As you can imagine, after a full day of travelling and exploring the Kielder area, The Man and I were ravenous! Never have we been more grateful to be invited to try an eight-course tasting menu as we were on this particular night.
Battlesteads Hotel and Restaurant in Wark, Northumberland, is a beautiful setting; the dark wood floors are paired with a chic assortment of mix-and-match tables and chairs that give a quietly nonchalant feel to the area. There is a nice privacy space between each table, so you never feel hemmed-in or overheard. I have often seen and admired ‘spider lights’ but have never seen one in full web-effect...until now. It was stunning to see, and remarkably good at providing illumination throughout. Anyhow, I digress!
Our server got us settled in and brought chilled water for the table straight away, followed soon after by our choices of Sauvignon Blanc (£9 for a 175ml glass). To get our digestive juices flowing, the first course was a Deli Board comprising thinly sliced Beef, Venison and Pork: all smoked and home-cured. Accompanying the meats were homemade pickles; Courgette rounds, semi-dried Tomatoes, Grapes, Red Pepper Tapenade, and Piccalilli, served with slices of bread.
This first course was presented on a Coral-toned platter that let the dish’s elements ‘ping’ against it. All the meats were delicious in their tenderness and differing depths of taste, and the sharpness of the pickles seemed to enhance their softness and sweetness somehow. My personal favourite pickle was the Tomato; this had a delightful chew to it and an intense sweetness on the tongue. His Nibs’ favourite was the small-chunk Piccalilli and he was captivated by its crunch and the wonderful Mustardy warmth at its finish. We both said the Tapenade was wonderfully robust, and sweet-yet-savoury. Spread generously on the bread it really was super, though that isn’t to take anything away from the bread itself and its thick, subtly charred crust.
With those initial hunger pangs taken care of, we were served next with a demitasse of Wild Mushroom Soup that had a garnish of Truffle Oil swirled decoratively on its surface. A demitasse is a small cup usually used to serve Espresso, but I much preferred what we were spooning into our mouths. Indulgently creamy, with a gentle texture to it, this soup was packed full of flavour: rich earthiness, a kiss of sweetness and a smidge of ‘woodsiness’. The splash of Truffle Oil added extra oomph to the soup without over-powering it – not an easy balance to achieve. Served in a small, pottery-style bowl, the crockery co-ordinated seamlessly with the soup’s speckled appearance for a superb presentational angle.
In all the years we’ve been blogging and reviewing, neither of us can ever recall having a hummus of Beetroot and Rose. There’s a first time for everything, though, and we got heartily stuck in to the jewel-toned morsel. Tasting menus can be tricksy little monkeys, or rather, the Chefs can be as they unleash their curious, creative side! Instead of simply letting the floral and earthy vegetable notes swirl, Chef decided to introduce a fiery layer to the flavour profile in the guise of innocuous-looking dots of Green Chilli purée. Ooooffft, did these explode in the mouth like a battleground grenade... in a marvellous way, though. Chunks of Golden Beetroot had been cooked to soften them, and they brought a lovely influence to their Ruby cousin that formed the hummus base. More of that sublimely good bread was used to scoop up every scrap on the dish and carry it into our eager mouths.
As regular readers of the blog know, His Nibs doesn’t do ‘fishy’ fish, so I had my reservations as to whether he would enjoy the next course of the tasting menu: Hot-Smoked Salmon with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, Micro-Herbs, Wild Garlic Oil and Caviar. I needn’t have worried; The Man put on his big-boy pants and popped that first forkful into his mouth, and chewed. There is no getting away from the fact that the Salmon was certainly bold on the palate, but the Roasted Pepper sauce tamed it and lessened the impact of it. Salty Caviar and Wild Garlic’s allium tang gave a beautiful ‘lift’ as well, making this a most enjoyable course.
After savouring so many different flavours, our palates needed a cleanse; enter a marvellous, homemade Gooseberry Sorbet that was served in a sculpturally curved, black spoon like the ones used for soup in Chinese restaurants (except this one’s handle was stubby). The rose-toned Sorbet had us fooled with its innocent blush, smirking as it had our eyes twitching like Patricia Routledge/Hyacinth Bucket at its potent sharpness! This was most certainly an effective re-set button for the palate if ever there was one, though it needed strength to banish the lingering taste of Salmon in our mouths.
Possibly the dish you could most liken to a main course was up next: Lamb, Potato-topped Pie with Buttered Greens and reduction. The minced Lamb was undeniably good but, for me, the ratio of it to the Mash was slightly off; I wanted more meat and less of the glass-smooth, piped Potato. I also felt that there was a lack of seasoning to the Potato, an opinion The Man agreed with. The vegetable selection - Tenderstem, Baby Leeks, Peas and Green Beans - were all cooked perfectly to retain some bite and allow their flavours to shine. His Nibs and I both loved the intensity of the jus/reduction; it was brilliantly meaty and unctuous.
Representing the dessert course was a Rice Pudding Crème Brûlée with Sour Cherries and a dish of Vanilla Ice Cream on a bed of crushed Amaretti Biscuits. First up, the thwackably thick sugar crust needed to be dealt with, and I did so with a huge smile on my face – I do love that cracking sound. Now, I really did want to like this but I just prefer my crèmes smooth. I totally got what Chef wanted to achieve and I respected that but, for me, it wasn’t ‘the one’ His Nibs, however, loved it! This is why I always say that reviews are 100% subjective and intended as a guideline only; please try things for yourselves and come to your own conclusions. Cheering me up was the good quality Vanilla Bean Ice Cream’s indulgent roundedness and the nutty, crunchy Amaretti Biscuits, so all was not lost at the dessert hurdle.
Concluding our feast, we sipped a really super roast black coffee that came with homemade Rocky Road, a Meringue Swirl, Homemade Vanilla Fudge and a Lemon Macaron. All of the petit fours were excellent, and there was a nice range of tastes and textures; so to say we rolled back to our lodge like Weebles is an understatement!
Hot Wings happily given to this Wark restaurant... if ever we’re this way again, you can bet your bottom dollar that we’ll be staying and dining here.
You might also enjoy:
