their three courses for 13.95 (still can't find the pound sign), Sunday lunch and jazz deal. We visited this restaurant last year for my birthday not long after it was taken over by the guys who run The Milestone on Kelham Island. At that time (Feb 2011) it was quite expensive and a bit overly fancy. I think the Milestone guys were still riding high on their success with Gordon Ramsey. The Wig and Pen has now come back down to earth a bit and is offering local, fresh and seasonal produce at competitive rates with a Michelin-esque flourish.
For starters I had ham hock terrine, served with mint pea puree, fresh peas and pea shoots. The terrine was salty and chunky and when blended with the peas, it was light and fresh and just a tad sweet. There wasn't enough pea puree (I love peas) and I did have to pull a chunk of fat out of my mouth but that's kind of the point with terrine. James' starter was a salt cured salmon with a cucumber sorbet and a beetroot puree. Again it was light and fresh, perfectly balanced and the different textures from the salmon, cucumber, sorbet and puree complimented each other very well. These, as all of the dishes, were well presented and visually appetising. 
My main course was a whole plaice, crushed jersey royals and a crayfish crumble. 'Crayfish crumble?!' I here you say. Yes indeed. There was a small amount of it but you didn't need any more. It was very rich and creamy, so different but delicious. I'm a big potato girl, and the jerseys were crushed with spinach. I had to add salt, but I can't really mark them down for that, as I'm a salty sea dog! The plaice was perfectly cooked and just fell off the bones. Perfectly complimented by the pickled carrots, just enough of a tang to bring the fish out of itself and prevent it from being bland. James' choice was a classic Sunday lunch, pot roast guinea fowl with all the trimmings. The yorkshire pudding was a monster! But it was crispy and delicate. The guinea fowl was moist and full of flavour, the vegetables still had some bite (not to my taste but again, that's how they're meant to be!). Finished off with a gravy that was just the right side of thick. I'm a big believer in ideal gravy consistency.
The desserts did not disappoint on aesthetics, but unfortunately did disappoint on tasting. My choice was apple crumble and apple terrine. It came with a big blob of cinnamon sauce on the side. The terrine was disappointing. It was so tart it was practically sour, and it's layers slid apart when you attempted to slice it with your spoon. When taken with the cinnamon sauce it remained unappealing. The crumble was delicious, but again it was very cinammony and after a few mouthfuls it was very cloying. The dish simply lacked something. Even being served on slate didn't save it. James, as exemplified in previous posts, is a massive pudding fan. The chocolatier the better. So there was only ever going to be one choice for him, the chocolate brownie. It came with homemade honeycomb, milk puree and a milk sorbet. The honeycomb was fantastically sticky but again, that's where it ended. The brownie was only slightly soft in the middle, whereas we would have expected it to be gooey. The milk sorbet and ice cream were mildly interesting but were not strong enough in flavour to add anything to the dish.
No comments:
Post a Comment