David’s Brasserie, Trentham
If you’re looking for a quality dining experience in Staffordshire and search online for David’s Brasserie, you might conclude, with its location including the words ‘Shopping Village’ and ‘Stoke-on-Trent’ that this really isn’t for you.
But I think you’d be wrong.
Because David’s Brasserie isn’t in some windswept, inner city shopping centre, but on the edge of the 725-acre Trentham Estate, 3 miles south of Stoke-on-Trent’s city centre, and which includes the award-winning Trentham Gardens with its mile-long Capability Brown designed lake and (my favourite bit) Monkey Forest where you can take a woodland walk amongst 140 free-roaming Barbary macaques.
We’d most recently visited Trentham with a horticulturalist friend who was staying with us for a few days and who’d wanted to see the famous gardens. We’d gone along on a Sunday afternoon and were amazed by how popular not just the gardens were but also that ‘Shopping Village’ which was absolutely packed with people browsing the shops and eating in the cafes and restaurants.
What a difference then when we arrived for our dinner reservation one January evening; the large crowds gone and replaced with a more tranquil coming and going of people to and from the eating establishments that remained open.
David’s Brasserie is in one of the timber lodges that make up the ‘village’ and its brightly lit windows, revealing plenty of diners inside, were a welcoming beacon in the freezing cold night as we hurried the short distance from our car to the restaurant.
I’d heard lots of good things about David’s Brasserie, an independent, family-owned restaurant that prides itself on treating its customers like one of the family, and we certainly got a very friendly welcome from the young staff.
The bright, modern interior was already half full when we arrived at 7pm and were shown to a pleasant corner table.
As my partner and I are undertaking Dry January, we ordered a couple of alcohol-free cocktails while we looked at the menus – an Apple Citrus Refresher (apple and orange juice, ginger ale, grapefruit syrup and lime juice) for him and Mint Lemonade (sweetened lemon juice, fresh mint and sparkling water) for me. Both cocktails were nicely refreshing and not oversweet.
We ordered a bottle of sparkling water to drink with the meal but, in case of a future visit, had a quick peruse of the wine list which showed a range of very reasonably priced wines, almost all available by the glass as well as bottle.
the menus
In the evenings, diners can select from the Table d’hote Menu, two or three courses for a set price, and the Signature Menu with individually priced dishes. It’s fine to mix and match between the menus too and be billed accordingly. There’s also a Light Bites menu with items you might want to choose as a starter or order several of if you fancy a tapas-style meal.
The Table d’hote Menu had a choice of four dishes in each course, the Signature menu three starters, three mains plus Chef’s homemade special dessert of the day. I always think a relatively short menu like this is reassuring as it usually indicates that the kitchen is not overreaching itself but aims to turn out fresh food well.
our choices
For my first course, I chose pan-seared lamb loin wrapped in pancetta with panko-crumbed black pudding, celeriac and vanilla purée and beetroot, chilli and stem ginger jam.
When it arrived, my starter had a really enticing, meaty fragrance. I assume the pancetta was smoked as there was a definite smokiness too. The lamb was a fine example of its kind cooked perfectly for me, being still pink inside.
I was almost reticent to smear the lovely morsels with the accompanying sauces as they seemed perfect as they were, but I’m always happy to have my preconceptions shattered (food-related ones anyway) so it had to be done, although I always have a taste of sauces on their own first anyway. I’m instinctively reticent about vanilla in savoury dishes, despite it now being relatively common. Thankfully, in this case, the vanilla in the celeriac purée was not overdone; its subtle perfumed taste only noticeable after the initial dominance of the earthy celeriac. I liked it.
The beetroot, chilli and stem ginger jam was beautifully and deeply coloured. Beetroot is one of my favourite vegetables to cook with right now so its inclusion did play a role in drawing me to this dish, but my fear was that, as with so many jammy sauces and dips, it would be overly sweet. Happily, that was not the case with the chief impression being one of spicy, warm heat from the chilli and stem ginger rather than sweetness. I liked that too.
The generous wedge of good quality black pudding, studded with beads of delicious fat (as all proper black pudding should be in my opinion) was delightful in its crunchy crumb jacket and I now merrily slathered both celeriac puree and beetroot jam over each forkful.
