Sunday Lunch at The Clocktower, Epping

         

The Clocktower in Epping (Essex), is a charming little place just off of the high street that serves good, honest food at an affordable price – in short a great spot for a Sunday lunch.

The boyf and I headed there recently and took advantage of their incredibly priced set Sunday lunch which is £14.95 for two courses of £17.95 for three – fantastic value.

I opted for the chicken liver terrine to start which arrived with a couple of slices of very unpretentious toast and an unctuous apple and raisin chutney. It wasn’t the prettiest plate of food but that couldn’t deter from the taste or enjoyment of the dish.

The pâté was smooth, rich, slightly creamy and very meaty and the sharp, fruity chutney complimented the terrine beautifully.  

Glen chose the grilled sardines which came with a genius mango and chilli butter and were served over a bed of rocket. Once again, this was a simple dish, but prepared perfectly and proved to be very satisfying. The tropical and sweet mango butter with the chilli kick running through, worked so, so well with the subtle flesh of the sardines. I think it would work particularly well if prepared on the BBQ with the butter drizzled over. Sardines make for a very economical meal (I’ve picked up six for less than £2.00 at my local fish mongers) and usually I just cook them in a little garlic butter but this fantastic dish has inspired me to try preparing them in a different way.

For our mains, we both chose the roast beef dinner but The Clocktower does offer a few roast options as well as other dishes such as a vegetarian feta and vegetable stuffed aubergine, a haddock dish and a confit duck too.

The roast beef was cooked more than I would choose or prepare at home, however it was still tender, well-seasoned and of high quality so there wasn’t any room for complaint over the lack of mooing on my plate. A rather enormous and tasty Yorkshire pudding, crispy roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables completed the meal and all were good.

Whilst there wasn’t anything remarkable on our plates, it was all prepared well and enjoyable, and for the price it really does offer spectacular value. The staff at The Clocktower are attentive and incredibly friendly and it’s this touch mixed with the genuine, home-style of cooking that made for a really pleasant meal for us.

There is just that almost comfort blanket feeling of a roast dinner that reminds you of home - and in our ever-hectic lifestyles today, the uniform rigidity of having a roast dinner every weekend just doesn’t exist anymore, so eating a roast out, feels like a treat.

We had just the two courses as the mains were rather large and with a couple of glasses of red, a beer and some water we have change from £45 and went home full and content.

Brasserie Zedel

I’ve long wanted to try Brasserie Zedel, not least because of the praising reviews I’ve read, but because I simply love the French classics and the menu just looked so reasonable – it’s been on my list for a while. I tried to get a walk-in table recently with a couple of friends on a Friday evening and failed due to the popularity and having made my way down and viewed the rather opulent looking space that was once The Regent Palace Hotel, my interest was further piqued.

I finally got to try it out one cold Thursday evening in January with my friend Jade and I certainly wasn’t disappointed.

Having viewed the menu online during the day I was determined to try the unbelievably priced, £11.25 set menu. However once we arrived and saw other dishes flying by I couldn’t resist trying some of the other delicious sounding dishes on the menu. I will return to try the much-lauded steak hache dish though, that is a certainty.

The brasserie area is simply huge with high ceilings and a busy, buzzing atmosphere, the constant sound of companionable chatter filled the room and it couldn’t help but put you in a good mood.

Once seated, we selected a bottle of the house Sauvignon Pays D’oc, a light, refreshing and crisp white – this helped with our decision-making.

It took a lot of deliberation over the menu, as there just wasn’t a dish on there that didn’t sound good. It’s a fairly short and simple menu, but one with lots of fantastically classic and delicious sounding dishes. Finally I selected the ham hock and parsley terrine as my ‘entrée’. Served with a basket of warm white bread, the terrine was lovely. Made up of coarse chunks of fantastically salty ham surrounded by the tell-tale jelly of a terrine. With vivid green parsley hues throughout, it was a pretty plate of food and was just as pleasing on the eye as it was on the mouth. 

