We had a birthday celebration recently. The girls decided to have lunch in John’s House in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire. It is Leicestershire’s only Michelin Starred restaurant. John’s House offers exquisite ‘home grown’ food using produce grown on the farm and sourced from the local area . The chef, John Duffin has returned to the family farm in Mountsorrel, after many years working in some of the country’s top Michelin starred restaurants, to open an exciting fine dining restaurant in Mountsorrel.
The weather was drizzly with sunny spells. When we reached there, it was raining. We passed by the restaurant and had to turn back and had to park along the road. We then walked to the restaurant which also has a farm shop. We were ushered to the bar and given the drinks menu in a thick heavy book.
We ordered our drinks. It soon arrived, with some olives as nibbles. Shortly, we were shown to our table. We had to climb up a narrow flight of stairs, reached the landing and to the dining area. The decor is simple and clean.
The menu
My girl No 1 actually wanted to try the taster menu. However it has some food that I am not fond of as I do not take red meat. My hubby does not like fish as he claims fish is not as fresh as one can get in Malaysia!!! What a China man! (He is a Scot!). The taster menu is for the whole table, so my girl No 1 was not able to have it.
For starters, there was only 1 order as we want to make room for dessert. Girl No 1 ordered crispy blood sausage with passion fruit mouse and curried spices. According to her, the sausage was tasty and the dish very good.
For the rolls, we were served onion and rosemary rolls and malted barley bread, with home-made butter. The barley bread was nice but a bit overdone and burnt and tasted bitter. I know rustic farmhouse bread are meant to be nicely browned and caramelised. This is a bit too much as it tasted bitter. The onion and rosemary rolls were soft and had a nice colour and was fragrant.
For mains, we had 2 orders of fish and 2 orders of pork.
The skate was served with sweet corn sauce, shrimp, brown butter. The skate reminds me of the stingray fish that we normally cook with ‘assam pedas’ which is a tangy chilli sauce. It also reminds me of barbecue sting ray that is so popular back home. Coming back to the skate dish, the sweet corn sauce goes well with the salty shrimp in brown butter. The vegetables – charred sweet corn kernels, wilted greens all combine beautifully.
The dish is a bit to the salty side.
The other main is the pork ( Gloucester old spot pork) served with gremolata and potatoes. The slices of pork are served with crackling, garnished with edible flowers, radishes, gremolata and potato puree.
The pork is tasty and the combination of flavours beautiful. That is, according to hubby and girl no1.
For dessert, I ordered brown sugar cream, plum compote, sweet cheese ice cream with hazel nut
We also had meadowsweet sorbet, toasted meringue and yuzu. Meadowsweet is a perennial herb that grows in damp meadows.
We finished by having tea and coffee and petit four which comes in marshmallow with sour milk. This smelled like whey/curd. It is very sweet and rich. The chocolate truffles have sea buckthorn fruit berry and meringue. It is served on a bed of roasted coffee nibs.
On the whole the meal was interesting. We learnt about new foods and new taste combination. The combination of some of the food is superb. The presentation of the food is excellent and some what whimsical.
Verdict:
A very interesting meal with interesting new tastes and ingredients. I should try to visit again when there is a change in the menu.
Price wise: £156.6 for 4 including drinks.
The parking sign could be more prominently placed. We drove past the first time and then tried to park in front of the building but was full so we reversed out ( no room to make a 3-point turn). Then parked off the road and walked there.
We were told that there is parking in the opposite building but it was too late. It was only when we left the building that we saw the sign that says there is parking opposite. The sign was facing the wrong way round. One can only see it if one makes a turn in the car-park and drove out! There was no room to do that!!.
This is my only quibble.
