Oh, who am I kidding? I had already downloaded that PDF and decided the week before what I wanted to eat. Predictable, me? Never.
We were greeted with big smiles as we made our way down the stairs, and were kindly shown to our table by the maître d’, an intimate, little booth with dimly lit lights, surrounded by pillar candles. It was perfection – and very romantic.
As we looked over both the food and drinks menu, we were brought over a fizzy glass of champagne each. I was delighted, it was very refreshing and tasted quite “appley” – a great way to start the evening!
The menu itself was only a page long. There was no scrolling through pages and pages of various dishes, but instead a concise list of options that clearly, are what they excel at. I often find that the smaller a menu, the better the quality – in other words, they’ve perfected their craft.
As soon as I saw Steamed East Coast Mussels in a white wine, garlic & parsley broth, I was sold! It’s one of my all-time favourite starters, or appetizers as they refer to them here. My huge pan of mussels was something to be desired, it was quite the portion but oh so very tasty! In fact, I went as far as saying they were some of the best mussels I have ever tasted, and the broth that accompanied them was so creamy, I’m so glad it came with some bread to do a sly mopping session once I had finished.
Mr C chose the Smoked Haddock Chowder. He adores soup, in fact, he’s the master at making batches of the stuff, but this was rather special as it was completed with a poached egg on top. And, despite it sounding rather bizarre, he absolutely lapped it up (including his own mopping session with his bread!) – I had a little taste and it was super yummy.
This bottle was no different. And, it went perfectly with our Chateaubriand.
Now, if I had to make one criticism, it would be about the steak. We ordered it rare, as we know that it’s such a difficult thing to get right and more times than not you find that you receive a more “well-done” version of what you asked for. Well, it was quite the opposite here. We felt the steak was more on the blue side, and not rare and because of this it was quite cold.
However, it was still super tasty. The quality of the Donald Russell beef, was beautiful and just melted in our mouthes. The peppercorn sauce that accompanied it was to die for, possibly one of the best i’ve ever tasted. It was creamy and more-ish, without being too rich.
It came with vegetables and chips with were also really yummy. And each mouthful was matched by a gulp of red wine, was I in heaven?
What I wore: Dress ASOS | Necklace ASOS (similar)
Overall, it was lovely meal that was one of the most flavoursome meals I’ve had in recent times. If you’re wanting a romantic setting for dinner that has that “secret venue” feel about it, then this is the place to go. My best tip is to double-check with the maître d’ about how they cook their steaks. Despite that, it was still tasty and would recommend heading here if you are looking to push the boat out for a special occasion.
You can reserve a table here.
Are you thinking of heading to the Dakota Deluxe hotel this year?
Bee
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*Our meal was provided to us on a complimentary basis, but all thoughts and views are my own and a fair representation of our experience.
