Yes! Last Friday it Our Gran's birthday, and as it special Big Birthday Creature and his Sister did take Our Gran out for lunch to a very good Restaurant, it Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons near Oxford, run by French chef Raymond Blanc.
Our Gran had already taken some of her friends to Brasserie Blanc, recently opened in Winchester and when one of the Friends said why they were there, it was Champagne on the House. So Creature let Le Manoir know it Gran's 80th Birthday but he and his sister still had to pay for the Champagne, which they had with the exotic and tasty nibbles wot they given while choosing their food from the Menu du Jour. So that Gran 1 Creature 0 already!
Creature noticed a different wine recommended for each course, and found the main course wine in the wine list, and hastily ensured Our Gran's and his Sister's agreement to have a glass with the main course and not the half bottle even. He not having any wine as he had had Champagne.
So they did kick off with a small cup of hot concentrated watercress soup, very good. Creature thought it looked funny, a tiny cup perched on an enormous dinner plate. And then the proper starter, asparagus risotto for sister, and fillet of mackerel for Creature and Gran with warm Jersey Royal salad (one small Jersey sliced) and chorizo. It quite enough.
Then, after a wait a little longer than Creature would have liked, they all had lamb wot cut into thin slices, plenty of meat. They had asked for medium rare and a good job too, rare would have been freshly cut and raw from the lamb round the back door. But Creature thought it excellent on its bed of crushed peas (very flavoursome) and a large spring onion that had had strange and tasty things done to it. Our Gran let Creature have a small sip of wot turned out to be most excellent red wine - so smooth and velvety, but flavoursome.
Then after another wait even longer than before, the puddings. The waitress informed them that the puds were on their way after a bit of a wait, but they still had to wait a bit longer. These were a sort of crispy chocolate sponge with hot chocolate inside, and some coffee icecream as well, and Creature suspects that the kitchen's first go failed. Creature began to feel a bit miffed when customers at a table wot had come in later left before Creature's group did, but he could not see if they had had pudding.
And then Creature and Gran and Sister decided to have coffee in the lounge. The petit-fours were wonderful but the coffee only warm, wot made Creature more miffed. But he decided to make no fuss, because he saw the performance when an old gentleman expressed his dissatisfaction.
He was sort of munching his way through an omelette and salad, and the waitress enquired if he would like something to drink. I would have done, had someone asked me 15 minutes ago, but it is too late now. Shock horror, but how was the food. Well, I thought someone in the kitchen would know how to cook an omelette, but the egg is drowned by the herb dressing on the salad. You did not like the meal. No, not really, but don't worry about it. Aargh!! Desolation!!! I'm off to get Mr Undermanager, I can't cope with a dissatisfied guest.
And then Mr Undermanager comes. Sir, Sir, wot can I do to help you (anything but give you a free lunch, mate!). I is trying to help you, Sir! Whoever prepared that meal is no chef. And I was not asked if I would like something to drink until too late. And so it went on and on and Creature thinks the charge for his lunch was waived.
So Creature observed this performance, and contented himself with leaving a much smaller gratuity when paying on the little punch-thingy than would have been the case if the gaps between courses had been shorter and the coffee hot. He not prepared to spoil Our Gran's birthday lunch with a whinge.
The food was wonderful. The waitress was attentive, it not her fault the kitchen slow. The nibbles and petit-fours delightful. The only black mark meal-wise was for the luke-warm coffee.
The trouble is, they is trying to pack in the punters because it a Company wot own a lot of it and not Raymond Blanc 100% any more, he just oversee it and not there all the time anyway. And Creature is a little sad that it shows.
Still a very good day out, though, and Creature will go again.I'm so glad you posted this, Midge
A wonderful story of a meal out at a legendary restaurant. Shame about the slow kitchen, but as long as Gran enjoyed it, that's what counts most
He not prepared to spoil Our Gran's birthday lunch with a whinge.
Creature is very thoughtful to his lovely Mum
the kitchen's first go failed
The mark of a good restaurant, presumably. The ones I go to, the kitchen's first go gets served.
I wonder why gourmet food has to be small portions on big plates though? The big plates make the portions look even smaller.And why would the coffee be lukewarm.
I can understand they mess up the posh chocolate pudding and have to make a bit more but coffee is easy to make.
Just boil the kettle and pour on boiling water, even I can do that. Creature only suspects the first go at the choccy puds went wrong.
You quite right about the coffee, Furbs. Though Creature's Sister let the side down by saying she wanted just bog-standard coffee, maybe they let it stand for a bit so it more like wot they think she normally used to, maybe it all her fault.
