Lunch at The Ethicurean 的午餐

Lunch at The Ethicurean 的午餐

19th April 2018 0 By livinguktaiwan

A couple of days ago I wrote about he Ethicurean Restaurant, promised to share my lunch with you and then take you around the Victorian walled gardens. If you missed my first post you can read it here as it will give you a bit of background on why this restaurant is so special.
前天寫了一篇 The Ethicurean餐廳的文章,說要跟大家分享我的午餐,然後帶大家到餐廳後面的田園逛逛。 如果大家錯過那篇文章可以在這裏閱讀,可以認識餐廳的背景。eth201.jpg

This was another big lunch gathering with my family of 12 plus one baby. There were a few other tables of guests that day, but we lingered around after lunch when most guests had left, that’s why all the rest of the restaurant photos looks a bit deserted.
這次又是我們大家族一行十二人和一名嬰兒的聚會。 吃午餐時還有其他客人,但我們用過餐後留下來聊天,所以拍的餐廳照片都沒有其他人。eth202.jpg

Now to the food. As I said last time, I don’t have many adjectives to describe food, so its better that I let the photos do the talking instead. There were 5 starters on the menu – soup with sourdough bread, pearl barley, cured salmon, goats cheese and oysters. None of us were big cheese fans and as much as I love oysters, we all felt we should try dishes that were prepared by the chef.
上次有提到我對於食物的形容詞彙很不足,所以我還是讓照片跟大家說話好一點。 餐牌上有五道前菜,地瓜湯與酵母麵包, 珍珠大麥,醃製三文魚,山羊起司和牡蠣。 大家都不是起司的粉絲,而雖然我很喜愛牡蠣,我總是覺得到餐廳應該是吃一些由廚師創造的料理。

I had the beetroot cured salmon. Instead of the normal orangey colour, the salmon has a darker red colour like tuna, the red coming from the beetroot. I couldn’t taste any beetroot so I think the curing process must have just changed the colour and texture of the salmon as it was a bit firmer than normal. The various pickles on the plate (home pickle from produce grown in the garden of course) complemented the fish perfectly.
我點了紅菜頭醃製的三文魚。 經過紅菜頭醃製的三文魚顏色變得深紅有點像金倉魚的顏色。 紅菜頭的泥巴味並沒有在醃製的過程中進入三文魚中,只是讓它變得深色和口感微微硬一點點而已。 盤上的酸菜是自家醃,配鮮味的三文魚剛剛好。eth205.jpg

My two sisters had the soup and pearl barley. Both gave it the thumbs up.
我兩位姐分別點了地瓜湯及珍珠大麥。兩個都讚。

One of my sisters had the Welsh Rarebit as her main. Welsh rarebit is sometimes spelt Welsh Rabbit so many thinks that it has rabbit meat in it. This is actually a welsh dish which consists of a sauce on toast. The sauce is made from cheese, with a dash of mustard and Worcestershire sauce giving is a tangy flavour. This was very filling and my sister struggled to finish it.
另一位姐點了輕食Welsh rarebit 威爾斯乾酪當主菜。威爾斯乾酪有時會寫作 Welsh Rabbit 所以很多人以為裏面有兔肉。 其實這道菜源自英國威爾斯,是用起司加一點點芥末和喼汁煮成一個醬汁,加到麵包上。這個醬汁帶有點酸甜味道很開胃,但份量蠻大,姐也吃不完。eth208.jpg

The other three mains were spiced cauliflower, crab bisque and rump tail. Since we’re a family of meat lovers, no one opted for the first vegetarian course. Most of us went for the rump tail which came with carrots, leeks, kimchi and pickles and a drizzle of leek oil. The presentation was stunning, and I loved how they served the beetroot ketchup in the onion leaf. The rump was cooked to perfection, exactly how I like it. And as to the taste, if you think the photo looks amazing, then I can tell you the food tastes even better.
主菜方面有辣菜花,螃蟹湯及牛排。 我們一家人都是吃肉獸,所以沒有人點第一道素。大部分人點的牛排配菜包括紅蘿蔔,京蔥,自家醃製的配菜,及京蔥油。 紅菜頭醬放在用洋蔥葉片做的小盤子上很有創意。牛扒的生熟程度剛好,正是我最喜歡的。這道菜式簡直是色香味俱全。如果你從照片中覺得這道菜很美味,我可以告訴你知,吃的時候真的好好好味。eth209.jpg

