White's, Beverley - May 2016

One of the problems of a blog like this one is that I don’t travel very widely, (Mary does, but doesn’t blog alone) so I tend to return often to the same restaurants, especially the good ones. I don’t write about every meal because I’d be repeating myself. In addition, I don’t tend to write about disappointing meals. The consequence is that there is sometimes a long time between postings.

We have been to White’s half a dozen times now, and have only got good things to say about it. The Chef’s current policy of constantly changing tasting menus, both at lunch and in the evening, is one we both like. Not knowing what is coming out of the kitchen next adds to our enjoyment.

The restaurant space is especially good for photographing the food because the tables are quite large and well spread out, so the camera doesn’t annoy other diners (though why it should I’ve never understood), and the light is good. This set of pictures is among my best ever, I think. In case you are interested in such things I am currently using a Samsung NX-mini with 17mm prime lens, and a Nokia Lumia 1020 cameraphone, whose 41 megapixel camera is probably the best camera ever put in a phone. Some of the results are spectacular. Both produce image files so large that they have to be highly compressed for publication here. I’ll note each picture so that as your cursor hovers over each one you'll know which camera took it.

There wasn’t a printed a menu. The waitress announced each dish as it was presented. She had just found out herself as it was given to her to bring out. I’ll try to remember each one, but will no doubt get some of it slightly wrong.





The bread was a homemade baguette and was lovely, with an excellent seeded crust and nice butter.

 


This dish of peas and agnolotti in a pea broth was amazing. Birds Eye have managed to persuade us over the last century that frozen peas are so fresh they’re indistinguishable – they’re not. These were a revelation.

    

Monkfish in an extremely light curry sauce with lots of asparagus. I have always though that monkfish had a taste I did not like. Well, I have changed my mind. This was a very solidly meaty piece of delicious fish in a beautifully subtle sauce. We always love asparagus, when in season.


 























This meat course comprised Pork Cheeks. When booking I was asked about food allergies and preferences. I suppose everyone has foods they don’t like but rather than reel off a list, you want the Chef to do what he wants, basically. If you don’t like it, well you knew what you were getting into. It turns out neither of us like pork cheeks. Mary simply didn’t like the idea of it, and to me, cheeks are cat food. We fed our two Siamese cats on cheek and heart throughout my childhood. The cat food smelt horrible and I’ve never really wanted to eat these or many other types of offal. They are fashionable though in a “celebrate the whole animal” kind of way. I think the reason cheeks used to be pet food rather than fine dining is that they are not very nice. Any way we each tried one, left one and ate everything else on the plate. Understandably concerned as to why we had left it, we told the waitress, but also told her that it was not a problem, not liking everything goes with the territory. The Chef however cooked us another course.


 























This was Rump of Lamb in a satay sauce. I think this was the best lightly spiced oriental-style sauce we have ever had in a fine dining restaurant. Mary absolutely loved it, and while my tastes can run to fiery ends of Thai and Mexican, so did I .


 























I have forgotten exactly what the dessert was. There was probably a bavarois of lemon and yoghurt with a strawberry jelly, with white blobs, strawberries in amaretto, something crunchy and a chocolate delice. It was completely delightful and even nicer than it looks.

This was a wonderful lunch. I am sure we will return.