This particular meal was for my dads birthday, it took us a while to decide where to go but this restaurant was voted number 1 on Trip Advisor out of all the restaurants in Stratford; The Opposition Bistro. We thought we should give it go! It's the sister pub to the Vitner in Stratford and as I've been there before and it was very good, I thought this would be a good choice. It's located on Sheep Street, a very busy restaurant area so there is a lot of competition on this street.
The inside is quite small, with tables very near each other but the decor is lovely and it was fairly busy-not very busy though as I expected as it was a Saturday lunch. The service was very friendly, we sat down and a waitress asked us what we would have to drink straight away. The menu-WOW! The choices were amazing. We were given a normal A La Carte menu and a special's menu which had a set menu on it for two courses for £13.50 and three courses for £17.00, which isn't cheap for a set menu but it was very reasonable for this restaurant as it wasn't cheap! However, I fancied the starter and the desert from the set menu, but none of the main dishes but luckily Mum chose a main from the set menu so we managed to get one of our meals as a set menu which made it slightly cheaper!
We were given bread as we were looking at the menu, I love it when restaurants do this as I think it's such a good idea especially when you are paying a lot for food.
This bread was so fresh and they had different types, white, brown and tomato and olive bread. A nice selection and a perfect way to start a meal.
There was a choice of two starters from the set menu with mussels or the one I chose:
Crayfish with Asparagus, Rocket and a Boiled Egg
As you can see, the presentation was top notch! As expected at a fine dining/gastro restaurant. It tasted as good as it looks! My only criticism- I would have liked more crayfish but thats only a very small criticism and I understand portion sizes are a lot smaller at these kind of places. But oh my, the taste made up for it! The crayfish was perfectly seasoned with just enough sauce on, it wasn't covered in it which is nice as sometimes that prawn cocktail sauce can be quite over powering. The asparagus was cooked perfectly, hard but not too hard-nothing worse than under or over cooked asparagus! The rocket complimented the dish well and believe it or not, the egg went extremely well too! I was quite unsure about the egg when I read it on the menu but I suppose you get asparagus and egg for breakfast so why not with crayfish?! And it went perfectly! A lovely touch, that made the dish extra special and this was an amazing starter! Perfect, perfect, perfect!
The main course didn't fail to please either:
Pan Fried Seabass with New Potatoes, Asparagus and a Lobster Sauce
Wow!! This was amazing! The presentation was 10/10 as it is hard to get food like this looking good, especially when that much sauce is on the dish but it looked perfect, really bright colours-almost too good to eat! But I'm definitely glad I did eat it as it was SO good! I ate every last bite! The fish was cooked perfectly, with a flaky fish on the inside yet a crispy skin on the outside that I actually ate, because sometimes you can't eat the skin on the fish as it isn't crispy enough but this was excellent. I'm not a massive fan of new potatoes but these were cooked so well, buttery and soft! More asparagus-but again it went so well with the rest of the dish and was cooked perfectly, I've never had seabass with asparagus before but I would again as it was delicious! But I've saved the best part to last, the sauce-OH WOW! The lobster sauce was rich, salty but so, so tasty! I very rarely have lobster as it is so expensive and I've never tried it as a sauce before but I will most certainly be having it again! It was a perfect consistently and tasted top class, it complimented the whole dish so well and there was just enough sauce, as sometimes at fine dining restaurants they give you a spoonful of sauce and it's never enough but this dish had enough, anymore and it would have been too rich. 10/10 dish and as it wasn't on the set menu but on the specials it wasn't cheap at £15.95 but it was worth every single penny!
I was so full, but to get the set menu we needed to have a desert of it and from the beginning this desert stood out to me:
Passion Fruit & Lemon Curd Eton Mess
The presentation was a good as you can make Eton Mess look, because as the name suggests it is a mess! But this one was probably one of the best Eton Messes I've ever had! The meringue was crushed up perfectly within the dessert, not massive bits which I hate in Eton Mess! The passion fruit was bitter yet sweet and went so well with the meringue, I've never had passion fruit or lemon curd in Eton Mess before but I certainly would have it again! The lemon made the desert very biter but the passion fruit sweetened it up and this was definitely a healthy portion, I couldn't finish it all! But it was a 10/10 desert and very refreshing after quite a rich main course.
A 100% perfect lunch, it wasn't cheap with the bill being £100 which is a lot for lunch time but it was worth every penny and I would go back again and again!
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