The Walnut Club
Posted by Chris @ 10:56 pm
As I mentioned earlier we went out to The Walnut Club in Hathersage for our first anniversary. Having read the blurb on their website (strictly organic, Michelin star aspiring, etc) we were looking forward to fantastic meal.
We arrived just before 7pm, and were the first diners of the evening. We were followed about 5 minutes later by a further 4 diners, and that was it for the entire evening! Sure, this could have been because the world cup final was on, but I expected a little more buzz for such a restaurant. But there was some gentle jazz playing, and the place is done out pretty nice.
Anyway, onto the food. As we were choosing our meals we ordered water, and were given two bits of bread and butter. Literally, two bits, and just plain white French stuff, I thought we might have had sun dried tomato, or seed varieties, and a bit more of it? But still, lets order...
For the starter Dawn chose the smoked salmon on a buckwheat blini, and I had mackerel escabeche. Both were well presented and cooked well enough, but having tried Dawn's salmon it had more flavour than my mackerel. For main course we both had the lamb with potato rosti, white bean puree and a red pepper salsa. Again the presentation was spot on, the lamb was cooked to perfection and tasted fantastic, but the potato rosti was a let down. We both felt it was a little over cooked (and thus hard to cut and eat) and a little greasy. However we both finished it off and ordered desserts.
Dawn ordered the chocolate fondant with honeycomb ice cream, and I ordered the poached peach with sable biscuit and mascarpone sorbet. Both were delicious and made us struggle just enough to finish them off.
One amusing side note, whilst waiting for our desserts I got a phone call from the waiter in The Walnut Club asking if we were going to make our reservation. When I said "we're here" there was much laughing, apparently they had crossed off the wrong name on the diary, a tad embarrassing for them!
After dessert we ordered coffees and got the bill. It came to £95.00. Now I didn't expect it to be cheap being strictly organic etc, but that is quite a bit. So given all of the above, what are our conclusions? It was a good meal, as good as any meal we've had before. But it wasn't outstanding, and for that price, I expect outstanding. If they are aiming for a Michelin star I don't think they are there quite yet, but there is certainly promise.
Try it if you're feeling flush.
5 Comments
Tuesday, July 11, 2006 12:51:00 pm
Did you have any alcoholic beverages? If not, then that really is quite expensive!Sounds like you'd have been better off going to The Supper Club. We spent about the same as you and thoroughly enjoyed the food and atmosphere. Their bread selection was brilliant too!
Also, I think there's a valuable lesson here that timing is everything. Quite often, a pleasant atmosphere can make up for average food whilst a rubbish atmosphere can make excellent food seem sub-standard. (Although it sounds like your food wasn't excellent in the first place!)
If we're going out for a special meal, I try to make sure it's a little later (i.e. 8:00 PM) and, if at all possible, on a Friday or Saturday night. The chances are that they might even have better chefs working on these nights as they're generally busier.
This comment posted by Tony Ruscoe
Tuesday, July 11, 2006 1:07:00 pm
Glass of wine each, Andes Peak Sauvignon blanc Chilean at 4.95 for 2x 250ml glass, and two waters, probably around the 2 quid mark.This comment posted by Chris
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 5:54:00 am
notice that you are from Barnsley, you dingle tramp!!! ;-)who would go out on a Sunday night in the 1st place and you wonder why it was quiet, the biggest watched sporting event ever 'the football world cup' was on TV... you freak, what ever the reason... stick to your pie and peas and keep out of our posh resturants over here! Sheffield is a no go area for dingles! ;-)
This comment posted by Anonymous
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 9:12:00 am
Erm, Ok, I'll bear that in mind, whoever you are. Not!This comment posted by Chris
Monday, August 21, 2006 12:55:00 pm
No 'Anonymous' - Sheffield might be no place for Dingles, but the last time I looked, Hathersage was in the Hope Valley, and the last group of people we want visiting is you Dee-Dahs.So stick to your own restaurants, and us Valleyites will decide who we want to visit ours.
'Sheffield' indeed - scrubber.
This comment posted by Anonymous
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