Back once again to the venerable Smiths Brasserie, now sixteen years at it's present site in Ongar for an excellent value set lunch at £18 for two courses.
The dining room is modern, spacious, well lit and pleasantly themed. So full was the busy Saturday lunchtime service that every table was turned at least once whilst the atmosphere was buzzing with enthusiastic diners.
The cuisine is a little more old fashioned but generous in measure and classically prepared. Any fish can be served grilled, battered, a la meuniere or in matzo meal on request. Smoked salmon was rich with flavour whilst a fully dressed crab contained a good mixture of dark and white meat and a full range of accompaniments.
Well seasoned mushy peas arrived with cod and chips whilst an excellent prawn and scallop brochette was simply served. A dessert of apple tart that was halfway to a tarte tatin was, sadly a little undercooked, the apple relying on the sauce for caramelisation rather than time baking in butter and sugar.
The wine list is wide and ranges from fish friendly varietals to premium Burgundian whites with reasonable value. Wines by the glass included selections above the basic level though descriptions of the wines were limited to fine wines. A simple explanation of fruit flavours for the more modest offerings might make wine selection a less daunting process for those who don't know their french appellations by heart.
Unlike so many restaurants with the suffix this restaurant offers precisely the level of dining you would expect from the term Brasserie. It is upscale with polite but engaging waiting staff draped in chefs whites and full aprons, ours having worked at the restaurant since it opened. It is difficult enough to find a quality fishmongers so a restaurant that saves you the bother, pays you the respect of deciding for yourself what to tip and does so with a touch of class is one to return to.
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