Jade opted for French onion soup, which is the best I have tried in the UK for sure. Fragrant, soothing and with an almost addictive flavour, I would highly recommend this dish. And considering the location of the restaurant in the middle of Piccadilly Circus, an absolute bargain at only £2.25 a bowl. Served with cheesy croutons that were inhaled rather rapidly by Jade, we were both impressed and looking forward to the main event.

We both selected truly classic dishes, Jade the Boeuf Bourguignon, and I the Confit de Canard. The slow-cooked beef Bourguignon had the most tender, stewed beef, combined with an irresistible flavour of red wine. Served on a bed of the creamiest pureed potatoes this was a little plate of heaven – real comforting, solace food.

My confit duck was quite frankly glorious - crispy, fatty and utterly delicious at the skin, with a soft and tender, melt-in-the-mouth meat centre, that just fell straight off of the bone – an absolute sensation. The duck was served on a bed of white beans in a simple tomato sauce which made for the perfect accompaniment for the knock-out duck.

We also ordered the creamed spinach as a side and were both surprised when it arrived as it looked like a little pot of pesto, however it tasted fabulous. Buttery spinach with a hint of garlic and creamed to perfection. Each dish was served on a white plate with the signature red trim and the 'Zedel' name on which I thought was quite a nice touch too.

We couldn’t manage dessert but we were in such a good mood we couldn’t resist trying one of the Champagne cocktails to sit and enjoy the ambience of the restaurant. We both had a classic Kir Royale which was the ultimate finale to an evening of perfectly executed French food.

The service throughout the meal was faultless, our waitress was attentive, knowledgable and very patient with my French pronunciation. I have to say she was also incredibly tolerant of a very rude male couple seated beside us who were clearly after a free meal. They sat and enjoyed a full rib of beef, and after Jade and I had endured watching them both literally gnawing at the bones, at the very last bite one of the men proclaimed to have found a hair that had completely put them both off of their meal. He kicked off at the waitress and then, in turn the maitre d’ and they handled this rude pair excellently. You would think this kind of spectacle could put a dampener on the end of our meal but it simply added to our voyeuristic entertainment.

We paid around £75 including service and every penny was money well spent.

If you haven’t yet made the trip to Brasserie Zedel, make a booking now, I urge you!

Prix Fixe

Good Food - Shame About the Service

I've fancied trying Prix Fixe for a while - my friend Lianne recommended it for the food and the excellent value and I've read several good reviews too. So yesterday afternoon after visiting the Museum of London with my family we were in Soho around 5ish, and in something close to a miracle we managed to sway my mum away from our regular haunts in Chinatown, and got ourselves a table in Prix Fixe.

As it was early - far too late for lunch, and a little too early for dinner, there was only a couple of occupied tables in the restaurant. This did not prevent the restaurant manager from looking around at all the empty tables, 'finding' us one and informing us we'd have to be done by 7pm in a very sharp manner. This put my back up immediately as it was unlikely we'd be more than two hours anyway, and I found it be unneccesary rudeness.

One thing that must be applauded in Prix Fixe is the fantastic value for money available on their set menu. For £11.90 you get two courses and can choose from 7 starters and 12 mains. There is a good selection however for somewhere pitted (on their website) as a 'Classic French Bistro' the menu is a little bit confused - with items such as Falafel and Hummus, Halloumi, Canneloni and Sausage and Mash on there - definitely not dishes I would cite as French - however I was willing to keep an open mind.

To start we all fancied the same dishes - so we had two Crab Croquette's which came with avocado mousse, pickled cucuber, cream cheese and a red chilli salsa. I thought this was a great plate of food - prettily presented and with all the accompaniments working well together. The croquettes themselves had a good helping of Crab in there and were seasoned well. I love avocado and pureed as it was it tasted great with a bite of the crab. The cream cheese was wrapped in a slither of the cucumber and had chopped dill - another great partner to the crab and the salsa was actually chopped pineapple with chilli - which gave the dish an added element - sweetness. I asked my brother and my Mum who had this dish to mark it out of five purely on taste - and they gave it a 5 and a 3 respectively.

