Apparently The Muset round behind the student's union building in Clifton, was THE place to go once... maybe it will be again! Ronnie Faulkner, the owner/chef, has recently acquired this restaurant to add to his already acclaimed Thornbury "Ronnies". Scott and I needed an evening out by ourselves to catch up, and thought we'd fine dine rather than pop to our favourite Indian, for the sake of the slimming part of my 60th birthday year! By the way I got my ONE AND A HALF STONE AWARD this week! That's since November... so an average of a pound a week... slowly...slowly!
The restaurant is larger than you think as you walk in. 1960s retro hanging orange lamps, cream and brown colours with shiny tables and quite posh Clifton clientelle. But we were warmly welcomed, even though I hadn't bothered to dress up at all! We decided to go for the £30 taster menu to see what they had on offer. The spanish waiter, who was really funny and difficult to understand and probably the son of Manuel, brought a couple of large soup bowls with a cluster of chopped eel, bacon and sweetcorn in the centre and said "'ere's the soooop". We looked surprised because it didn't look like soup, so he grabbed a silver jug and poured the sweetcorn veloute over the top with a flourish... "eet looks gooowd if I pour it at the table!" It was good! The next plate was a flat oblong platter with a quenelle of smoked aubergine pate with little balls of goats cheese, squash puree and pea shoots. The dressing was lovely, the plate was pretty and the textures went well together.
The fish dish was a small oblong of delicious sea bass, with perfectly cooked asparagus and chopped and roasted hazelnuts. Also really tasty and delicious. The next plate was chicken, pot roasted in an italian style, tender with crispy skin and served with bread soaked in the liquor called panzanella! The attentive and helpful waitress told us that it was traditional Italian, to fill you up.. like yorkshire pudding! After a bit of a wait (there was an apology because of the busy kitchen, so we didn't mind), the meal was rounded off with a platter of beetroot cake... like a soft slightly choc/orange tasting brownie, with a quenelle of slightly tasteless but cold sorbet, and little chunks of beetroot, which Scott liked but i didn't. We felt absolutely satisfied and really enjoyed the whole feast.
The place was full, the service attentive and I'd definately go back here. I noticed that the table next door had plates from the a la carte which were very generous - the same dishes were about 3 times the size. Three courses would be a very large meal.
It's 20+ years since I ate at The Muset but I remember being very impressed.
ReplyDeleteA colleague once brought in a batch of chocolate and beetroot brownies which were delicious. The deep earthy tones were the perfect balance to the sweet chocolate(!!!). I have a recipe stuck to my fridge door. Maybe one day I'll get round to making some myself.