My partner and I are committed samplers of each other’s food when eating out, so I can confirm that he was not wrong in oohing and aahing over his starter of thick slices of halloumi, smoky and charred (VERY charred, but that was all to the good we agreed). The firm, Cypriot cheese sat on a bed of hummus powerfully flavoured with spicy harissa and was accompanied by satisfyingly chewy flatbread, roasted, herb-marinated heritage tomatoes and watercress.
As with my starter, the first sense to be triggered when my main course arrived was the olfactory. I’d ordered pan seared smoked cod fillet with crushed petit pois potatoes and carrots, but it was the ‘indulgent creamy crayfish and white wine sauce’ which the menu had informed me finished the dish that reached my nostrils first and had me wanting to grab the dish from the waiter’s hands and tuck right in. Consequently I sat, impatient, metaphorically tapping my foot while my partner (a photographer) took a photo.
After what seemed an age (actually only seconds), I finally tasted that sauce with its abundance of little pink crustaceans and it was…
Actually, why should I bother to find some new superlative when the menu writer described the sauce perfectly? Indulgent. Creamy. I couldn’t agree more. I think there was some dill in there too.
The large piece of smoked cod, cooked correctly, came away in large flakes and had the right amount of smokiness, but it was that sauce which made the plate so good.
Theoretically, I’m not a fan of crushed potatoes. My usual advice is to either mash them or leave them be but please don’t condemn them to some lumpy Limbo. Yet David’s Brasserie shattered another of my preconceptions: I really enjoyed the texture of the crushed potatoes mixed with peas. Maybe it was the incredible sauce they were sitting on that made the potatoes irresistible, or perhaps it was the intimation of a comforting yet luxurious fish pie which the dish evoked that softened me up. Whatever the reason, I was hooked.
My partner’s main course of pan fried duck breast was cooked as requested, pink, and the fat rendered well. It came with the same celeriac and vanilla purée as did my lamb starter along with a very good, sweet and sour Morello cherry and brandy sauce which we thought had quite a meaty finish too. Vegetable accompaniments were pretty little patty pan squash, baked, plus red cabbage and Granny Smith apple braised in red wine. Although he liked both the cherry sauce and the red cabbage, my partner thought these were a little too similar in flavour to be on the same plate and perhaps the cabbage could have been replaced with a green vegetable. The whole of the stunning-looking dish was nevertheless devoured.
For dessert, I resisted my usual urge to choose any pudding that mentions coconut (coconut panna cotta in this case) and instead went for chef’s special dessert of the day.
My incredibly light, soufflé-like roulade, topped with ice cream and filled with whipped cream and a fudgy chocolate centre dotted with little nibs of pistachio was certainly good, but what made it really special for me was the vivid green, pistachio sauce swirled around the plate. Intensely flavoured, almost marzipan-like, it had the pleasantly oily texture you’d expect from a nut-based sauce (think good quality peanut butter).
My only quibble was the plate.
David’s Brasserie uses a lot of orange plates, presumably echoing the décor, some of which is orange. However, we found this could detract from their often beautiful-looking dishes. For me, white or at least relatively neutral-coloured plates are nearly always best and I think this was underlined with the pistachio sauce which rather clashed with its orange plate. But that’s just my personal preference and you may like the contrast.
Just as I’m drawn to coconut desserts, my partner will almost always plump for chocolate ones, so of course he ordered the crème de menthe dark chocolate ganache with dark chocolate soil, white chocolate whipped cream and blueberry coulis.
The ganache was properly rich and perfectly smooth with the sharp and fruity blueberry sauce a good contrast.
highly recommended
By the time we left, David’s Brasserie was almost completely full with perhaps only one or two smaller tables empty. It’s easy to see why this restaurant is so popular with its well-executed dishes, which we considered very good value, and its friendly, informal atmosphere.
Apart from Monday evenings, David’s Brasserie is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It hosts live music nights on Thursdays and is available for wedding receptions, private parties and other functions.
We’ll definitely be back, whether joining the crowds for a weekend breakfast or lunch or for a more relaxed evening meal.
All images © Ian Dakin Photography