You need…
Bring the water to the boil with 125g sugar and the lemon juice, then switch off. Strip all the flowers from their stalks and add to the water, which should end up with a thick wodge of flowers floating on it. Bring the water back to simmer point then switch it off. Infuse overnight. Next day strain out the flowers, add the rest of the sugar, boil for 5 minutes and then when cooled put in a sterilised bottle.
Muse, Cheltenham
So we were delighted to discover… but no, it was not to be that story. We were bang on the money, and left disappointed and over £100 poorer.
The free amuse was a nicely spiced pakora nugget and a swig of watermelon gazpacho that actually had us thinking we might be heading the right way. But my pissaladiere was a sad affair of nut-brown pastry with not enough confit onion on it and a quartet of overpowering anchovy fillets. Maureen’s samosa chat had a good, spicy samosa at its heart but was then incredibly mean on the sev and bizarrely lacking the yogurt sauce. Thus, twas a dry lump of a thing.
Taking the pissaladiere
Two courses will be around £30 each before drinks (we didn’t bother looking at desserts). They make a pretty decent cocktail and the wine list is reasonable if not inspiring. But the cooking is just nowhere near the ambition of the menu.
Very well cooked trout and moilee
The Set, Brighton
They take over a place called Cafe Rust in the evening a few nights every week. It’s a cool looking cafe, with just the kind of stripped-back quirky industrial boho antique chic that Brighton adores. The menu is fourteen courses, all small and balanced so you end up well fed but not stuffed.
And we enjoyed some really good dishes, with plenty of flavour as promised.
Tempura sea bream
Then they do a fun thing with bread, in this case a toasted brioche, where the butter tastes exactly like a McDonalds cheeseburger from your childhood. I think it’s accomplished with beef fat, finely diced gherkin and a bit of processed cheese, but it’s still fun and clever.
The next series of courses covers fish, shellfish, beef and chicken. The cod in lobster bisque was the standout dish: a cloud-like clod of translucent cod set in a lake of dark and massively flavourful bisque. The scallop tikka masala had a lovely gravy but the scallop was a bit overcooked. Oxtail dauphinoise combined both elements into one block of starchy, creamy, oxtail-y goodness and a side dish of tomatoes in bright herb oil was a clever pairing to lift the whole.
Oxtail dauphinoise!
This was a really strong tasting menu for £85 each, I’ve plodded through a lot less interesting and capable for the same price or more. We took the wine pairing but this wasn’t anywhere near as interesting as the menu – I’d pick a bottle if I came back. And I would come back, because The Set is properly inventive and just my kind of cooking.
Very good beef on a bearnaise bomb
Cinnamon Club
We go a la carte. My starter of Anjou squab is a beautiful chewy pink breast, smoked in cloves. There’s a crispy roll of shredded leg meat, equally good and packed full of earthy spices. Two or three bright chutneys and sauces add to the flavours. Maureen’s okra stuffed with peanut and jaggery is a lighter dish, on a puddle of curry yogurt. It’s delicious and a new take on okra for me, though not quite as knock-out as the pigeon.
Squab
We find room for pudding. A black cardamom brulee is just as delicious as I’d hoped, with a silken smooth creme and a good hum of smoky cardamom running through every mouthful. Coconut phirni is a light jelly tower of rich coconut with good flavours of pineapple and lime in the sambal and sorbet that come with it. Very top puds.
This is fine Indian dining, think around £55 per person before drinks for the a la carte (there is a £90 tasting menu). The wine list has a great range and we found two good bottles. For a special treat in lovely surroundings, Cinnamon Club is great, the food a true fine-dining take on unabashed Indian spices.
Koorgi pork
Asparagus soup with fondue
The Freemasons at Wiswell is the most country inn EVER. It’s like a Tardis, with an unimposing plain frontage in a small coaching yard on the outside, and a whole series of upstairs and downstairs rooms on the inside, flagstones, wood-burning stoves, old mounted deer heads, antique furniture, floral displays, the lot. So was I already inclined to be pleased with my lunch? You bet I was.
Luckily it was all excellent. We went for the Spring set menu, although even there it has a generous three options for each course. Lamb fat and rosemary brioche was a lip-smacking bread course to get us going, with good butter and a pea-and-mint spread. My starter was a pearl barley risotto with wild garlic. The barley was perfectly al dente, in a silky emulsion that positively hummed with wild garlic. Tiny crisp matchstick potatoes on top gave good crunch. Maureen’s pea and asparagus soup was a vivid green bowl of delicious thick soup, with what they describe as “cheese fondue” floating on top; a light, tangy, cheesy dollop somewhere close to a mousse that worked wonders with the soup.
Herdwick lamb suet pudding
Maureen’s main of pork belly was another splendid piece of meat, slowly cooked but then given some really strong caramelising on both sides with the final sear. The gravy included smoked almond and wild garlic, a great combination with the pork, and there was a firm slab of crispy polenta to one side under a cloud of parmesan.
We shared a baked sweet cicely custard with strawberry jelly for pudding, a really pleasant creamy custard to make a light ending with fresh strawberries. Both wines by the glass were excellent, especially given the really friendly prices. The set lunch menu was £37 each, and that’s great value. They’ve got a la carte and tasting menus too. I love everything about The Freemasons and I think you will too.
The Freemasons at Wiswell