Restaurant Twenty2, Edgar House – Taste Cheshire Review #Review
Stephen Wundke
16th November 2015
Restaurant Twenty2 and Edgar House – they just keep making it better.
We were lucky enough to see Edgar House before it was opened as a small boutique hotel, some two years ago and it was obvious then that Tim and Mike knew what they wanted in their hotel and what their customers would like. How right they were. Voted in the top 5 hotels in the world by customers on Trip Advisor recently it has been a meteoric rise and one truly deserved. So when we heard they were about to open a restaurant within the hotel we were keen to try it out.
Restaurant Twenty2 is the latest edition of the Edgar House offer and dissimilar to my recent I-pad upgrade this one works brilliantly. We decided to try the tasting menu which at £55 for 7 courses and just another £25 to have each course matched with wines, seemed a very good deal and so it proved.
We enjoyed Canapés of Scotch Quail eggs with piccalilli and some delicate Mackerel bites in the sitting room while new chef Neil Griffiths; who trained in a 2 Michelin Star restaurant prior to arriving at Edgar House, began to put his new team through their paces. The Restaurant is small and can probably only seat 20 at a push, suffice to say it was full when we sat at our table and you should always book, as I don’t think there will be many spare seats on the evidence of our meal.
All throughout the dinner, General Manager, Aden Brewis explained each dish and why he had chosen our accompanying wines. His enthusiasm for food and drink is infectious and his passion for his new restaurant very evident. He added an extra dimension to our experience.
The 1st course highlight for me was the Crab Bon Bon which was both tasty and hot, a tricky thing to achieve in most restaurants it would seem these days and it was a great accompaniment to the soft runny poached quails egg and salmon caviar, all set off with subtle, rich fennel velouté. We drank a lovely glass of Albarino with this course, which Taste Cheshire Hannah said was a revelation for her and definitely on her must drink more of list (not the only addition before the night was out)
The second course was described as Beef Carpaccio and whilst it wasn’t, it was, two lovely medallions of soft, rare fillet steak with a pungent horseradish cream, some home-made tomato jam and crunchy vegetable crisps. A lovely combination of flavours that left the taste buds wanting more. The addition of a Dry German Riesling was inspired, as it had both the acidity and punchiness to work with the strong flavours on the plate.
The Pink Grapefruit sorbet did exactly what was intended in terms of cleansing the palate and we were most impressed with the creaminess that was created within this iced delicacy.
The highlight of the meal was to follow as we were served a Loin of Venison with a salt baked celeriac disk and a red cabbage marmalade all wrapped up with a dark chocolate and redcurrant jus. It felt particularly indulgent to be quaffing a soft, smooth Reserve Malbec with this but hey – you have to live don’t you and this was certainly living in the luxury lane, if not the fast one.
I am sure it wasn’t for our benefit but the cheese course was a star, not just because of the flavours of the five cheeses but because they were all Cheshire cheeses featuring the master cheese makers that are John Bourne and Claire Burt. This was a real treat for us and served at perfect temperature, treated with care.
The pre-dessert of De-constructed Plum Frangipan and the Dessert of Dark Chocolate and Orange Fondant finished the meal superbly, but the star was the Elysium Black Muscat desert wine, which just set the taste buds alight and was like no other we have ever tasted. This was another on the Hannah – must have list.
Our meal complete, we were replete in every sense of the word. It was a triumph on the night and I am sure it will only get better as everything these two talented owners do is always evolving towards excellence. For now Restaurant Twenty2 is a very enjoyable experience with a chef and Manager who simply want you to have a great time. With that attitude they can’t go far wrong and we would encourage you to not only experience how exceptional Edgar House is but take the time to dine and let Restaurant Twenty2 make you feel a little bit more special.