HUNGRY HOSS

Sunday, 15 March 2015

The Clarence, Bury

Ever an optimist, whenever I stumble across an old lamp (admittedly rarely), I give it a spirited rub in the hope that Barbara Eden will appear and grant me three wishes.

My first would be for immortality; I’d then ask for unlimited riches and the third would be a decent gastropub within a few minutes drive of where I live.

Unless I rapidly find and rub many more lamps (or move house), none of these seem likely any time soon.

If you live in Bury however, you could be in luck. Probably not on the immortality front and I’m guessing if you had unlimited riches, you’d have already move far away from Bury… but, at least, you do now have a decent gastropub!

Not just any old gastro pub either… after 3 years of restoration, The Clarence (established 1905) has been restored with many original features, plus a few modern touches. Not least of which is the ‘Silver Street Brewing Co.’ microbrewery, living the pub’s basement.

In the kitchen, Manchester born, tattooed chef Liam Rutherford returns to the north after spending several years working for Gary Rhodes; including stints at the Michelin starred W1 and as Head Chef at Rhodes @ The Dome.

“From the Sea” – the ‘share board’ featured hot smoked salmon, beer battered haddock, ½ pint of Greenland prawns, some delicious rollmops and ‘Dave’s crusty white bloomer’. It was all good stuff and nicely done. The beer batter had great flavour; my one piece of constructive criticism would be for a little more piquancy in the tartar sauce.

Bury Black Pudding & Leek Croquettes – making use of the celebrated Bury Black Pudding, these croquettes were very good indeed. A robust apple sauce laced with the Clarence’s own Silver Street Porter acted as the perfect consort.

Silver Street Beer Battered Fish & Chips – with the same beery batter from the sharing board, this was another tasty piece of battered cod. I liked the ‘mushy peas’ had been mixed with a few whole ones for texture.

16oz Côte de Boeuf – the steak had some nice markings from the char grill and came with a decent enough béarnaise. The skinny fries come with a house seasoning as standard so it’s worth mentioning when ordering if you’d rather have them plain.

Passion Fruit Bavarois, Carmelita Ice Cream – a lovely end to our meal with plenty of deliciously sharp, tropical passion fruit flavour from the fresh fruit and in the gelée.

With a Sunday Roast that comes in 3 sizes – kids, traditional and ‘Full Monty’ which includes cauliflower gratin, champ mash and garlic & herb crusted bone marrow – we are sure to be back soon!

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Monday, 9 March 2015

Oliver’s at Bollington Green

After a ropey meal at a pub the other day, I tweeted a couple of pictures of the food along with some derisory comments. Although most feedback seemed to agree that the food was indeed “shocking”, one twitterer accused me of not supporting independents.

The truth is, I generally love to shout about the “little man” and relish in being able to use “the power” of my blog to help spread the word for those wonderful places do not have the PR budgets of others – the likes of Yuzu, Parkers Arms and Levanter spring to mind.

But when I order a porterhouse and receive a sirloin; a roast dinner that most home cooks would be disappointed with and a piece of burger bun in lieu of “fresh bread”, it’s not all that easy to muster an enthusiastic endorsement.

Places like those already mentioned and the Michelin rated Oliver’s at Bollington Green make championing small, friendly, family businesses a joy… backed by his father, the restaurant’s young Head Chef is Scott Oliver, whilst he manages the menu and kitchen, his fiancée Jaydean Pilling looks after the management, front of house.

On the edge of the peak district, surrounded by hills and waterways Bollington is a typically picturesque Cheshire mill town. Oliver’s overlooks the small village green surrounded by stone houses – a delightful setting for a friendly, relaxed neighbourhood restaurant.

Of course, no matter how lovely the location and charming the service is, the food also has to live up to expectation – thankfully, it does. Including breads and ice creams, everything is made in house using quality, seasonal ingredients… most importantly, dishes are full of punchy, bold flavours.

Bury Black Pudding Hash Brown, Mustard Leeks, Home Made Brown Sauce – I’m not a fan of hash browns, or perhaps I should say I’m not a fan of those oil soaked wedges of cardboard served with a McDonald’s breakfast. Oliver’s black pudding hash browns were great but it was the spicy home made brown sauce that stole the show for me.

“Soup & Bread” Celeriac Velouté, Fennel Pollen Spiced Crispy Kale, Home Baked Bread – this was my wife’s choice but naturally I had a little taste; the fennel pollen added a lovely fragrance and sweet, summery smack of anise. I could’ve eaten a bowl full of the crispy kale.

Slow Braised Game Pie & Duck Fat Pastry, Chips, Greens, Jus De Roti – I know some people will criticise this dish, saying that it’s not a ‘pie’ but they need to get over themselves. The rich game meat came gloriously flavoured with hints of garlic and bay giving depth, bolstered by the glossy Jus De Roti gravy.

Truffle Chips – nuff said!

Pan Baked Fillet of Artic Char, Sweet Potato Gnocchi Fries, Greens, Salt ‘n’ Vinegar Hollandaise – my wife’s choice; as you’d expect from a chef who trained under Andrew Nutter, the fish had been cooked beautifully with a proper crisp skin. The ‘sweet potato gnocchi fries were great little things but it was the ‘salt ‘n’ vinegar hollandaise that had me cooing.

Warm Orange & Coconut Frangipane Sponge, Lemon & Vanilla Posset, Lime Curd – good sponge with a suitably sharp curd and a refreshing ‘not too sweet’ posset.

“Oliver” Sticky Toffee Pudding, Amaretto Ice Cream, Butterscotch – I love a Sticky Toffee Pud but wasn’t too keen on the sound of amaretto ice cream so promised I’d give this to my wife; after a taste however, there was no way she was getting it!

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Saturday, 7 March 2015

Mr. Cooper’s House & Garden - Feb 2015

Everyone worth their salt knows that whilst mine is the undoubtedly the best food blog in the North West, Cumbrafoodie aka Alan Spedding, is the best food photographer.

You may or may not be aware that ‘Sped’, has a beautiful and talented daughter Cory Spedding. As a youngling, in 2004, she represented the UK at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, coming second.

Hoping to fulfill her dreams as a singer / actress, Cory was in Manchester to meet with an agent. This meant that dad / chauffeur Alan had a couple of hours to kill around lunchtime, so I stepped forward as his date.

We are both fans of Simon Rogan’s food but this was the first time that Sped has visited Mr. Cooper’s since Simon showed us around when it was just a ‘building site’.

We started with some nibbles and two excellent starters ‘Raw beef with pickled paw paw, sweet tomato jam & toasted rye bread’ and ‘Buttermilk fried oyster, kimchi purée, pear & pickled fennel’.

To follow, I made sure Sped ordered the ‘Cumbrian rib steak, truffle pudding & purple potato latkes’, which to my mind remains one of the best dishes being served anywhere in Manchester.

I went veggie with the ‘Roasted sweetheart cabbage steaks, teriyaki sauce, grated Wiltshire truffles & hot wasabi mayonnaise’, which has to be one of the best vegetarian mains being served anywhere in Manchester.

In fact, the cabbage dish is so good I’ve since seen ‘foodie smartarse’ Thom Hetherington, ‘fusspot’ Andrew Stevenson and the ‘mad professor’ himself, Simon Rogan, singing the dish’s praises.

Sped loves his puds, so we ordered three to share. My fave was the ‘Carrot & olive oil cake with blood orange sorbet’. Sped liked the ‘Caramel tart with mascarpone ice cream’ – it’s a well known fact that mascarpone is the best cheese to use when disguising a small horse but who knew you could make ice cream from it too?