Persimmon

A morning at the Napoleon exhibition resulted in a lunchtime stop at Persimmon. It's a very pleasant place to sit with lots of natural light, an air of elegance and a relaxed atmosphere. The four of us enjoyed the surroundings and the opportunity to chit chat/

We started off with a selection of bread and a charcuterie board to share. There was prosciutto, bresaola, salami, marinated mushrooms, goats cheese stuffed peppers, olive tapenade and some cornichons with olives. Lovely to be able to graze and we enjoyed the selection.

Main course wise across the table we had the

• Coq au vin , buttered mash potato pine mushrooms, onions & bacon
• Burgundy braised beef short rib, snail cassoulet, golden raisins, parsnips & white chocolate
• Rack of lamb with ratatouille, olive and cheese mash

There were clean plates all round so we enjoyed what we'd ordered. Martyn and I both ordered the coq au vin. I thought it would be more chicken pieces on the bone and with more sauce than what was on the plate which was more a chicken breast with a concentrated red wine glaze. Although it wasn't the rustic coq au vin I thought it would be, it was still tasty with the chicken being soft and tender, the mash creamy. There was one big piece of bacon which was salty and bouncy in texture and one piece of mushroom whic was delicious.

I had a taste of Steve's dish which was the beef short rib. It was meaty and sweet and slightly sticky and tasted good but very rich. Claire enjoyed the lamb and felt the mash which sounded unbalanced was actually a great combination of flavours.

We shared some shoe string fries which were supposed to be seasoned with smoked paprika which we couldn't see or taste.

It was a generous portion and we enjoyed them but they were lacking some crunch and were erring towards the soggy end of the scale.

---

We couldn't resist dessert and given it was a decadent sort of day; why not? Steve went with the peaches, hazelnuts, madeleines, orange, brown butter, hung yoghurt and Frangelico jelly. It was a very pretty plate blending refreshing orange with sweet hazelnut. The madeleine was a little dry though so hopefully the sorbet and other factors helped.

Martyn went with the cheese and Claire and I went for the chocolate sorbet with croissant ice cream, rice pops and popping candy. The ice cream was intriguing reminiscent of buttery bread and creamy in texture. The fondant was chocolatey without being sugary with a beautiful molten centre.

Lunch at Persimmon was a pleasant and grown up experience. We felt looked after but not overly fussed over. We had the freedom and space to enjoy each other's conversation and we enjoyed watching the weather change outside and all the natural light from the windows.