The Hundred House, Norton - Game Night

The Hundred House is a local favourite of ours, it has 2 AA rosettes and prides itself for using local produce as well as herbs from their beautiful gardens.  We had gone in for a bite to eat earlier in the month and seen the game night advertised, being a big venison fan we booked it.  The price was £26.95 for three courses including bread.

Mark and I had the same starter of Mini Beef & Venison Burger, Moydens 1665 Smoked Cheese, Dill Pickle Relish served in a Brioche Bun.  The burger was really tasty and juicy, with a relish that complimented it perfectly, my only gripe about the burger was the brioche was a little dry.

For main course Mark had Wild Boar Faggots seasoned with Thyme & Parsley, Braised with White Wine Tomato, Beans & Bacon, as Mark said they weren't just faggots, they were really tasty and juicy with perfect accompaniments.  I went for Roast Hauch of Venison, Turnip & Prune Gratin, Cavolo Nero, Juniper & Port Wine Sauce - I know venison for starter and main, it is my favourite and you don't see it that often so I have to make the most of it when it's there!!  This was beautiful, the venison was cooked to perfection and sliced lovely and thinly, there was just enough sauce - quite often in some of these restaurants they just drizzle a little on to make it look pretty and there is never enough.  Here, there was enough to make it look good (ie not flooded in sauce) but also enough to taste good.

For dessert we both chose the same which was Rich Dark Chocolate & Blueberry Roulade with White Chocolate & Mint Ice Cream.  The desserts at The Hundred House have never excited me, we have probably been at least 10 times and never once have I seen a dessert that jumps out at me on the menu and I am a dessert person.  The choice was this, apple pie or pannacotta.  This was nice but it wasn't amazingly tasty like the starters and mains tend to be, the ice cream was very good and I am not normally keen on ice cream but the roulade was just a roulade and nothing special. 

It was a lovely night, nice food, cosy fires - looking forward to game season and another game night as we will be back again!

The Falcondale, Lampeter

We visited The Falcondale for their set lunch menu, 2 courses for £15.95 or 3 courses for £19.50.  The lounge area and the restaurant itself were VERY cold, the heating wasn’t on and we were a little bit frozen on a cold day!  However the waiter brought a radiator over to our table to warm us up a bit.

For starters, mum and I chose Cheese Souffle with salted beets and cabernet sauvignon vinaigrette – wow, yummy yumm, this was sooo nice and light and tasty and the different beetroots were gorgeous – the only thing?  Well we could have both eaten two of them! 

For mains I went for Collops of Welsh Beef with triple cooked chips, shitake mushroom and basil sauce – my only complaint would be there wasn’t much beef or sauce, there were 3 small rounds of beef which was cooked perfectly and very tender but could have done with a bit more, there were more chips than there was beef and I don’t think carbohydrates should make up the bulk of your meal.  The sauce and the mushrooms were very tasty.  In terms of veg, again we didn’t get much for the table, a tiny little dish with perhaps 3 florets of broccoli, a couple of mange tout, a few peas and carrots – so just your run of the mill veg.  Mum had salmon with wilted spinach, dauphine potatoes and a white wine and mushroom sauce – salmon was cooked perfectly and the sauce was very tasty, it was the first time we have both had dauphine potatoes and wow they were scrummy, something to cook this weekend me thinks!! 

We were still hungry when it came to dessert as the portions had only been small so we both went for Sticky Toffee Pudding with custard, this looked like a huge piece but in fact it was lovely and light and soft, melted in your mouth.

So all in all it was a nice lunch, but I think as we were spoilt by Hundred House yesterday it was a little disappointing in terms of portions sizes.  However we ate three courses and were probably just right, compared to yesterday when three course was probably a bit much and I was over full!  So it depends on the size of your appetite, if you have a bit appetite you will be disappointed.

Dizzy came with us to visit a family friend, she will be 14 this year and does struggle with her back legs now, she is very wobbly but as long as she is not in pain and still happy to go visiting and can still manage a short walk.  I expect it won’t be long before we do have to make a decision and it will be a horrible decision to make, but for now we’re just enjoying her and making her comfortable.

The Hundred House Hotel, Norton

We visited Hundred House for Easter Sunday lunch, their Sunday lunch menu is basically a cut down a la carte menu and for three course it is £19.95 (or two for £16.95).  Which is a real bargain when you consider the quality and the amount of food you get.

For starters I decided on the tapas of meat with pate and focaccia – I couldn’t eat the pate being 6 months pregnant, however I devoured the rest and it was beautiful!  The meats were so tasty and there was a gorgeous tasty sundried tomato paste which was really yummy!  Hubby had one of their signature starters - Black Pudding, Chorizo & Apple Stack with Moydens Smoked Cheese Sauce & Crispy Onion Rings – which he absolutely loves and it is a massive portion, you could almost use it as a main course.  Mum had a kipper mousse which she said was really tasty and again was a decent portion size.

Black Pudding

For mains I decided on Breast of Chicken Stuffed with Ricotta, Spinach & Pinenuts with Tomato & Basil – the chicken was beautifully cooked, plenty of sauce with the meal (something a lot of places scrimp upon!) and the filling was very tasty.  It came with roast potatoes, mash, ratatouille and celeriac – its so nice to have vegetables which are a bit different to the norm.  However we also got a bowl of veg for the table which consisted of courgettes, carrot and swede mash and some of your usual veggies.  Hubby had the Suet Pudding of venison and beef with Juniper Sauce – this again was a huge portion and was so tasty, it was beautifully cooked.  Finally mum had fillet of Hake Stuffed with Salmon & Dill Mousse Served with Chive Cream Sauce and again, now complaints, only some mmmms and ahhhs to be heard, the fish was cooked to perfection and was really tasty.

For dessert I went for Hazelnut Meringues with Chocolate Sauce & honeycomb ice cream – I don’t normally ‘do’ ice cream but this was DIVINE!!  Beautiful home made ice cream which was more honeycomb than it was ice cream, it was so tasty and scrumptious, the meringues were beautiful too and came with plenty of chocolate sauce (I am always disappointed when all you get is a token amount!!).  Hubby had apple pie with a really nice light custard, again another lovely homemade dessert.

You really cannot beat their Sunday Lunch, yes the a la carte of an evening can work out expensive but it is worth it, so when you consider the Sunday Lunch it really CANNOT be beaten.  Next time hubby can get away from work on a Sunday we will be there!!!