to begin with i am not too keen on french cuisine and hardly ever venture into the territory, but claire’s kitchen was an exception and a risk i was willing to take. after all, a rating like this doesn’t come from nothing. the evening started off wonderfully as the staff were absolutely lovely and welcoming and service was on point in all aspects.
to start, we were informed of some cocktail specials and no joke, each and every one sounded just like my cup of tea, but as i was not up for a lot of alcohol, went for a boring mocktail instead. it was actually rather lacklustre and more like a fruit (namely apple) juice instead. however, a sip of the old fashioned and i concluded it was one of the best, if not the best, i’ve tried. perhaps it was due to the more than usual fragrant orange which made it go down smoother. whatever it was, it went down a treat with the snails.
as mentioned we had the snails and one of the entrée specials – blue swimmer crab bisque. i had never tried snails before, always avoiding it even if the opportunity presented itself, but was there with an open mind and heart, so gave it a go. glad i did as it was quite lovely and a great introduction to the dish. quite garlicky without being overly buttery. if the same specials menu comes out, i highly recommend the bisque de crabe, which is also served with steamed cockles, mussels and king prawn. it was a beautiful dish with perfectly cooked seafood, and it reassured me i was not about to face a night of heavy, overly buttery/creamy dishes which was what i had feared.
with a pleasant end to the first course, we eagerly waited for the second, and it finally came out after what felt like an eternity. this is where it went a little downhill. the lamb sounded reliable enough; roast lamb rump, spinach, heirloom carrots and black garlic, but it was a strange dish and probably not to everyone’s taste. the lamb was chewy and the sauce almost tasted like licorice which was slightly off-putting. the other flavours didn’t add much more and as a whole dish required a lot to get used to, and even then it was unfinished which was a shame. the chickpea crepe was enjoyable enough, but not anything new from what you’d expect. it was heavy which was somewhat predicted, but didn’t change the fact i found it difficult to get through. to be honest, i only expected a little more (or different) considering it’s a lot more costly than other crepes. the green beans were not too bad of a side, but also nothing special. i think it was more bad choice than anything, and could have really been turned around with the right one.
i was pretty bloated after this, and perhaps a little let down by the struggle with the mains, that i wanted to skip dessert (also not much of a sweet tooth). however, a platter was brought around showing us all the desserts available for the night, and i suppose we are sheep as that’s all the convincing it took for us to act like normal people and at least get one to share. many a dessert was explained but i was pretty fixated on one from the get-go (one reason; because it was pretty) and was sold as soon as i heard ‘our signature’. it was some sort of orange and chocolate combo which i am usually not a fan of (gosh it sounds like i’m a ridiculously picky eater but i swear it’s mainly just overly oily/heavy and sweets), but this was quite nice! the ice cream which came with was the major plus though, as was the pretty plating.
safe to say it was a bit up and down, but overall a smooth night as the ambience and service were largely positive additions which made up for the couple of dishes. as i mentioned, it seems we just went with the wrong choices as everyone else seemed to be more than satisfied with every dish that touched their table.