La Brasserie #Review

Gaile Wundke
5th February 2016

The Grosvenor Hotel has been at the heart of Chester for 150 years and has welcomed many visitors.  On Monday night, Taste Cheshire were delighted to be amongst those visitors, having been invited to sample the menu in La Brasserie a beautifully styled restaurant which could lead diners to believe that they really were dining in the middle of Paris!

Our table was at the far end of the restaurant, and readers of Taste Cheshire reviews will know, a table which affords a view of the whole restaurant is my perfect dining position.  It was quiet when we arrived, but it was only 6.30pm on a Monday night, and as the evening wore on, tables started to fill up.

We were given menus and it was explained that we could select dishes from either the main a la Carte, or the Menu a la Mode, which changes daily.  Whilst making our choices, we decided to sample some of the hotel’s homemade bread, which arrived in a wooden ‘boat’ containing three different varieties, two pieces of each type, which at £3.95 we thought to be very good value.  They were all absolutely delicious and were accompanied by some excellent, slightly salted butter.  It was difficult not to polish off the lot!

For starters we chose the Mackerel from the a la Carte menu, described as hot seared, peppered and fried, with pickled pear and blackberry and from the Menu a la Mode, the Salt Brisket and cracked mustard fritter with smoked onion puree, fried onions and French onion broth.  The mackerel was perfectly cooked and was accompanied by nuggets of crisp fried mackerel with the pickled pear and blackberry cutting through the richness of the fish to balance the dish.  The French onion broth was dark and richly flavoured, the fritter both soft and crisp and the onion puree and fried onion, added a depth of texture and flavour.

Our main courses were Gressingham duck, described as confit leg fritter, carved breast with a salad of dandelions, burdock root and smoked Magret from the a la Carte and Fillet of sea bass with shellfish bisque, crab and saffron rouille, baby naves and cocotte potato from the Menu a la Mode.  We also ordered a portion of the hand cut chips.

The duck breast was cooked pink as requested and the fat had been well rendered, the crispness of the confit fritter, contrasted well with the soft rich meat and the slivers of Magret, added just a hint of smokiness.   The accompanying salad of dandelions added a sharp bitterness, but the promised burdock root was missing and had been replaced with rocket.

The Sea bass dish was presented in a shallow bowl, the shellfish bisque thick and richly flavoured, the bass well cooked with perfectly crispy skin which was complimented by the creamy rouille.  My husband enjoyed it so much that he wished he had kept a bit of bread back to clean the bowl!

Our plates were cleared and I should say at this point that all the staff were excellent, attentive without being obtrusive and very efficient.  Our waiter brought dessert menus and we opted for the sharing plate, a selection of ‘sweet treats’ which was just enough to round off the meal without leaving us feeling as if we’d overdone it!

Having enjoyed 90 minutes of ‘eating in Paris’, it was hard not to say Au Revoir as we left and as we exited the building we half expected to see the Arc De Triomphe, rather than the Eastgate Clock!  La Brasserie had done its job, it had brought a little bit of Paris into our lives, even if it was a bit short lived!