Dinner at the Opulence Restaurant in Derby
Published On Sunday 16 Aug 2015 by Sticky Beak
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It’s a good job I like eating; I mean really, really like eating. These last few months have been very busy with invites to sample some great food in a diverse range of places, and the pace shows no sign of slowing down - which is great because it shows just what a magnificent number of places there are to eat in this great Country of ours.
The latest invitation came from the team at the Opulence restaurant in the Cathedral Quarter Hotel in Derby, so the Boy Wonder and I spruced our plumage up and flew over. From the kerb the stone building is very impressive and when you go through the entrance door the first thing you see is a vast stone staircase with huge windows behind it, so your breath really is taken away. You go up this marvellous staircase to get to the restaurant and the sight here is no less impressive. The walls have solid wood panelling to half height, and then the other half is decorated with monochrome flock wallpaper. The lighting is understated and quite modern, but it is when you look upwards at the ceiling that you’re treated to a beautiful sight; the ceiling frescoes and oval ships windows are absolutely stunning. All this is set off wonderfully by classic table linen, and you really do feel that this is occasion fine dining with such an elegant atmosphere.
Bashir (the Food and Beverage Manager) seated us, offered us water and then handed us the menus to look at. There were several starters I could quite happily have chosen, but I settled on the Gin cured Salmon and Beetroot salad with Fennel, Orange and Cockles (replaced with Mussels on this evening) and The Man had Chefs soup (Tomato and Red Pepper that evening) with toasted Sourdough and flavoured butter. The invitation from Opulence had very generously included a bottle of house wine, so we were surprised when Bashir came over with two glasses of Prosecco for us to enjoy whilst we awaited our starters. Even more of a surprise, then, when he said that each course would come with a glass of wine chosen to compliment our food and that he would talk us through the characters of the wines.
Before long our starters arrived at the table and they were very artfully presented; His Nibs soup was a vibrant colour that was made even more striking by the pristine white bowl it came in and my own dish had its colours accentuated by a black platter. Both dishes were absolutely bursting with flavour. The soup had a wonderful velvety texture of its own, but its jewel was a round of Brie with Black Olives nestled in the middle of it. The heat of the soup slowly melted the cheese to release its creaminess into the dish and tease the tongue with its flavour. My Salmon was given a lovely flavour by the Gin, quite citrusy, and it was very clean on the palate; I thoroughly enjoyed every mouthful.
For the main courses the Man had chosen the Duo of beef with Burnt onion puree, Purple Broccoli, fondant Potato and jus and I selected Pan fried Sea Bass with Samphire, Saffron potatoes and Pink Grapefruit Hollandaise. Again the presentation was flawless and we were so looking forward to tasting the morsels as they smelt incredibly good. The beef duo was very impressive; the braised beef was incredibly tender with a lovely depth of flavour to it with a hint of sweetness and it just flaked away in ribbons as The Man cut into it. This contrasted perfectly with the denser texture of the rump cut that had been cooked precisely medium, as requested, so that the moment it hit the tongue it tenderised. The burnt onion puree added a great hint of smoky flavour that married beautifully with the meat, and both the potato and broccoli were cooked perfectly.
As you know reader I really do enjoy fish, and I have to say that Dan (the Head Chef) produced for me the best fish I have had the pleasure of eating. Every aspect of it was remarkable from the crispness of the skin down to the taste, texture and moistness of the fish. The fish was firm, sweet, flavoursome and fresh - just simply divine - and the Hollandaise with its citrus hint enhanced its taste wonderfully. Saffron always gives a lovely sunshine tint to all it touches and the potatoes took on the merest hint of its taste too. I remember as a younger fledgling picking Samphire from the Salt Marshes in Lincolnshire and tasting its saltiness and feeling the slight crunch in my mouth brought some incredible memories back for me. The dish as a whole was a complete joy to eat for me, and His Nibs was equally smitten with his beef.
I love discovering new facts about food and drink as I experience different dishes and as our desserts were brought to us I learnt that dessert wines can be Red as well as White. Now I know that many of you will already have this knowledge but it was a new fact to me. The Boy Wonder had the Red dessert wine to accompany his mini Sticky Toffee Pudding, Salted Caramel and Guinness Ice Cream whilst I had White Canadian Icewine to compliment my Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Roasted Apricot, Lemon Curd and Biscotti crumb. Apparently each frozen grape only yields a single drop of its nectar, so it is a very expensive wine to produce; but crikey it has the most amazingly fragrant perfume to it! You really do savour this liquid ambrosia dear reader, it is simply delightful.
I think at this point in the review it goes without saying that our puddings were superbly presented. The Panna Cotta itself was deliciously creamy and firm, but light on the tongue; indeed when I spooned some into my mouth with the fresh Raspberries that garnished the plate it was as if summer itself was on my tongue. I liked the fact that the stone had been kept in the Apricot as it had been roasted, the flavour seemed somehow more rounded rather than merely sweet. The Lemon curd tasted how I imagine a lemon grove would smell - sweet yet clean and crisp.
I was yet again supremely pleased with my choice of dish, it had been a most pleasing evening from my perspective, and given the little chirrups of satisfaction coming from the other side of the table I think the Boy was just as content with his choices. The Sticky Toffee Pudding was apparently really rather good, being moist and rich but not cloying, with the Salted Caramel tempering its sweetness beautifully. It was the Ice Cream that really got both our attention though as you could definitely taste the Irish genius brew in it, but it wasn’t savoury or bitter or even sweet; it was just “it”, and it worked really well. Nom nom nom!
Given the superlatives I have used to try to convey some small hint of the gloriousness that this meal was you may be thinking that you will need to take a second mortgage out to dine here. Let me assure you that nothing could be further from the truth my dear blog reader. Starters range from £5.95 - £8.50, mains vary between £11.95 and £17.95 and puddings are on a scale from £5.95 - £8.95. Opulence also do a set menu that includes most of their a la carte dishes, priced at £14.95 for 2 courses or £19.95 for 3 courses, which I think is incredibly good value for money.
At the end of a meal we like to sum things up with a cup of coffee and the beans they use here are a gutsy rich full flavour blend. We enjoyed it as it is smooth, even though it is a stronger flavour than a lot of restaurants use - you can always add a sugar lump if you wish, but we didn’t feel the need to.
We bid farewell to Dan and Bashir, desperately wishing we could travel back in time and relive the food again..... and again. Although it isn’t on the central route of restaurants in the Cathedral Quarter it has secure parking literally 2 minutes away, and I really can’t emphasise enough how worthwhile it is to just come a little bit off the beaten track and dine at Opulence.
Groups are also well catered for; larger numbers (up to 18) have the option of having the “Galleries” room for private dining and for parties up to 10 in number there are the “Chambers “ and “ Magistrates” rooms as private dining options.
The team at Opulence also do afternoon tea between Noon and 5pm Tuesday – Sunday. I wonder if I could persuade Mummy Bird to come with me for that? :)
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