My Dad and I both had their special of the day which was a Chicken, Leek and Mushroom Terrine with homemade chutney and wrapped in parma ham. This came served with two little toasted slices of ciabatta bread. This was a fantastic start to the meal - the leeks gave the chicken a gorgeous strong flavour and the chicken was incredibly moist and well seasoned. The chutney was tangy and went perfectly on a piece of the bread with the terrine. We gave 4 each for flavour.

For the main course my Dad and I again chose the same - the infamous Steak & Frites. I'd read excellent reviews of this and with a £7 supplement on the set menu I thought it would be rude not to try at such a low price in the West End. The steak 'entrecote' itself was cooked well, had a round of garlic butter on top, which melted slowly and gave a lovely flavour. The Frites were perfect, thin French Fries and a small side salad was dressed in a fresh citrussy oil. A great dish and enjoyed by both. But what actually elevated this dish for me was the accompanying sauce - a peppercorn and blue cheese affair which was fabulous slathered over the steak and also to dip the chips into. A four each for flavour again.

Daniel had the Roast Barbery Duck breast with dauphinoise potatoes, marinated red cabbage and a cherry and red wine jus - this had a £6 supplement on top of the set menu too. This was by far the dish of the day for us. The duck was pink and juicy and full of flavour, the dauphinoise were cooked beautifully and the accompanying red cabbage was a lovely pickled addition to the plate. The sauce was like the final link in a chain of beautiful food to make this dish near on perfect. Again a five was scored.

The worst dish of the day was my Mum's - the Roasted Cumberland Sausages and mash. The sausages were good actually - herby and flavourful, but the mashed potato was a complete disappointment. Aside from the fact it was lumpy and not as warm as you'd like - it was watery, flavourless and was left on the plate pretty much untouched.

There was hardly any of the caramelized red onion and sage gravy so my Dad tried to get the attention of the Restaurant Manager again, as he had been serving us throughout the meal, to request more. The far from charming man waved us away and shouted to one of his waiting staff to come and 'deal with table 5'. I thought it was disgusting behaviour - after all the old adage goes 'manners cost nothing' and it's true. Hillariously once the ordered, but polite waiter had taken our request - he returned with a sauce pot full of gravy - the equivalent of a large tablespoon!

I'm working in Soho at the moment and a couple of Friday's ago I had Sausage & Mash in the modestly priced The Garrick Arms and I can honestly say this pub grub was a whole lot better than the slop my Mum was served.

Despite the rudeness of the manager, as always, I found room for dessert after my steak and opted for the cheese selection. This is three small pieces of cheese with biscuits, a plum chutney and red and white grapes - for £5.95. I had a piece of Comte, a Sauvageon and the divine Fourme d'Ambert. The Comte was actually not the best I've tried - but I have to admit I've been spoilt for cheese recently with a visit to Bistro du Vin's Cave a Fromage so I didn't judge too badly. The Sauvageon was mild, creamy and lovely and popular around the table and the Fourme d'Ambert was exceptionally good - a blue cheese triumph.

My Dad was the only other person to order dessert and he went for the Madagascan Vanilla and lime Cheesecake which came with raspberry coulis. This looked very pretty, and I'm told it was an excellent dessert too - with a strong vanilla flavour and a buttery biscuit base - exactly what you want from a cheesecake.

With only a minor complaint towards the food (mash-gate) I left with the opinion that the quality of food against the value for money was really very good. We paid £113 including service charge for four of us and this included a bottle of Chardonnay, a large glass of Merlot and a couple of Peronis too. The waiters were pleasant enough towards the end of our meal - but unfortunately the head waiter left more than a bad taste in our mouths and I doubt any of us would return again soon, despite all enjoying most of our food. Such a shame.