The other mains we ordered was the chilli crab bisque which came with pickled squid, mussels, roasted red peppers and saffron. The bisque had a depth of flavour, which was enhanced by the roasted peppers and saffron, but overall it didn’t overpower the flavour of the squid and mussels. My husband ordered this, and he said everytime he dipped his spoon into the bisque he dug out more little bits of gem. By the way, do you notice the reflection of the window from around the dish?
另外一道主菜是辣味螃蟹湯。裏面有醃製了的魷魚,鮮菜蛤及烤過的紅椒和番紅花香料。 烤過的紅椒及番紅花香料,為本來已經很香濃的湯底再帶上另一個層次,但絕不會蓋過海鮮的味道。 我老公點了這道菜,說每次湯匙游進盤子總會尋找到湯裏面一點小驚喜。 喔,大家有看窗子的倒影在盤子邊呀?eth210.jpg

Finally, dessert time. My favourite course of the meal. I love chocolate and there were two on the menu, a chocolate and milk stout pudding, and an almond, pear and chocolate cake. I pondered for ages, and couldn’t make my mind up. Then I tried to persuade my husband to order one of them so I could try both, but he ignored me plea as he had his eyes set on something else. In the end I went for the chocolate and milk stout pudding as I’ve never tried it before. Milk stout is a type of beer where lactose from the milk is added to it to give a smooth sweetness to the beer. A rum and raisin ice cream topped the pudding. I definitely made a good call.
終於到我最喜愛的甜點。 餐牌上有兩樣我最喜愛的巧克力甜點,一道是巧克力牛奶黑啤布丁,另外一個是杏仁梨子巧克力蛋糕。 我想了很久很久都下不了決定點哪一個好。我有嘗試要求老公點其中一個,讓我兩個都可以試吃。但他卻不理我的要求,因為他心中已有心意之選。 結果,我點了巧京力牛奶黑啤布丁,因為從來沒試過。 牛奶黑啤酒是把牛奶中的乳糖加到黑啤酒去釀造,讓黑啤酒更香滑更甜美。布丁再配上蘭姆酒葡萄乾雪糕。 事實証明我的決定絕對是正確的。eth211.jpg

This is what my husband had his eyes on, Affogato made from local clotted cream served with a double espresso. After tasting his dessert, and I quickly forgave him for refusing to order the other chocolate dessert.
老公心意的甜點是這個用濃縮奶油做的阿芙佳朵配濃咖啡。 我試過一口之後,馬上原諒他剛才拒絕為我點另一個巧克力甜點。eth212.jpg

Here’s the menu for the day, if you fancy any of the dishes, you can buy their cookbook as well.
這是當天的菜單,如果喜歡的話還可以買他們的烹飪書。

Finally after lunch, we walked through the walled garden back to the car park. This is the area which faces the Mendip Hills, is outside the green house where the restaurant was located. In the summer you can have your meal or a drink here, I can envisage it being a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

午飯後,我們要經過田園回到停車場。 田園外放上一排排的戶外座椅,對著一望無際的Mendips小山。 我想如果夏天在這裏午餐或下午茶的話,一定是非常嚐心樂意的享受。

Since it was the back end of winter when I went (it was February), there wasn’t much growing in the garden apart from these young plants. Not sure what they are.
我去的時候正值冬季末(二月份),田園中除了這些不知名小植物,並沒有什麼其他東西。eth216.jpg

eth217.jpg

The car park is at the end of the garden. We continued walking through the exterior garden, passed more shrubs and under some grapevine. I would love to come back again in summer when their famous garden is in full bloom.
停車場位於田園的遠方,要經過這一條長長的走廊才到。走廊兩旁有很多枯了枝的植物和菩提樹。 希望下次可以在夏天再來,看看茂密的田園。