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A few weeks after I retired, some years ago, my partner asked if there was anything I was missing. Jokingly, I replied "the Office Christmas Party" and, there and then, it was decided that I must have one. So, each year since, the two of us have an 'outing'. I get to choose and there's no quibbles or scowls about my choice. It's usually a meal and, because we live in North Cheshire, we tend to gravitate towards Manchester. But this year, I decided we'd spend an evening with the county glitterati deep in Hollyoaks land. Recently done up by the Grosvenor Hotel and renamed from the Arkle Restaurant, at the time of writing, Simon Radley at the Grosvenor retains its single Michelin star, 4 AA Rosettes and a Good Food Guide Cooking 7.
A comfortable bar adjoins the restaurant. As soon as the drinks order was taken, a serving of nuts, green and black olives arrived. Closely followed, with the drinks, by some fab canapés - paprika popcorn, a mini cheese pasty thing and, best of all, a few wonderfully crispy whitebait with a very fennel-y gloop to dip them in.
There is a tasting menu but I just didn't fancy it, so we went for the carte - three courses at £59. The carte is one of those where there is just a one or two word name to the dish (but followed by further description - which will be repeated and extended on when it is brought to table).
In the restaurant, the bread trolley was wheeled up and the long list of at least a dozen breads reeled off. Then an amuse of a haddock veloute was served. Light and very fishy.
I started with 'Pork Jowl' - confit pork cheek, seared scallop, parsnip puree and a scattering of pork scratchings. Did this work? You bet it did. Very long-cooked, very piggy pork; just cooked sweet scallop; the parsnip adding to the sweetness.
I followed this with 'Feathered and Furred' - a slice of mallard, goose, roe deer and something else - cooked perfectly to medium rare, with a few chanterelles. Alongside, served in a small Kilner jar, some choucroute containing a piece of Gloucester Old Spot bacon and sausage. A big enough serving to satisfy anyone's carnivorous greed.
She who was paying started with Dorset Crab. A very simple starter of crab flakes topped with a cucumber jelly and a caviar wafer alongside a mousse of the brown flesh. Clean tastes with seasoning spot on.
Her main centred on one of the few local products - organic Rhug Hall chicken. The breast cooked in Riesling and, far better, the leg slow cooked in red wine with bacon.
We took cheese as an extra course (adding another £11.50 each). There was an extensive trolley that was almost exclusively French and the young French waiter who served it really knew his cheese - explaining each and seeking out our views before putting a plate together for each of us. A serving platter of grapes and celery on ice was brought and the cheese was also accompanied by chutney and a fig cake (for which there's probably a French name but I only know it as the Spanish 'pan de higo').
Pre-dessert was a fig and pear sorbet, topped with some of the fruit and the whole topped with egg nog.
Desserts proper were a bit like the curate's egg. Mrs H ordered 'Compression' - described as a pressed banana caramel with iced salty peanut. This was a star - the banana bit being rich, sweet and fruity and the peanut bit being salty peanut icecream. And, wow, did this work well together.
Mine was a disappointment. Described as 'Orange', it comprised an orange mousse, blobs of chocolate orange icecream and orange sorbet and something else topped with orange marmalade. But nowhere was there any real citrus zing.
We took coffee back in the bar with the finest petits-fours we can recall.
Service throughout, by a mainly young but experienced staff, had been excellent. Final bill, including service, came to £217.
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