River Cottage Canteen

1 Reviews on “River Cottage Canteen”

• Duncan Galletly

  It was probably our fault that we spent 20 minutes trying to find Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Plymouth outpost of the River Cottage. The restaurant is incorporated into one of several massive, grey, stone port buildings known as the royal yard. It has metre thick walls with an industrial (ie exposed services), fit-out which now seems to be de rigeur for anything trying to convey modernity and honesty while saving on expense.The restaurant is very large – perhaps over 100 seats – incorporating a bar, a shop selling HFW-approved jars of processed foods and wines as well as take-away pies, cheeses and of course the river cottage cook books.!As with most other South western English restaurants I went to, English wines seemed to be non existent apart from the ubiquitous Camel hill sparkling rose – not extraordinary but still very pleasant – we ordered two glasses. From a tasting plate lunch menu we chose four plates – 10 for three which seemed good value.Smoked ham hock crumble with pickled roots: a long cooked ham hock with a bread crumb topping – delicious, comfortable, perfectly seasoned but slightly gluey.Braised squid, tomato and chickpea stew: tasted exactly as it sounds – a rather unremarkable mixture that I thought was in need of inspiration. Merguez sausage, fava bean hummus, lemon and dukah: very pleasant, especially the fava bean hummus – the sausage was well flavoured but on the dry side.Heritage carrot and beetroot salad with grapefruit and mixed seeds: extraordinary – probably the reason why it was worth going. In some ways you could argue that the carrots and beetroot were almost tasteless – but in another way they had a delicacy of flavour and wonderful texture that was eye opening. I guess it was like stepping back a few hundred years before the sugar content and colour were bred into them – something gained but also something lost.A blackboard on one of the walls listed the various local producers who had contributed ingredients to the restaurant. Sourcing and showcasing the quality of the raw materials seemed a laudable thing to do, but I couldn’t help feeling that it’s how these ingredients are cooked and presented on the plate that is as important to the eater. My gut feeling is that the quality of the preparation may at times not live up to the quality of the ingredients – that Englishness seems more important than deliciousness. Service was good – friendly, efficient, if not totally knowledgeable. Ambience, as noted industrial. Special occasion restaurant? NoLarge work groups? YesKids? YesOverall – comfort food for a reasonable price with added English heritage interest/spin.Would I go back? Yes probably.

  September 17, 2015, 6:42 am

  Log in to Reply