Dry Sausage
Renoufs Cheese and Wine Restaurant

Renoufs Cheese and Wine Restaurant

48a Poole Road Bournemouth, Dorset BH4 9DZ, United Kingdom

Wine • Beer • Tapas • Gourmet


"We had called-here for drinks during a previous visit to Bournemouth. We were impressed with the wine we drank, and the food that we saw served to other customers. So, today was the realisation of a promise that we made-to-ourselves to revisit and, this time, dine! We were a few-minutes early for our 19:30 reservation having allowed too-much time for our half-a-mile walk from our hotel. The restaurant was not busy, and there were scant customers during our 2½ hour stay. There was only one, very pleasant, member of staff in the bar/dining area. We had assumed he was the Manager, and he did everything: menus, drinks, food orders, food service, and payment. He did this pleasantly with good humour, plus impressive efficiency and knowledge. The food here is principally ‘Sharing Boards’ but also available were smaller (snack) servings of Artisan Cheese and Charcuterie and other “Nibbles”. We chose an ‘Ultimate Board’ (intended for two people sharing and costing £36.95 in total). Within this price you select four types of charcuterie plus four types of cheese to complete the board. Drinks: we started with a 175ml glass of “Martin Codax Albariño” for each of us. The extensive and impressive wine list offers a good selection available by the 175 or 250ml glass: 6 white wines, 3 rosé wines, 9 red wines, 3 sparkling wines and 9 aperitif/digestif wines. The Albariño was very much enjoyed, whist we decided which bottle of wine we would have with our meal. After much thought we chose a bottle of Bin 31 ‘Laibach (Sur Lie) Stellenbosch’; a white wine from what is a great wine-producing region in South Africa. This was superbly delicate and gently flavoured; with the very slight effervescence from the ‘Sur Lie’ fermentation method (fermentation on the lees). We know this method well from Sur Lie Muscadet wines, from the Sèvre-et-Maine region in France. With our wine chosen, we concentrated on the charcuterie and fromage that we would like with our ‘Ultimate Board’. There was much debate between us, but eventually: Our choices of charcuterie were: Salami Milano: with a perfumed scent that was such a delight. Pâté: quite fine but rich and flavoursome. Venison Salami: surprising and just superb. Smoked Pancetta: we loved this delicately smoked pork belly which was served in the thinnest slices imaginable. The cheese was far more difficult to choose: A Cheddar was a no-brainer and it was good; however we have ‘Vintage’ Cheddar at home (aged for 36-60 months); so the Cheddar here was a bit tame for our tastes. Oak Smoked Lincolnshire Poacher: this was very disappointing as half of the piece was totally inedible rind, and the rest was almost impossible to cut with the cheese-knife provided. I brought this to the attention of the Manager this was exchanged with more of the Cheddar. Northern Blue: good and creamy and appreciably tangy. We had another cheese which was firm and good eating, but we cannot recall it’s name (that’s our fail then). To be honest, and sadly, we found the cheese to be not anywhere as good as the charcuterie, we like mostly hard, or at least firm cheese, with strong flavours. Brie, Camembert and other soft cheeses rarely feature at our home (the somewhat explains our choices). The board was loaded with extra ingredients: a good selection of salad and fruit: cream cheese stuffed cherry tomatoes, lovely crunchy astringent cornichon, fresh grapes and pitted olives. There was also a pot of hummus, onion relish, cheese crackers, and a basket of bread (the latter of which we ordered a second). The meal was still a very favourable experience; made better by the extra cornichon provided. Just because I said how much I loved the texture and flavour of these wonderful ‘little gherkins’. After our board we were quite replete and there was no-way we could have managed a dessert, but an extra glass of Viognier for my Partner, and a wonderful 10-year-old Tawny Port for myself, finished-off the meal splendidly."

Hotel du Vin & Bistro - Edinburgh

Hotel du Vin & Bistro - Edinburgh

11 Bristo Place Edinburgh, EH1 1EZ, United Kingdom

Beer • Wine • Hotels • British


"A couple of months ago, the Hotel du Vin chain launched Sunday brunch. Forget everything you know about brunch: Hotel du Vin’s offering is something else. We’re not talking a stack of American pancakes with syrup and blueberries, or even eggs Florentine. We’re talking four courses of fabulous food. At £19.95, it’s also fabulous value. Update, August 2013: the price has increased to £24.95, but that’s still good value for four courses. I was fortunate enough to be invited to the chef’s table one Sunday to take a spot of brunch with Michael Musgrave and Martin Barnovsky of Hotel du Vin, Edinburgh. It wasn’t just me: Katey from Edinburgh Eats and a friend were there too, and I had C. to escort me. The chef’s table is in a snug, just off the main dining room, and has a fish-bowl view of the kitchen. It’s an interesting view although I sometimes felt sorry for the chefs when we all turned to the window to gaze at what was happening in there. Hotel du Vin’s brunch is a slow, leisurely affair, a relaxed afternoon of eating and chatting. The four courses are: Soup The soup is usually vegetarian and the one we had was seasonal vegetable and came sprinkled with parsley and olive oil. It was warming and fresh, and just whetted my appetite. In preparation for a big lunch I’d had an apple and a glass of grapefruit juice for breakfast. Come one o’clock I was ready to eat. I was hungry. The soup woke my taste buds gently and made my stomach rumble. I’m surprised that we all managed to eat all four courses. C. probably had the smallest buffet place since he was bread and veg only, but the rest of us tried hard not to eat so much that we fainted. It took self-control. French Market Buffet I’d cheerfully charge the entire cover price of £19.95 for the buffet. With a collection of breads, cold cuts and sea food, it’s the closest thing to a smörgåsbord I’ve seen outside of Sweden. What’s on it will vary with the seasons but we had prawns (shelled, and unshelled), oysters, dressed crab, cold and hot smoked salmon, potted shrimp, clams, mussels, salami, parma ham on the bone, mushroom paté, chicken liver paté, baguette, croisants, bagel, and all kinds of sauces and pickles. I’m probably selling the non-fish part of the spread a little short: I saw the crab and oysters and stampeded past the charcuterie. You can visit the buffet more than once. We didn’t because we all figured that doing so would dampen our appetite for the main. Main Choose from beef or chicken roast with all the trimmings, catch du jour, burger, omelette Arnold Bennet (smoked haddock and cheese), steak frites, tomato risotto and other filling, comforting dishes. At the table we also had the chicken roast, with puffy yorkies and roast veg, and the burger. It was cooked to perfection and oozing with cheese. It came with a poke of frites and looked absolutely lovely. I think my catch du jour – a plaice, entire, gently fried and served with watercress and lemon – was probably the lightest option. It was delicious. A squeeze of lemon, a scrape with a knife, and it was perfect. I had some of the broccoli that came with the roast as a token green, but the plaice didn’t need anything but was great as it was. C. had the tomato and olive risotto which hearty and full of tomato goodness Pudding The deserts are classics: trifle, créme brulé, rhubarb crumble and cheese board are all on offer, as well as crumble, profiteroles and an ice cream coupe. Despite being in my twenties the first time I met a trifle, I enjoy the nostalgia of this particularly British dish. The Hotel du Vin version comes with crystal clear red jelly with a distinct sherry hit to it hiding under layers of cream and custard. It was big and I’m very proud of myself for finishing all of it."