If you’ve ever been treated to our Summer Tasting Menu before, you will already have a good idea of just how much of an experience you’re in for. If not, well, let us explain…
Stepping up from a 7 to 8-course, the Summer Tasting Menu is a true foodie experience, taking you on a culinary journey through the summer months’ bounty. Savour 8-courses, each one inspired by our A La Carte starters, main courses, and desserts.
With all those courses to work your way through, servings are smaller than our usual dishes on the Summer Tasting Menu, but don’t worry – you won’t finish your evening hungry.
Course 1 | Chicken, leek, apricot and rosemary press with apricot puree, leek veloute and charcoal bread
Served with a Porn Star Martini, the Chicken, leek, apricot and rosemary press starter, can be likened somewhat to a terrine. Buttery, rich, and melt in the mouth. This particular cocktail, with its passionfruit, citrus, and sweet flavours, perfectly complements the meatiness of the chicken and charred flavours within the dish.
Course 2 | Scallops, seasoned with scallop roe, sweetcorn soup, charred sweetcorn, barbecue lamb, sea vegetables
Hand-dived jersey scallops, form our trusted supplier Premier Seafood in Grimsby, we use every bit of these beautiful scallops. Starting with the roe. It is removed and dehydrated and then used to season the scallops, intensifying their sweet flavour. The scallops are then finished in foaming butter and fresh lemon. Served with these jewels of the sea is the barbecued belly of lamb. Treated with a dry rub, it is then stripped off the bone and made into a boudin before being cut into a disk and pan-fried. It is the sweetcorn that adds a sweetness to this dish. Salt is added to sea vegetables of rosemary, samphire, and sea purslane to compliment the scallop. When it came to a drink to pair with this course, it had to be a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, this one by Kuki. With notes of fresh grapefruit and tropical fruits, it has fresh palate and sharpness that cuts through the sweet barbecue flavours.
Course 3 | Heritage tomatoes, mozzarella, black olives, croutes, se salt, garden herbs
With a handful of different species, the Heritage Tomato starter, simply tastes like summer, evoking childhood memories of eating tomatoes fresh from the vine in the grandparents’ garden. And what better to serve with this one than a rosé – the Villa Sandi Rosé. With a nose brimming with strawberries, cream and cranberry, the refreshing palate of this wine is laden with subtle raspberry hints. The perfect companion.
Course 4 | Brisket, Cornish pasty, onion, gentleman’s relish, wild mushroom port sauce, crispy shallot rings
Featuring the most tender cut, the Fillet of Beef, is served alongside our take on a Cornish pasty. Made with brisket and vegetables, as well as beef fat pastry, it is the gentleman’s relish that sets this whole dish off. Moving away from wine and cocktails, this dish needed a beer – and not just any beer, locally brewed Docks Beer. Hard Graft to be precise. Punchy and piney, this pale ale is underpinned by barley and rye malt. The yeast and beef elements of the dish are the ideal counterpart to the barley and malt-flavours of the beer.
Course 5 | Mushrooms on Toast, puree of ceps, roast field mushrooms, raw button, powdered mushrooms, served with garlic yolk, toasted charred bread, creamed spinach with nutmeg
Our twist on a traditional pub dish, our Mushrooms on Toast is far removed from the course you remember. A puree of ceps, roasted field mushroom, raw button mushroom and powdered mushrooms are served with garlic egg yolk, toasted charred bread, and creamed spinach with nutmeg. This dish is all about the textures, something which mushrooms and fungi provide in abundance. Almost meat-like in texture, it had to be an equally meaty wine. Deep ruby in colour, the Smart Dog Syrah from Portugal was a natural choice. With a rich nose of dark fruits, sweet spice and touches of liquorice and pepper.
Course 6 | Pan Fried Line Caught Sea Bass, king prawn carbonara, samphire, parmesan crackling Inspired by the traditional carbonara that was created in World War Two – by the Italians for the American soldiers at their request for ham and eggs – our take features smoked back pancetta and Premier Seafood king prawns. Finished with parmesan and egg yolk, folded through, and added to linguine pasta, the carbonara is served with Cornwall line-caught seabass and a Albarino ‘Bernon’ Bodegas Aquitania from Spain. Fresh on the nose with intense aromas of citrus, it’s sea air-like minerality is the perfect pairing for fish.
Course 7 | Rhubarb spiced custard posset, flapjack crumble, roasted rhubarb, and gin sorbet
Sweet yet tart, our roasted posset is thickened with cream, a roasted rhubarb puree folded through. The posset is served with rhubarb pieces roasted with cinnamon, flapjack crumble and Lincolnshire Pin Gin sorbet. Garnished with borage from the garden which adds a cucumber flavour – this is no accident. The borage is used to set off the botanicals Bottomley Distillers use to make their Pin Gin.
Course 8 | Ferrero Rocher, salted caramel ice cream
And finally, our homage to the iconic after-dinner chocolate – Ferrero Rocher. Inspired by the head chef’s daughter’s favourite sweet treat, this one has been designed to share. We’ve chosen to set this off with one of our favourites, an Old Fashioned. A blend of bourbon, bitters, soda, and sugar – the Old Fashioned, dates back to the 1800s. Notes of smooth vanilla, sweet caramel and smoky flavours work beautifully with the rich chocolate in this special dessert.
Available Friday and Saturday nights from 6pm – once you’re seated, the table is yours for the night. To read the full menu, and book your Tasting Menu experience click here.
