Tuesday 28 May 2013

Cherry Duck Bistro

Upon hearing the whispered excitement of the Cherry Duck Bistro - a fairly new restaurant that had opened up on Welsh Back - we decided to treat ourselves and see what the fuss was all about.

Despite being shoehorned in between a gym and a couple of fairly ugly buildings, the Cherry Duck has a lovely ambiance inside with modern furniture and a twinkle of fairy lights combined with a very friendly welcome. We were seated close to the open kitchen and presented with a very neat menu (four options for each course) with two courses for £19.95 and three for £24.50, it all looked so delicious that I was rendered quite wriggly with excitement. I plumped for the sour cherry and duck starter with rabbit cooked three ways for my main course and my OH went for carrot and coriander soup and lamb served with Moroccan vegetables and giant couscous. 

While we waited we were served with delicious granary sourdough and fruit olive oil which our waiter explained came from hand picked and pressed olives from Spain. 

The duck was delicious and came with celeriac and a sour cherry puree whilst the carrot and coriander soup was tasty and the right side of sweet and fragrant.

My main course of rabbit (ballotine, sous vide loin and rabbit leg hash) was beautifully presented and came with a most delicious raisin jus dribbed over soft, sweet, celeriac puree that made the whole dish sing. The ballotine was the winner here, with the salty proscuitto serving as a nice contrast against the sweet rabbit and nutty pistachios. My OH's loin of lamb was soft and cooked to pink perfection and the balance of the lamb with the cumin heavy Moroccan veg puree was perfect. The giant couscous and flaked almonds added a wonderful combination of textures and we polished both mains off in appreciative silence with the occasional satisfied 'Mmmm'.

When it came to dessert, one of them in particular called out to us - a chocolate fondant, stout ice cream and salted caramel sauce. Neither of us are particularly fussed about fondants, however I was intrigued by the stout ice cream and my OH has a definite love for salted caramel (with thanks to the Pony and Trap's salted caramel ice cream they serve with their Sticky Toffee Pudding). The fondant was sticky, rich and glorious and came floating on a pool of salted caramel sauce that was truly exquisite. The stout ice cream had an almost flowery, fragrant flavour but was creamy, soft and smooth. It came but with one regret. That we ordered one to share instead of one each!

After our meal, one of the chefs came out from behind the kitchen to ask if we enjoyed the meal and to answer any questions we may have had. I fired off questions about the olive oil, and the meat and he graciously supplied me the names and locations of the various butchers they use and seemed to genuinely believe and be excited about the ethos of the restaurant - locally sourced and seasonal food. 

One of my only irks is that they serve you very small glasses of water but then proceed to come by every five minutes or so to top them up. It's all very nice to not be without an empty glass but it's rather disruptive to have to acknowledge and thank someone every few minutes when they could just leave the bottle...

That said, with the promise that the menu changes every week, I will definitely be back and have already named it one of my favourite restaurants in Bristol, a rather heady title, I'm sure you'll agree but one very much deserved.

http://www.cherryduckbistro.co.uk




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