Dinner / £££ / 7/10

I had booked to go to Piccalilli as soon as I saw the reservation system go live, I had been following the transformation of the restaurant on Instagram and was really excited by the menu. We walked up the familiar alley (Piccalilli is in the old Kushi Ya) and ascended the stairs. Within a couple of minutes of arriving it was clear the staff were holding onto service by the skin of their teeth, customers waiting to be seated were queuing down the stairs. All the tables bar 2 were full and the 2 remaining were waiting to be cleared and reset. After a few minutes of being stood waiting the couple in front of us were acknowledged and taken to their table, we then waited another couple of minutes of watching staff pass before the same happened with us. We visited the restaurant on the second night it had opened, I was expecting all the issues you would associate with that (very busy, table mix ups, newly trained staff finding their feet, things coming in the wrong order) but an earlier acknowledgement would have been welcomed.

Once sat we were advised to pick between 3-4 dishes each and got on with choosing. We went for 2 snacks and 3 dishes each as I really wanted a pudding. The snacks were simple, the ham was lightly smoked and the bread was delicious (thank you Tough Mary for all you do for this city). I would have loved more of the piccallili and struggled to pick up the marmite in the butter, I think they could put double the amount in. The thing about a ‘love’ or ‘hate’ ingredient is you will never get the haters ordering it so you may as well go big for the lovers.

The first dish out was the hash brown – it looked like a slice of sponge cake in the bowl with the apple garnish confusing things even more. The Northerner even reassured me ‘No it is a hash brown’ after the first mouthful. The outside was crisp and full of flavour but the inside lacked salt, the leeks and cheese were light in flavour so the sweetness of the apple was the overriding taste. Technically it was a well executed hash brown but it was let down by the seasoning.

Next up was the hake and the salmon. The Northerner hates mushrooms so I got stuck into the hake while he started on the salmon. The hake had been recommended by a person that was leaving the restaurant while we were waiting to be seated which I adore the generosity of – the reason I write reviews is because I love a good recommendation. Unfortunately my hake had a cotton wool texture; either from not being fresh enough or being slightly overcooked, the mushrooms were delicious though. I could have had a plate of those on toast.

The salmon dish deserves a whole new paragraph, it was sublime. The flavours of the salad cream, egg and pickled cucumber sent me right back to my grandma’s house on a sunday afternoon in Clifton. The euphoria smashed over me like an emotional tsunami and I was speechless for a few seconds. There is such a lightness of curing on the salmon the dish becomes comforting, like a wonderful memory you forgot how much you missed. I felt bereft during the last mouthful.

The meat dishes arrived together and unfortunately, had the same issue as the hash brown. Both were under seasoned and we wondered if it would be rude to ask for salt and pepper. The purees, saurkraut and ketchup were all packed with flavour but the meat and fries needed a hefty dose of salt.

By this point there had been a few more missteps associated with newly opened restaurants (warm wine, the ‘buzz of a busy restaurant’ without any soft furnishings had tipped to ‘inability to have a conversation without raising your voice’) but I had my heart set on a pudding. The current menu offers 2 sweet desserts and cheese and crackers, I decided to go with my first instinct and have the Parsnip cake. It arrived looking far more elegant than most of the earlier dishes but I didn’t want to set my expectations too high. The first mouthful was a beacon of hope, sat next to the salmon dish screaming ‘LOOK WHAT WE CAN DO’. The cake was moist, warm and had a crisper top to add texture. The ice cream was smooth and had a nutty base that elevated it to elegant. The sauce was shiny, rich with honey flavour but dark with sweetness that put it’s arm around the other elements reassuringly. We only got one spoon so I coaxed The Northerner into trying some (by this point he had checked out) ‘That’s delicious’ he said and I was glad the night had a happy ending.

Opening, marketing, filling and serving a new restaurant takes an obscene amount of work and I can only imagine all the hours that have gone into Picallili so far. Turning up on the second night and expecting perfection is delusional, but that dining room leaves you no where to hide. Everyone can see people waiting, they can look at others dishes and hear any complaints and how they are dealt with. Time and repitition could make Piccalilli great. And a touch more seasoning.

FAMILY – nope, this is the perfect place for dates, couples and nights out with friends.