Reviews

The Mint Room - Bristol food review

Posted on: 2017-04-03

Standing out even against the brilliance of the Clifton culinary backdrop is The Mint Room, an Indian restaurant which provides the conditions for a near-perfect fine dining experience, a sophisticated cut above your average curry house.

---

The surreptitious exterior of The Mint Room - which sets its slender gold lettering on a sleek, black veneer - does little to distract from that which it houses, with the communicated air of understated elegance easily apparent upon crossing its threshold. Having been invited to take a drink in the lounge, we are ushered from the auspicious atrium of dark mahogany panelling into a salon of plush fuchsia sofas, passing a bar to which our waiter swiftly returns to concoct the cocktails he chooses based on our stated preferences.

Once these have been promptly guzzled, in a manner and speed befitting their tastiness, we take a seat at our table in the main dining room, where we pick starters; my guest selects tawa scallops (£10) from the extensive starter menu, while I opt to begin with a smaller portion of the pudina lamb tikka (£8), which can be taken as a main.

This takes the form of four sizeable chunks of meat which sit between a pot of rogan josh sauce, a column of diced vegetables and a scribble of yoghurt; and as such it looks brilliant. It tastes better still; the lamb is fabulously tender, its marinade of coriander and mint aptly working to infuse the fillets with wonderful flavour. The scallops are similarly easy on the eye, their bed of kaffir lime and green chilli sauce neatly corresponding to the cucumber and cumin with which they are topped.

Licked clean, our plates are removed by a waiter who has another hot on his heals with our mains of masala lamb shank (£17) and tawa duck (£16) that my guest and I, respectively, had plumped for earlier. The presentation, as per the starters, is tip-top, with each dish representing a visual feast, particularly when set in amongst the several sides (jeera aloo roast potatoes (£4.50), Chana masala Punjabi chickpeas (£4.50), saffron rice (£3.50) and kalonji naan (£3.50)) which arrive in accompaniment.

The thick disks of duck are roasted to a perfect pink, with the flavour locked in complimented ably by the accoutrements of the garam masala onion bhaji and the sweet and sour sauce composed of apple, sultana and black mustard chutney - the latter, in particular, is a revelation. Combined with a couple of the roast potatoes, which are almost impossibly fluffy, the dish makes for a true taste sensation.

Better still is the lamb shank, which more than justifies its inclusion amongst The Mint Room’s signature dishes. Having been pot roasted to allow for absolute succulence, the meat falls off the bone and melts in the mouth, which is also treated to just the right amount of heat courtesy of the yoghurt, tomato and onion in which it has been braised. The naan bread is textured perfectly and makes for the ideal utensil with which to rapaciously savour every morsel, with each bite better than the last.

Carving out a corner of space in our otherwise at-capacity stomachs, we order for dessert strawberry, raspberry and lemon sorbet (£5.50) and the trio of white chocolate parfait, carrot halwa and dark chocolate sorbet (£6.50). The trifecta approach to each plateful works a treat, with the tension in taste and texture between each of the three entities making for a multiplied number of top-quality combinations.

We depart with genuine thanks, and negatives nowhere near discernible enough to detract from the following observation: a meal at The Mint Room gleams subtly with an air of the consummate class that permeates every aspect of the eating experience, with an intimate atmosphere, excellent service and food of the highest grade rendering the restaurant amongst the very finest in Bristol.

 

Food: 5

Value: 4

Atmosphere: 5

Service: 5

---