Me, Jayne, Sam and Andy wanted to go for a lovely meal before I went to America for three weeks and I looked on trip advisor at the best restaurants in the local area and Essence in Stratford was voted the best restaurant in Stratford out of 115 so as soon as I saw it I knew we had to go! The restaurant is quite difficult to find as its in Old Red Lion Court set back from the main high street but it's a lovely little location but it's definitely a hidden little gem as its a gorgeous resturant with lovely decor and brilliant service!
When you walk in you don't expect a lot as its quite small in there and didn't look much but when we sat down and read the menu I knew it was a different story! The menu was quit big with a lot of choice but all of it sounded amazing. They do a fixed price dinner menu but none of it sounded that exciting and I wanted a really good meal as it was my last night before holiday! Me & Jayne got there first and waited quite a while for Sam & Andy as they were trying to find somewhere to park so as we were waiting for them we ordered something little as we were s hungry but didn't want to fill ourselfs up too much.
Selection of Home Made Breads with Flavoured Butters and Oils
This bread was so gorgeous! It was so fresh and crisy on the outside but soft in the middle and the flavoured butters ... OMG they were gorgeous. The left one was Marmite butter which was unusual but really nice, I love Marmite so I expected to like this one. It even Jayne who hates Marmite loved it! It wasn't too overpowering but had just the right amount of kick to it. The middle one was olive oil and balsamic vinegar with olive pate in the middle, this one was to be as expected to be honest, the oil and vinegar was gorgeous but I don't like olives so wasn't overly keen on the olive pate but definitely prefer it to actual olives! But the last butter was definitely the best it was a sweet chilli butter and tasted divine! Once again the sweet chilli wasnt too overpowering but had just enough taste to make this butter really good! It was both of our favourites and I would like to eat that at home! I would want to go back and try their other flavoured butters as these were so interesting and a differnemt touch on just normal butter as that can be boring in a restaurant, this is a brilliant idea and more places should do it!
Once the others had arrived we finally ordered! Me & Jayne decided to do our usual and order two starters and share them between us. One of them was on the special board as it sounded so good and the other was just of the normal menu.
Warm Bruschetta topped with Melted Brie and Rocket
&
Warm Pork Belly Salad, Chorizo & Butter Beans, Pea Shoots and Cress
Both of these starters again were gorgeous! The bruschetta from the special board was probably the best out of the two of them but they were both incredibly good! The bruschetta was perfectly crispy and had the usual tomato salsa on top of it but it was a different but very interesting twist with the Brie melted on top ... It definitely gave it a really good taste and made normal bruschetta very good! I thoroughly enjoyed this starter and could have eaten 10 plates of it! The bruschetta with the Brie just melted in my mouth with every bite! The second starter the warm pork belly salad was also 100% the pork belly was cooked perfectly, so suucuclent and well cooked but crispy on the outside just as belly pork should be! The chorizo worked incredibly well with it too as it is usually served with belly pork but it was so good and went really well with the butter beans and pea shoots which don't have much flavour against the strong choirzo and pork belly! Both 10/10 starters and I would have them again & again!
It took me a while to decide on a main course as they all sounded so good especially the steak but I tought I'd try something a bit different than steak.
Pan Roasted Sea Bream, Summer Squash and Bean Ratatouille, Spinach and Caper Potatoes
This again was a gorgeous main course! As you can see the portion size wasn't massive which is good as I prefer smaller portions than bigger ones. The des bream was cooked perfectly, so flaky and fresh and the skin was crispy I even ate th skin! The summer sqush was so good,mreally creamy and went so well with the bream, summer squash is a definite favourite of mine anyway! The bean ratatouille was unusual compared to normal vegetable ratatoullie but was a really nice twist on the usual as the beans gave the dish an extra crunch and made it very enjoyable! The caper mashed potatoes were gorgeous and probably my favourite on the plate! The mash was so creamy and buttery and the capers complimented it so incredibly well! This was an amazing main dish and was a 10/10 dish! No faults at all!
Summer Berry & Passion Fruit Eton Mess
&
Dark Chcolate & Amaretto Torte with Cherry Compote & Vanilla Ice Cream
Wow, wow and wow again is all I have to say about these deserts, especially the second one, the torte! But I'll firstly start with the Eton mess which was also incredibly good but as to be expected from Eton mess as it usually tastes the same in most restaurants but I always enjoy it and chose it a lot as its quite light and not too heavy after a big meal but this Eton mess was incredibly good and the passio fruit in it was a nice touch and have it a lot of flavour as Eton mess can sometimes be quite plain. But O M G the chocolate and Amaretto torte was AMAZING! Probably one of the best deserts I've ever had it was warm and melted in the mouth with every bite and the chocolate was so rich and creamy and worked so well with the Ameretto and the cherry compote ... All three combinations together were so good and I honestly couldn't say anything but good words about this desert it was amazing and completely faultless! 10/10 perfect, perfect and perfect!!
I would recommend Essence in Stratford to anyone I think it was 10/10 and had brilliant service and a good atmosphere with incredibly tasty food! You should definitely go I will be returning 100%!
No comments:
Post a Comment