Review: 5 North Street, Winchcombe

It was very good of the owner of 5 North Street to phone me up a few hours before our booking to explain that they had no other bookings that evening. Not “…so we’re not going to open, sorry” as I’ve heard of happening elsewhere but “…so you’ll be alone in the restaurant, if you don’t mind?” I imagined they were probably rather hoping we’d opt for another day, but this was my only free evening for a while so I stuck to my guns. Turns out that Marcus and Kate Ashenford live right above their cosy oak-beamed dining room in the bucolic little market town of Winchcombe, so they probably weren’t too put out.

As an aside, this was the Tuesday evening just after Valentine’s weekend, so perhaps understandable! Also shows how far behind I’m getting with my blog…

Anyway, I rather like being alone in a restaurant. There’s an atmosphere to it, especially if the surroundings are pleasant and the food and service are good. They’ve got all three right at 5 North Street so that was pretty darn fine by me. The decor is humble for a Michelin star decorated establishment, the walls a dark brick red and the tables glossy black, but it all fits the town.

Absolutely nothing wrong with having four neat squares of crust-removed Welsh rarebit for canapes, the cheese still hot melted and the pickle beneath tangy and sweet. The amuse bouche of roast garlic and shallot soup was punchy and warming, fighting valiantly against the 200th day of crappy weather going on outside. We both picked the same starter: mackerel fillet with crab and potato galette and pickled beetroot. This was a soothing and homely dish, the mackerel cooked perfect with crispy skin, the crab only slightly there in the couple of fat little potato cakes and the beetroot delicately pickled. It would have been a lovely light lunch, but a bit big and simple for a snazzy starter.

Especially as it was followed by a couple of knock-out main courses. My venison was four perfect medallions of pink loveliness, accompanied by deep, rich and wintery flavours from choucroute, baked beans, super-sticky parsnips and a gutsy little game sausage. The sweet and sour gravy was glossy, clear magic. This was very spiffy. Maureen’s veal was just as good; softly melting meat and a pretty good nose-to-tail attempt with cubes of tongue, a ravioli of tail and pieces of kidney.

Our shared dessert, a presentation of autumn fruit, was my favourite pud for quite some time. The apple parfait sprinkled with bright green sugar carried the taste of cox’s orange pippins straight from childhood. The apple tart next door was crackingly good in delicate pastry. In the middle sat a tiny pint of guinness, which turned out to be a blindingly good mulled wine jelly with cream on top. Next door to that was a pretty pink poached pear with spicy cardamom ice cream and a cinnamon – or surely cassia? – tuile. Last but not least, a little jar crammed with a delicious plum crumble, the crumble baked with enough star anise to make it sing like Barry White.

Two dishes at 5 North Street were cracking, and maybe we just picked the safe starter. The food was £50 each for 3 courses, and I think that’s probably about bang on for the quality. There’s a decent wine list with a range of options, and we had a good half-bottle of claret. I enjoyed the peace and quiet, but I suppose when (not if) we come back we’ll probably have to put up with some fellow diners!