I can only assume that a restaurant in the constantly lively West End, which is constantly busy due to decent and well priced food, has given the manager of Prix Fixe an air of over-complacency. He clearly doesn't feel the need to employ even basic manners. We left at 6:40 and while it was busier than when we'd arrived - the majority of the tables were still empty. If you can bear the rudeness then do try but for heavens sake - don't choose the Sausage and Mash.

A small taste of Essex

Living so close to and working in central London, there’s always a new restaurant opening, not to mention the hundreds of already established eateries around the capital - which leaves diners literally spoilt for choice on any given evening. With such an array to choose from, I find that I tend to neglect the local cuisine on offer here in Essex.

So my friend and I decided to book a table on a Saturday evening in March at The Manor, Rainham. The Manor is a hotel and restaurant located on the Berwick Pond site that reopened a few years ago after a complete refurbishment. It’s interior is very simple, yet elegant with classic neutral colours throughout which immediately impressed Jenni and I - the local competition is made up of 3 or four pubs, that have seen far better days!

Not wanting to fully sacrifice a night on the tiles, we requested an early 7 o’clock table, and so were surprised to find the place busy on arrival - and simply buzzing by the time we left. We found the staff incredibly attentive and professional - again a far cry from other local establishments.

The menu is not what you could describe as vast, by any means, however I found myself drawn to at least 3 or 4 dishes on both the starter and main course menu, as it all sounded sensational. After careful consideration I opted for a Chicken, Bacon and Potato Terrine with homemade chutney. I have to admit that a contributing factor of this decision was pure curiosity - I’ve wanted to try a terrine for a while. When it arrived, it was presented beautifully and I was not disappointed. The flavour and texture were like nothing else I’ve ever tasted - the salty bacon surrounded a mixture of herby chicken with thin layers of potato. The chutney, was more like diced beetroot, and the only minor complaint was that this could have done with a little more moisture, but that is if I’m being very picky.

Jen’s starter filled me with food envy immediately, I’d liked the sound of it on the menu, and after pinching the obligatory spoonful, I found myself fighting back an urge to cry out ‘I want that one’ in the restaurant - luckily a great deal of self-restraint prevented me. She had an Almond and Butternut Squash Risotto and it was cooked to absolute perfection. With just a smattering of parmesan, the almond flavour mixed with the squash made it perfect for someone with a sweet tooth, like myself.

For a main I chose Sea Bass with Vanilla Mash, Pancetta, Peas and Clams - one word - divine! Again with my sweet tooth, the vanilla mash was delicious, the fish was cooked beautifully to the point where it just melted in the mouth, and the salty pancetta and clams provided the perfect contrast to the sweet mashed potato. I thoroughly enjoyed this dish.

My friend also went for a fish dish; Cod with Butterbeans and a Pesto Ragout. This again, was scrumptious, cooked well and ticking all of the right boxes. A selection of vine, roasted tomatoes finished this dish off and helped make the presentation.

Being a greedy sort, I’m never one to turn down a dessert and despite being fairly full, I have to say in this instance - thank goodness! Jen and I finished our meal off with fresh fruity sorbets, Jen went for a mango number and found it full of flavour. I opted for a lime concoction and it was truly amazing. Sharp citrus shot through my mouth, instantly cleansing and refreshing my palette. The sorbet really packed a punch and the chunks of lime zest helped to make an interesting texture too. As sorbets are often sen as a healthy option, I’m so pleased to mention these were served with a still-warm brandy snap biscuit, which was buttery, crunchy and helped to up the calorific intake superbly.

Jen and I completely enjoyed our meal. We paid around £80 for both of us, including a couple of alcoholic drinks and enjoyed the lively atmosphere of the place and the friendly, efficient service. I love London and enjoy trying out all it has to offer, but after a fabulous evening at The Manor, it has persuaded me to try out a few more places closer to home in the future - so watch this space……..

To book a table or room at The Manor call 01708 55 55 86 or visit http://www.themanoressex.co.uk/index.html