Fox Hampton Lane
OOH LÀ LÀ!
With the end of Dry January, my wife is bored and demanding we go out and I’m missing restaurant food and booze… and so it is we’re here, eating and drinking, and trying somewhere new.
It’s actually very new, having only opened in early December 2021, at the old site of former restaurant Longfellows. Remember it? By the hump back bridge in Catherine-de-Barnes? Opposite The Boat? No?
Well, me neither to be fair, despite it having been there for over 30 years. So, it doesn’t mean that much to me to hear it’s been fully gutted with the kitchen moved and the back extended to bring in more light to the main bar and dining area, but it is very easy to appreciate the understated elegance of its interior design.
Dining room
Main room
We’re here for lunch and it’s 2 courses for £26 and 3 for £32. Nothing’s really tempting me from the desserts, so I’m going with a starter and main, whilst Katrina’s set her mind on main and dessert.
With a foot firmly planted in French cuisine, it’s a menu that sinks my heart un petit peu, having experienced too many abysmal versions of ‘French classics’ over the years. So, I’ve little hope or expectation, ordering the beef tartare and that decision also forces me away from a Sunday roast, choosing the seared hake instead.
Maison Ventenac "Téte en l'air..." Pays d’Oc Chardonnay
This whole meal is on thin ice, although I’m fully heartened by a very decent wine list. And let’s be honest, after a month dry, it’s all about the booze—I’d genuinely happily order most of the options but spotting an all too rare Pays d’Oc unoaked chardonnay, makes it a fairly easy decision.
Beef tartare, tarragon emulsion, chestnut mushroom
My beef tartare is topped with a verdant tarragon emulsion and slices of raw mushroom. It still manages to look naked without an egg yolk, although the patty has a silky, yellowy glow that suggests the yolk is mixed in with the beef. I’m further encouraged that it’s been put together with a very light hand… not too heavily chopped, just capers, flat leaf parsley, maybe some shallot. Most importantly, it’s hitting all the right notes with acidity pitched perfectly, the lightest kick from mustard that builds slowly towards the end and tarragon tempered in its emulsion adding a wonderful almost sweet, lightly anise flavour into the mix. C’est magnifique!
Roast rump of beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, roast carrot, hispi cabbage, pan gravy
Despite the triumph of my starter, I’m lime green through to kale green with envy at the sight of Katrina’s roast rump of beef; Yorkshire pudding; roast potatoes, parsnips and carrots; hispi cabbage and pan gravy. I get offered just a forkful to try—a mere soupçon—although it’s enough to know it’d be well worth the trip out here again to have my own.
Seared hake, roast cauliflower, cauliflower puree, seaweed, Grenobloise
But my envy is over within two forkfuls of a perfectly cooked slab of seared hake, sitting on a bed of sweet cauliflower puree, encircled by nutty, roasted cauliflower florets. It sits in a bath of Grenobloise; clarified butter with capers, parsley and lemon, butter soaked ‘croutons’ and flecks of seaweed. It could maybe do with a side of greens or even some goose fat chips—there are no sides available—but a donation of two roast potatoes demonstrates remarkable entente cordiale for twenty-five plus years of marriage. And wow to those roast potatoes with their perfect crunch and fluffy centres.
My earlier decision not to have pudding now looks utterly silly and ridiculous, especially as they have dessert wines by the glass, but it’s a decision that’s thankfully reversible. And I’m now confident enough to go fully French with the apple tarte tatin; despite it being the most abused and consistently poorly executed dish in the whole gamut and history of French cuisine.
Buttermilk panna cotta, poached pear, honeycomb
Katrina’s buttermilk panna cotta with poached pear initially disappoints, almost lacking in confidence, but then the sweet crunch of honeycomb turbo charges all the flavours and brings all the different textures into play too. I’d ordinarily be dropping mega-hints for more but for the magic that resides in my tarte tatin.
Apple tart tatin with vanilla ice cream
The buttery crunch of the tart glistens with some other worldly sweet wonder; a thick, perfectly cooked ring of caramelised apple sits under a slowly melting ball of creamy, seed-speckled vanilla ice cream; all sitting on a puddle of toffee sauce. It deserves to be eaten with a rousing rendition of La Marseillaise led by Michel Roux.
It’s been a simply fabulous meal, although £6.40 for two espressos is a zut alors! moment—but overall the bill of £113.70 plus tip feels right. I also feel well and truly pulled back into the bosom of French food… and booze, of course.
Au plaisir de vous revoir.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 9/10
255 Hampton Lane, Catherine de Barnes, Solihull, B91 2TJ
