Tuesday - Saturday
12.30 - 1.15pm
(last order: 1.30pm)
7.30 - 8.30pm
(last order: 8.45pm)
Queries? Telephone
+44 (0) 1242-573449
12.30 - 1.15pm
(last order: 1.30pm)
7.30 - 8.30pm
(last order: 8.45pm)
Queries? Telephone
+44 (0) 1242-573449
Matthew Fort, Rating 18/20.
I am not going to make a fuss about this, but January 29 was my birthday. When I say that I am not going to make a fuss, I mean that I am not going to make a fuss now. But I wanted to make a fuss then. The trouble was, there was no one left to make a fuss with, aside from my daughter, Lois. My wife was away. My friends were away. The dogs were away. Thank heavens Lois was there to take me out.
I had been meaning to visit Le Champignon Sauvage for some time. I kind of kept avoiding the issue. It has two Michelin stars. It has an 8 rating in the Good Food Guide. It has four rosettes in the AA Guide. It has been there for 17 years. What could I possibly say about it that hasn't been said before? And yet, and yet, it is a good thing to give old-stagers the once-over every now and then, to see if they are as good as they are cracked up to be. And it was my birthday, and I deserved a treat. Well, I wanted a treat, at any rate.
And it was a treat. It began as we slithered from the icy street into the cosy warmth of Helen Everitt-Matthias's smile. It continued as we sat down at our table at one end of the small dining room, and ended only when we bounced out again, full and happy, into the slush and ice at the end of dinner.
Le Champignon Sauvage is small to the point of being very small. It seats 28 people. It has not been decorated with the Changing Rooms mentality or modern design sensibilities in mind. The walls are cluttered with interesting paintings. The curtains at the end of the room are swagged and ornate. The colours are rich and full. It is like being welcomed into the front parlour of some houseproud family. It has that sense of unassuming warm-heartedness and personality.
Lois was in one of her more adventurous gastronomic moods. "I'll have the terrine of roasted chicken, shiitake mushrooms and leeks," she declared boldly. "And then I will have the roast lamb with sweetbreads and artichokes with powdered orange. Although you may have to help me with the sweetbreads." So I thought I would have roasted fillet of cod with pear and turnip and a light velouté of chestnuts followed by breast of veal with snails and nettles.
Read the second half of this review?
I am not going to make a fuss about this, but January 29 was my birthday. When I say that I am not going to make a fuss, I mean that I am not going to make a fuss now. But I wanted to make a fuss then. The trouble was, there was no one left to make a fuss with, aside from my daughter, Lois. My wife was away. My friends were away. The dogs were away. Thank heavens Lois was there to take me out.
I had been meaning to visit Le Champignon Sauvage for some time. I kind of kept avoiding the issue. It has two Michelin stars. It has an 8 rating in the Good Food Guide. It has four rosettes in the AA Guide. It has been there for 17 years. What could I possibly say about it that hasn't been said before? And yet, and yet, it is a good thing to give old-stagers the once-over every now and then, to see if they are as good as they are cracked up to be. And it was my birthday, and I deserved a treat. Well, I wanted a treat, at any rate.
And it was a treat. It began as we slithered from the icy street into the cosy warmth of Helen Everitt-Matthias's smile. It continued as we sat down at our table at one end of the small dining room, and ended only when we bounced out again, full and happy, into the slush and ice at the end of dinner.
Le Champignon Sauvage is small to the point of being very small. It seats 28 people. It has not been decorated with the Changing Rooms mentality or modern design sensibilities in mind. The walls are cluttered with interesting paintings. The curtains at the end of the room are swagged and ornate. The colours are rich and full. It is like being welcomed into the front parlour of some houseproud family. It has that sense of unassuming warm-heartedness and personality.
Lois was in one of her more adventurous gastronomic moods. "I'll have the terrine of roasted chicken, shiitake mushrooms and leeks," she declared boldly. "And then I will have the roast lamb with sweetbreads and artichokes with powdered orange. Although you may have to help me with the sweetbreads." So I thought I would have roasted fillet of cod with pear and turnip and a light velouté of chestnuts followed by breast of veal with snails and nettles.
Read the second half of this review?
LE CHAMPIGNON SAUVAGE RESTAURANT,
24-26, SUFFOLK ROAD, CHELTENHAM, GLOS. GL50 2AQ. UK.
TEL: 01242-573449 FAX: 01242-254365
