"Re-think!. Right. A stern correction to my glowing review below, as we've now had a couple of duds. The first was a dinner on New Year's Eve Eve which seemed very much B Team eg the lardons in a salad were just thin strips of anaemic supermarket bacon. Not horrendous, but not exactly covering themselves in honour. Then another dinner last Saturday, when, despite booking and arriving on time, we were left standing for almost twenty minutes whilst waiting staff ignored us, the owner assured us she'd be a minute, but then just hovered round other waiters serving a large table. Pressure to sit in the bar area and order drinks (presumably to aid the margin) and then a grace-less seating at our dining table.My son's rabbit terrine with ham hock had multiple small rabbit bones in it. Not good. We complained and were promised something compliementary, which never materialised, and it was left on the bill. His red snapper was then woefully overcooked.My sea bass with textures of rhubarb' and salad was an OK cooked fillet with slices of cooked rhubarb and a supermarket, undressed salad. My venison was MUCH better, thankfully. They also messed up my son's wine order.But the thing which now sticks in my throat a bit about this place is learning that the owner advertises for staff in Eastern Europe. All the waiters have been transplanted. That makes me worry a) how much/little they're paid and b) just seems a bit wrong on the Wirral, given it's had the stuffing kicked out of it with the demise of industry, to such an extent the biggest employers in the county are Tesco and Aldi.It's had chances now to follow up on its early promise, so won't be back.Destination Dining. Sheldrakes is an old converted sailing club/beach shack overlooking the marshes of the Dee Estuary and the North Wales coast.The interior was utterly unexpected opulent, funky, cocktail lounge type without being up itself. And the menu was moderately ambitious which, again, was a surprise for somewhere mins walk from our front door and, tbh, in the middle of nowhere.Prosecco to start served in proper champagne glasses, then wonderfully cooked HUGE scallops for me, on morcilla, with a swoosh of pureed salsify and pumpkin dust, and braised pigs cheek for himself with a Scotch quail's egg (never one to say no to slow cooked porky products).A lamb rack, again perfectly cooked to a blush, with a fennel and potato rosti and truffle sauce for me, and seared snapper (skin was so crisp) and a crabby parmentier potato base with a pear cider and mussel sauce for him.All really, really good. There's clearly a dab hand in the kitchen as everything was cooked to the teetering on the brink of undercooked point (which I love), and the (oddly, entirely Romanian, apparently the restaurant advertised there so loads of people came over and live locally) waiting staff were charming and efficient.We were on the for courses Autumn special, but were actually too full for pudding, alas, but will be back. Again and again.Other intriguing highlights on the menu include: home roasted smoked salmon with a lobster cake and vodka chantilly, Autumn mushrooms on gingerbread toast, pan fried turbot with a salsify and port reduction, peppered venison with an aniseed and parsnip puree and a beetroot and potato dauphinoise, lime panacotta with a G&T sorbet and olive caviar...I will enjoy our menu exploration! They do a sounds-a-bit-better-than-Toby Sunday carvery, and bistro dishes at lunch. Only word of warning, which came from the waiter, is that they make their money by hosting weddings at the weekend (we were one of only tables last night). They actually have three this wet-and-wild October Wirral weekend. So call ahead as, with the best will in the world, I think you might get a bit ignored if they have wedding guests to look after too.But thoroughly recommended. For once, food to match a view."
Chef's Soup Of The Day
