This venue is now closed
Last time we went to the Blacksmiths Loft we had a fantastic time, as you know. Since then a new chef, Chris Parry, has overhauled the menu to put his own unique stamp on the food there. When we were asked if The Boy Wonder and I would like to revisit and sample some new dishes; of course we said yes without hesitation and flew off without further ado.
The decor hasn’t changed so you still have that quietly refined setting that I really like, and the staff were still as friendly as before. Our previous server (who was new at the time of our last visit) was on duty last night looking after tables in another section and it was lovely to see how much his confidence has grown. Rudy was our server for this occasion, and a very smart, charming French man he was too; nothing was too much trouble for him and he had that art of doing things without you really noticing he’d done them, such as refilling glasses.
Having being duly seated we were handed the menu and wine list to look at. We decided to have a bottle of wine and chose a very cheeky Zinfandel called Burlesque Old Vine and I have to say it was a fantastic tipple, probably my joint favourite with the Love Grass Shiraz that I have at Blueys in Alfreton. As we were making our choices Rudy brought us a little Amuse Bouche, Artichoke Arancini, to nibble on and it was a little ball of delight that tempted the taste buds.
For starters I had the Scallops with Red lentil Dahl, Cauliflower puree, Cumin caramel and Coriander. The Scallops were cooked perfectly and were a lovely size as they sat on the Dahl, which itself was lovely and flavoursome. I absolutely loved the Cumin caramel, its crunch and taste went superbly with the other flavours and textures in the dish. His Nibs opted for the Pork, Pistachio and Apricot terrine with puffed pork, Goji berry ketchup and pickled Fennel, and said it was absolutely beautiful. It had a great texture to it, quite chunky and rustic so that you got a real hit of all the flavours on the tongue, and the pickled fennel provided a bit of extra crunch.
I chose the Ashover Pork plate for my main course and this consisted of tenderloin, glazed cheek and a shredded pork doughnut with Chorizo jam, burnt apple puree, braised red cabbage and jus. I also ordered some autumn greens (broccoli, mange tout and green beans) with caraway butter and watercress pesto as an accompaniment. Every single item was cooked to perfection; the vegetables had a hint of crunch to them, the meat just came away in ribbons and oh-my-word that doughnut was magnificent! The cabbage was sweet and tender and the puree and jam added a smoky warmth to the dish. It was a joy to eat such a flavoursome platter.
The Man Bird plumped for one of his favourites, Venison; and it was served as braised shoulder and ragu with squash, chicory, pear and bitter chocolate. He ordered a side dish of Chervil and garlic new Potatoes to go with his meaty feast. Again, the meat was incredibly tender and had that lovely rich, slightly earthy taste that a good quality Venison should have.
The puddings were no less impressive; I had Pistachio cake with Honeycomb ice cream and grapefruit curd whilst the Boy Wonder had Chocolate and Cardamom torte with Mango Pannacotta and coconut ice cream. My cake was wonderfully moist and the pieces of Pistachio added some texture to the beautiful sponge with the curd added a lovely tangy hint of citrus. The honeycomb ice cream was gorgeously rich and just topped the dish off perfectly.
His Nibs was grinning maniacally as he made his way through his incredibly dense, rich torte. The balance of all the flavours was just majestic, all credit to Chris’ talent. We finished with some Lattes, and commented on what a fantastic revisit we had had at Blacksmiths Loft. I still heartily recommend you pay a visit here; if you’ve visited in the past it is worth going again to see what new dishes can tempt you - believe me there are plenty of marvellous morsels on offer to lead you astray in the nicest possible way. Hot Wings are making their way to this new Chef and his team, congratulations Chris.
