The Bite Magazine - issue 16

that worked well with the sweet aperitif and gin. Usually I would shudder at the thought of having cucumber in my drink but the combination of this along with the mint, apple and elderflower (which I especially liked) provided a very tasty and refreshing drink that could well be an upgrade on a freshly made lemonade. While we waited for our starters from the á la carte menu, we were treated to some freshly made Peyton and Byrne soda bread (the restaurateur and bakery partnership that runs The Wallace Res- taurant and other restaurants) along with some Longman salted butter that is similar to French butter. The good news about this butter is that you can buy it from Waitrose as well as enjoy it at The Wallace Restaurant and it is the best butter I have ever tasted. For our starters, we had the Crab, Prawn and Cucumber Salad with citrus yuzu dress- ing and Pan Fried Mackerel with pesto and tomato salsa. The salad was moist and tasty, with a spicy kick of pepper and a wonderful citrusy zest taste from the yuzu dressing. I’m not a fan of seafood but the prawns in this salad were actually delicious. Another discovery that really surprised me was the mackerel – once the taste of the fish hit my palate, I was in love.The crispiness and the flavour of the mackerel was to die-for. I could have easily managed another set – it was that good and it changed my whole perspec- tive on the fish. I can now say that I am a fan of pan-fried mackerel at TheWallace Restaurant. Our main dishes consisted of Poached Halibut with coconut broth and prawn ravioli, and Rump of Lamb with celery, feta and onion with sides of steamed peas and sugar snaps with lemon oil and Pomme fries. The halibut was light, fresh and soft while the prawn ravioli was for me the best feature of the dish, with a very pleasant coconut broth that reminded me of a light soup. The rump of lamb was well-seasoned, soft and cooked medium rare. Together with the feta cheese, it created an amazing taste that could easily take you to heaven and back.The fresh peas were cooked exactly how I liked them and together with the crunchy texture of the sugar snaps, it created a wonderful contrast in taste that awakens your taste buds and leads them to having a party of their own in your mouth. The pomme frites (French fries) presented in a small silver bucket were freshly cooked and crispy and really went well with the meal. We just about had room to fit in dessert and decided to try the Ile Flottante with praline andWarm Chocolate and Ginger Moelleux. The Ile Flottante is a French dessert that consists of meringue floating on crème anglaise and was both dreamy and creamy. I really loved the softness of the meringue and the praline pieces.The Warm Chocolate and Ginger Moelleux bite cuisine Poached Halibut with coconut broth and prawn ravioli Pan Fried Mackerel with pesto and tomato salsa