"#food The first course served at the table came in three parts, all put in the centre (three of each). The first I tried was a small ice-cream cone containing liver parfait and sultanas, with a lovely mild curry flavour; the second a tiny macaron, described on the menu as, Carrot meringue, carrot curd, fennel pollen; the third a fresh oyster from the Holy Island of Lindisfarne with cucumber, ginger and ‘caviar’. All were lovely and exceptionally fresh tasting but I discovered for myself, that the order in which you eat them is important. I really wish I’d started with the oyster (the mildest of the three elements), then the parfait, finishing with the macaron. Mackerel is a simple yet lovely fish, especially when served with something a little sour to cut through the oiliness of the fish itself. In this case the menu promised, Mackerel, artichoke, blackberry. Ok, so a tart blackberry should be a good foil to the oily mackerel but I was half way through before I realised there was nothing resembling a blackberry on my plate. Adam, who hadn’t served this course to us, explained that there had been a menu substitution consequently we had mackerel, apple and pickled radish before us. The pickled radish might’ve offered that sourness I was looking for but sadly, in reality, it didn’t. The tiny pieces of fish though were very yummy. A little bit here about the service. I can’t abide an overly obsequious waiting style. It makes me feel guilty about the fact that someone is waiting on me. It’s opposite vice, indifference to the needs or wants of the diner, is equally abhorrent. The staff at House of Tides get it right in my view. They are attentive (wine glass always unobtrusively topped up), interested to know how we found the food and (apparently) keen to receive constructive criticism. ‘Our’ Adam in particular was invisible until we needed him, then unfailingly polite and scrupulously professional. He deserves to go far in his career. Back to the food! Next up was the first of two meat courses; in this case, Venison tartare, beetroot, blueberries and kale. It was a suitably tiny portion, presented in a ‘pile’ on a dark plate. I was intrigued. Two flavours dominated – blueberry and deep fried kale. The kale was reminiscent of that so-called ‘seaweed’ you get from Chinese take-aways, which is deep fried shredded cabbage sprinkled with powdered scallops. I love it. For the life of me though, once I’d put that morsel of flavour into my mouth and a blueberry, I couldn’t distinguish the taste of the venison at all, nor indeed of the beetroot, which in my view should have provided an earthy flavour. I’m not sure what the solution to this is, but I hope my feedback makes them think again about this particular combination. The lamb dish, which followed, did not have the same issues at all. The testimony to how much I loved this dish is that I didn’t stop eating it long enough to take a photograph! The menus told us it would be, Lamb, broccoli, tomato, radish, and so it was, but that’s only the start!!! The lamb was rump, tongue and sweetbreads. The rump was beautifully cooked, a vibrant reddish-pink colour and very flavoursome, however, the offal stole the day. Last time I had (veal) sweetbreads I really didn’t enjoy them and although I love eating cold pressed ox and pork tongue I’d never before eaten lamb tongue. The sweetbreads were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with just enough firmness to allow you to bite into it before it started to dissolve. And so to the puddings. We next tucked into, Raspberry, lemon, pine nuts, which was in fact a light, sharp and delicious lemon posset with a pine nut crumble and raspberry sorbet on top. Heaven! The Pear, almond, ginger second pudding was equally delicious and light but by now the over-enthusiastic heating in the dining room was making us tired and longing for some cool, fresh air"
