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St Benedicts Restaurant - Friday 5th March

On a wet and cold evening, the warmth of the greeting from Jane Raffles at St Benedict’s restaurant could not have been more welcome.  For the first official outing of 2010, our small intimate party settled into pole position in the window to enjoy an aperitif of Picpoul de Pinet Roquemoliere 2008 and to catch up on the latest news and gossip.

Whilst we awaited the starters we were served lovely meaty Olives and fresh Bread, with an oil & balsamic vinegar dip.  This was followed by a Jerusalem artichoke and celeriac soup – great flavours.

We had a choice of three starters - home made rabbit sausages (as gamey as Jack Hargreaves on a damp day), double baked cheese soufflé (incredibly light but a huge portion) or a Prawn Thai Curry (fragrant and spicy).  All three were enjoyed by the group (via the usual sharing and sampling) and elegantly accompanied by a St Veran Domaine De Mailettes 2008.

Main courses comprised a fantastically tender Medallions of Beef fillet, Fillet of Sea Bass, Lemon & Thyme Roast chicken and Pearl Barley Risotto.   All were fresh and flavoursome with plenty of locally grown vegetables.  To accompany, Jane provided two reds.  The Serguret Les Coteaux Shisteaux 2006 (France) was so popular that reinforcements were soon summoned – the second was a Barbazul Huerta de Albala 2007 (Spain) that was perhaps a bit too fulsome for that stage of the meal. 
After the above, enthusiasm was somewhat dented in terms of dessert but some of the group were tempted by Chocolate Caramel Delice or Iced Praline Parfait and Caramelised pear.  The rest shared two large cheese platters followed by coffee and petit fours.
Can there be a better way of getting back into the swing of New Year dining than a small and intimate evening with friends and great food.  St Benedict’s restaurant provided the perfect venue and consensus was that the food was pretty good too!

PS - We have to make mention of the ladies toilet which had a great vanilla & cocoa butter hand cream.  We are not sure about the Gents as the men made no comment

Review by Wendy Moss

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