Lunch / ££££ / 6/10

On the hottest day in August we decided to treat ourselves to lunch at Langar Hall. It always feels special coming here and I enjoy it the most in the summer when you can have a drink outside, before going into the wonderfully cool dining room. Happiness fizzed inside as we drove up to the house early for our reservation. On past lunch visits there have already been people in the garden and I’ve struggled to find a parking space but as we pulled in it was eerily quiet, but we were early.

We ordered drinks and had a look at the menu, they offer 2 fixed price options at lunch – a little annoyed by some of the surcharges we decided to stick with the dishes already included in the £45 and £65 (£7 for lobster/£6.50 for beef) set menus.

After ordering we asked if we could spend longer outside enjoying the cool shade and beautiful surroundings. The service for our visit was attentive and happy to accomodate this request, they bought us out more drinks and only called us inside when the food was ready. We started with a cheese souffle, I have had this before and it was the thing I was looking forward to the most about the visit. Rich, buttery, light and delicious this souffle is the best I’ve ever had and made me a convert to savoury. Chopped chives over the top of it are a nod to something other than egg and cheese. Not that one is needed. This would be my choice of starter if I had the option of a ‘dream meal’.

We both ordered the same and The Northerner enjoyed his nearly as much as me but during the whole time we were there only one more table arrived. I found it odd that it was so quiet, it was a beautiful day. What was going on?

I chose the duck and The Northerner had the chicken for our main courses. The combination of duck, cherries and fennel was too tempting to avoid but as I cut into the duck I struggled to get through it. ‘Maybe it is just a tough part’ I thought as I attempted to cut through the other slice but again the knife was not getting through. I ended up having to spear the duck with my fork and pull it away. It wasn’t that tough in my mouth but having wrestled with it up to this point I eyed the rest of the plate wondering if I could be bothered. Instead I went for the steamed bun which came on a side plate, it was more of a dumpling than a bun and its filling was minced ‘duck’. The dumpling hung saggily around the grey meat and I felt like this was becoming a war of attrition, it tasted as bad as it looked. I ignored all the meat and focused on the leek, fennel, cherry and spring onion which were really nicely cooked but not what you would ever call ‘the star’ of a £65 set menu. The Northerner was similary disappointed by his chicken which was cooked well but was in a very watery and bland sauce vierge. The potato croquettes were crispy but lacked seasoning and our hearts were falling.

As our plates were cleared I didn’t mention the duck being tough or the chicken tasting of nothing to the waiter. I am aware a restaurant can do very little to compensate for a bad meal if you don’t tell them however I weight the experience of going out for a meal as highly as the food. I don’t want to explain the main courses neither lived up to my high expectation or the price only to be offered an apology or (even worse) more food by the same kitchen. This is a harsh standpoint I realise.

On to the puddings – many a mediocre main course has been washed from memory with a fantastic dessert, and the little voice in my head was saying ‘Remember that souffle?’ I ordered the Cherry Bakewell and The Northerner went for the Pineapple. At this point I remembered I should be trying to do more video footage and thought the bakewell would be perfect for one of those ‘spoon going into a dessert’ shots. I hit record on my phone, picked up my spoon (at this point remembering how hard it is to do two things at once with any degree of finesse) and went to get the money shot. My spoon hit the top of the bakewell, something wasn’t right by the dull thud noise and complete lack of ‘plunging’ motion, I stopped recording. Not only did the Bakewell have the misfortune of looking like one of the cakes you get at a conference centre tea break it was dry as old chips. I am SURE they must have made it themselves but perhaps it was from earlier in the week (or last friday). I asked The Northerner to try it – was I being overly critical? Is that what people expect? No, he confirmed it was crap. I tried the tuille filled with cream (heads up filling something crisp with something wet just results in soggy) and the other bits and they were all missing a beat. The Northerners Pineapple pudding was a lot better – still missing any taste or thought of the rum it was poached in, but the coconut and lime were both fresh and had flavour.

This was a blot on an otherwise long history of meals at Langar Hall but I do wonder if the quiet lunch sitting is a reflection of these issues not being a one off. I don’t like writing a review so full of criticism but it was an expensive lunch and should have been better. I wonder if the menu is too large, 2 set menu offerings for a lunch would be a lot for a city centre restaurant. Is there new staff in the kitchen? Have the suppliers changed? Did I just order a couple of doozies? Either way Langar Hall has gone from somewhere I wouldn’t think twice about recommending to somewhere I would be reluctant to return.