As a belated birthday gift my granparents took me to a restaurant that I've always wanted to go to. Lakeside Park, located on the Isle of Wight, is known for its high class restaurant and spa facilities. Its located in Wootten Bridge, near a lovely and scenic lakeside. The restaurant is presented in a modern, clean and crispy white decor.
When entering the restaurant we were welcomed warmly and shown to our booked table. We were read the specials and explained that we could order from the fixed menu or the a la carte menu. I ordered a Kir Royale, cause it was my (belated) birthday and cause why not. Drinks came promptly after we ordered them. We were left alone to decide what we would like and after about 5 minutes we ordered.
For my starter I ordered the scallops with pork belly, cauliflower puree and mango puree. The presentation was incredible! Art on a plate or slate rather. I'm not fussy on slates for plates but the black against the cauliflower and scallops, it really popped. The saltiness pork against the fishy scallop then partnered with the fruity mango was balanced well with a number of different flavours and textures.
Main course was also beautifully presented, I did feel it need a little more colour however. It was a fillet of halibut served with Parisian potatoes, curly kale and braised red cabbage. The halibut was perfectly cooked but I did find 2 thin bones-it happens with fish- and perfectly seasoned too. The potatoes and curly kale were also perfectly cooked, however the red cabbage was bitter and I felt that it was a little out of place on the dish.
Now dessert took ages to order. With the restaurant filling up, our waitress was a little flustered and passed us a number of times before we had to ask for a dessert menu. The Lakeside 'Toffee Crisp' looked interesting, so I ordered that! Dessert was hand prepared, so it did take a little while, but it was worth the wait. The dessert itself was made up of a blood orange sorbet, chocolate popping candy 'soil', a dark chocolate cup filled with a caramel sauce and a chocolate mousse topped with crispy oranges. One of the best desserts I've ever had!
Overall, the whole experience was amazing. The menu is pricey, so its worth a visit for a special occasion. The staff were kind if a little over flustered and familiar, some of the staff were a little unprofessional by stating that my Nan was 'doing a runner' when she was just going to use the restroom. Which made us a little uncomfortable. But other then that, both the waiter and waitress were nice enough.
On a brilliant sunny Thursday afternoon, I went for lunch with my nan to a restaurant that she would like, so we ended up in Southsea at a restaurant that I've been to before and had nothing but good experiences, Truffles of Southsea.
We arrived at 1:15pm, so well within time for the lunch time set menu. We settled down into the somewhat empty restaurant, with a lack of people it seemed a little chilly. There was a woman who was serving who was extremely polite and offered to take our coats for us. She allowed us to sit wherever we wanted to and asked us if we wanted a drink, an americano and a diet coke later. We settled on reading the lunch special set menu, which was really good value for money (£9,95 for two courses and £11.95 for three courses). I was impressed with the quality of the menu and ordered a cured salmon as a starter and seabass fillet with parmesan polenta and a beurre blanc sauce for my main course, with a side of triple cooked chips.
The waitress asked if we needed the heating on and we said yes, sadly the air conditioning wasn't behaving correctly, so we had to sit a little chilly. The wait for the starters was perfect and presentation was lovely, with great attention to detail. The taste of the cured salmon was perfect, it reminded me of a sashimi texture, not raw however but not quite cooked. There was a beetroot and radish spread on the plate which added colour as well as flavour to the dish. Light and tasty as a starter.
The starters were left on the table for about 2 minutes before being taken away by the polite waitress. She asked if we enjoyed the starters and made she we had enough to drink. She didn't linger too long at the table to make it awkward, as she cleared away our plates.
We didn't need to wait too long for the main course, approx 10 minutes at the most. The seabass fillets were cut into angles, which made it look very contemporary. The parmesan polenta added colour to the dish and the beurre blanch added a richness that really brought the dish together. The issue I had was I found three bones my fish. I know that fish have bones and of course, there is never a guarantee that fish fillets will be completely boneless. Its a hazard that you have to take when you eat fish, however its still a little off putting. Even though the dish was nice, I felt a little more beurre blanc sauce would have been appreciated. The triple cooked chips were an absolute delight, a perfect mix of soft middle and crunchy outside. I also noted that there was a little flavour of truffle on the chips, which was a really nice touch.
We didn't opt for dessert or a drink as we felt that we wanted to leave because we were so full as well as being a little cold still. The waitress gave us the bill and we paid, but not without a little conversation. For £25.90 for a quality 2 course meal, drinks and a side dish, its a good price for a great lunch.
This meal is very easy to make and its suitable for freezing. Just ensure that you get the meal out from the freezer, in the morning and leave in the fridge to defrost for the day. You can serve with cooked new potatoes or fries, if you want to be really naughty.
Recipe: Serves 1 hungry student (Student Cookbook by Sam Stern)
- 1 fillet of salmon weighing 225g
- 2 cloves of garlic, diced
- 6 black olives
- 4 cherry tomatoes
- (Optional: 2 tablespoons white wine)
- Pinch a of salt and pepper
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- Olive oil
- 50g Spinach
- 50g Green beans
Equipment:
- Foil
- Oven
- Tablespoon
- Chopping board
- Knife
- Baking Sheet
1. Chop the garlic and cherry tomatoes.
2. Cut one piece of foil per fish meal. It needs to be large enough to take all the food items plus a little extra.
3. Lay the foil out on a baking tray.
4.Scrunch the edges up slightly and place the fish in the middle.Season.
5.Cover with the garlic, lemon juice and oil.
6.Arrange the potatoes, spinach, green beans, olives and tomatoes around the fish.
7. Drizzle over a little wine if using or more lemon juice and olive oil.
8.Pull the foil up and over the meal. Pinch the edges firmly to close.
9. Put in fridge for later or bake in the oven at 200c/ 400f/Gas Mark 6 10-15 minutes.
