The Rummer Hotel Tasting Menus in Bristol reviewed

Posted on: 2014-09-25

Our rating:

The service at The Rummer Hotel is exceptional and the cellar makes for a wonderfully atmospheric setting. All the courses were beautifully presented and the flavour themes meant that the menu felt cohesive. Fantastic value for money.


 

The Rummer Hotel in Bristol is in the enviable position of having been recently named in The Good Food Guide’s Top 50 pubs. This national recognition is unlikely to have surprised any Bristol resident as The Rummer’s outstanding selection of drinks, log fire and cosy cellar bar make it a key location for any night out in the City. On my eternal quest for the best Sunday roasts to be had, I’ve eaten at The Rummer before, and was very impressed, so I was delighted to have the chance to try their 7 course tasting menu.

There is an example menu available on their website, and on the day we dined there were a couple of variations from this; trout had been substituted for hake on one of the fish courses, and the chicken and lettuce course had been replaced by breast of lamb.

Blue Cheese Biscuits at The Rummer Hotel in BristolWhen we arrived we were shown down to the cellar bar where we were given a little snack of blue cheese biscuits topped with poppy seeds and fennel to accompany our drinks. This lovely touch was a great indicator of the standard of food and service to come!

Our next bite consisted of two amuse bouche; feather light squares with two different toppings. One had a pea and mint puree on it, and the other with whipped goats cheese and half a cherry tomato, which had undergone some magical transformation into a thing of wonder and beauty. It was at the same time both sweet and savoury, and had an almost toffee-like chewiness. It was absolutely wonderful, and I could have happily eaten a plateful.

Next we were presented with a gorgeous cobble of white and wholemeal breads. They were served with three butters; one plain, one spiced and one flavoured with truffle, lemon and poppy seeds. There were also little piles of plain and smoked salt. This was the epitome of something straightforward done brilliantly well. Both the breads were light and delicious, and the lemon butter in particular was incredibly tasty. 

The Rummer Hotel in BristolThe first course of the menu was Burnt Forest Floor; mushrooms, truffle and leaves. This was a really interesting and complex dish, which looked absolutely stunning. There were several varieties of mushrooms, as well as a piece of toast, leaves, a delicate piped biscuit and a brown ‘soil’. There was a rich smokiness running throughout the elements of this dish, and we enjoyed trying to identify all the components!

Next was another intriguing dish! Monkfish Cheek Scallops; crab sauce, sorrel and curry dressing. When the dish arrived, it looked just like scallops, so we were very intrigued as to what we were about to eat. The ‘scallops’ were tender and almost bouncy. They had a subtle fish flavour and the accompanying sauces added variety to every mouthful. This was a light, flavourful and beautifully-presented dish.

The Rummer Hotel in BristolFollowing this it was Breast of Lamb; shallot, leek and rosemary which contrasted strongly with the other dishes we’d had so far in that it was much richer. Breast of lamb is a very fatty cut and unfortunately this made this course my least favourite. I really enjoyed the meat that there was, but it was mostly skin and fat in this portion. I know there are lots of people who would love this, but it just wasn’t for me. The veg and the sauces were delicious, and they complimented the meat beautifully.

It was back to fish for the next course, Trout; samphire, potato and shiso. The flavours in this dish were a variation on a theme, and the variety of textures was really interesting. I particularly enjoyed the trout, with its crispy skin, and the samphire. The trout and samphire were sat on a slice of blue salad potato. I have never eaten a blue potato before, and it was a fascinating experience. I even tried eating it with my eyes closed to see if it tasted the same as a regular white potato. I am still not 100% sure on this, but I’d hazard a guess it was slightly sweeter, but with an identical texture.

The Rummer Hotel in Bristol

Our next course was Gammoned Pork Collar, bacon milk, prunes, fried sage. This looked absolutely gorgeous, and we were not disappointed by the flavours. The meat was very tender and tasty. The prunes provided a delicious contrast to the salty meat.

The first of the two sweet courses was Strawberry Salad; lots of herbs and flowers. I’ve had vinegared strawberries before and never enjoyed them, but in this course they had been executed with such a lightness of touch that they were really enjoyable. The strawberries and leaves were sat on a pile of wonderfully creamy toffee sauce. The combination of the creamy toffee sauce and the sharp, slightly astringent strawberries was wonderful. There was also a small biscuit. This was quite tasty but it wasn’t especially crisp, which was a shame. The salad leaves were a very unusual touch, and one that I was somewhat ambivalent about on the whole, but one of the leaves was, I believe, French tarragon. This wonderful herb is one of my favourites; it has a wonderful aniseedy flavour that was delicious in this dish.

The Rummer Hotel in BristolThe second sweet course was Chocolate!!!!!; sponge, frozen and crumble. It’s unusual to see so many exclamation marks on a menu, but they are well warranted by this dessert! We enjoyed many different forms of chocolate. Two large chunks of chocolate sponge, a chocolate ganache, and chocolate crumble. The white quenelle you can see had a coffee flavour, and there was also another dark chocolate quenelle next to it that was glossy and rich, but I am not sure what it was exactly. The chocolate sponge was extremely light with a crisp crust. It was absolutely delicious! We didn’t appear to have anything frozen on our plates, but the course was none the worse for this.

Just as we thought we couldn’t possibly manage another mouthful, we were bought some delightful petit fours. There was a rosemary cake with bay cream, and a millionaire's shortbread. We had the tiniest nibble, but we simply couldn’t manage them and we were very kindly given a takeaway box so we could take them home.

The service throughout our meal was exceptional, and the cellar makes for a wonderfully atmospheric setting. All the courses were beautifully presented, and the flavour themes meant that the menu felt cohesive. At just £42 this tasting menu is fantastic value for money. 

4.5 out of 5

Reviewed by Sarah Millington for 365Bristol 

Contact The Rummer Hotel at All Saints Lane, Bristol, BS1 1JH

Tel: 01179 290111

Web. www.therummer.co.uk

Email. info@therummer.co.uk

Or connect on Facebook and Twitter



Article by:

James Anderson

Born and raised in the suburbs of Swansea, Jimmy moved to Bristol back in 2004 to attend university. Passionate about live music, sport, science and nature, he can usually be found walking his cocker spaniel Baxter at any number of green spots around the city. Call James on 078 9999 3534 or email Editor@365Bristol.com.