Clove Club 3
We kicked off our meal with cocktails; a well-made Monkey 47 gin and tonic for MD and a ‘blood and sands’ for myself. An apparently classic cocktail (though this was my first), the drink had a delicious fresh sweet flavour undercut with a spicy burn from the scotch, not something I could drink all night but shall definitely be ordering more going forward. This was our third time at The Clove Club and the courses began with the (now standard) crispy chicken skin feet with delicious tarragon emulsion. There was a small tart of bobby beans, not quite as light and delicate as the tart last time but still fresh. The warm, buttery fried chicken in a bed of pine needles also made a reappearance. It’s as tasty as fried chicken nuggets get.
There was a small tart of bobby beans, not quite as light and delicate as the tart last time but still fresh. The warm, buttery fried chicken in a bed of pine needles also made a reappearance. It’s as tasty as fried chicken nuggets get.
The first course was raw eel with spiciness with woody flavours of turnip, and sesame leaf along with tart apple and elderflower vinegar.
Then a small piece of gilt head bream sashimi, lightly blow torched.
Next we had a broth (though mine was decidedly less exciting with the chestnuts), of wild seaweed, citrus chilli and damshi with a soft stocky soy taste.
An unusually simple interlude of sweet and fatty cured meats, to be expected as they had increased the number of hams lining the walls. We enjoyed this with some lovely sourdough (aspirational) and salted butter.
Then we had roast mullet with turnips, in a sauce made from the bones with lightly salted sauce and rich garlic aioli.
Followed by squares of al dente ravioli stuffed with a soft puree of pumpkin, seasoned with thyme and the smoky flavours of coffee and burnt clementine topped with tender braised pheasant leg. A festive dish fitting for the season. (Gluten free version below)
The most dramatic course of the night was a sip of the sweet hundred year old madeira (or slightly more), leaving a drop to infuse the warm savoury pheasant consommé.
The final meat course was roast mallard (wild duck) with red cabbage and onion, lathered in thick beetroot and elderberry gloss. The meat was lacking in flavour, and whilst there were some tender mouthfuls, the majority of the duck was quite tough and could have done with a pinch of salt (preferably smoked!).
Our first dessert was the fizzy lemonade sorbet with Sarawak pepper, the latest evolution of which covers a large spoonful of vanilla ice cream that counteracts the refreshing tartness of the lemon and not in a good way.
