Dining out with my parents one last time before we go and we were left to make the choice of destination. We had all been to Kitchin before, the Kiwi and I would like to try Abstract’s dinner menu but they are closed on Sunday and Monday so we decided Wedgwood would be ideal as it would be a first for my parents.
We got a friendly welcome from the South African waitress and sat down to await the arrival of the parents and consider the menu. On the one hand I was pleased the menu apparently hasn’t changed since our visit in October as there were a few things I wanted to try, but on the other hand I was disappointed that the menu was pretty much the same after all these months.
Predictably I ordered the Diver caught scallops with crispy smoked ham with garlic caesar dressing (£8.95), and this time they were cooked just right! The crispy ham complimenting the scallops and giving great contrast in texture. Tiger prawn, tomato and vine leaf lasagne (£7.95)was given the thumbs up although the description a more refers to the layering of the ingredients on top of each other.
Trio of Scottish fillets, pork, beef and lamb with pan fried lemongrass, coconut and ginger, wok fried asian veg and crisp flour pancakes (£17.95) was next up. The meat was lovely, but my mother was unable to eat her meat as it was too rare for her and when ordered we hadn’t been given a choice about how it was to be cooked. Another South African waitress (maitre’d?) noticed and came over to check all was ok, so when my mother explained she can’t eat meat so rare the plate was taken away with apologies, then she was informed the chef was making her a new plate of food with the meat cooked well. Class act, graceful and excellent customer service! I would like to taste more of the ginger, but all in all a tasty dish of flavour and textures.
The Kiwi ate the Red Deer with creamed leeks, venison haggis and cranberry jus and throughly enjoyed it, with the meat served very rare, just the way he likes it! My dad enjoyed his Scallops wrapped in caul fat on haggis with mustard and pepper sauce.
I don’t normally do a starter and dessert but as I had not eaten since breakfast, I felt justified doing both – big mistake… it’s the following day and I still feel full! Here the menu did vary from last time although Very sticky toffee pudding was in my sights this time, it being such a success last time. It was great, although I would have liked the option to have cream rather than icecream with it, but the sponge was warm and moist, the toffee sauce suitably sticky and sweet. Mum and Dad opted for the Licorice parfait with lime as they were intregued, and this exceeded expectations. The kiwi actually ordered a dessert for a change, going for the Rich chocolate and heather ale cake with lavender ice cream which he liked but felt was too much and then wished he’d stuck with having a cheese course!
