Taste of Spring Dinner, Denstone Hall

I had a cracking meal at Denstone Hall’s Taste of Spring dinner last night.

Understandably best known for their award winning farm shop and daytime café, Denstone Hall also opens up for the occasional evening event.

Back in September last year, myself and partner ID attended our first one, a Harvest Dinner. Loving what we ate, we knew we wanted to go back for the next event we could make.

Taste of Spring

The Taste of Spring dinner aimed to showcase local and seasonal produce. Which is right up my street.

Featuring very reasonably priced dishes, there was a good choice for each course. Unsurprisingly the place was pretty busy; you need to book in advance to get one of these tables.

Crab & Chorizo Tart

For my starter, I chose crab & chorizo tart with avocado, marinated aubergine & lime creme fraiche (£5.75). This was a beautiful-looking plate with stunning colours. And who knew fuchsia flowers were edible?

The pastry base of the tart was lovely and crisp, with no sign of the dreaded soggy bottom. The filling, a nice balance between delicate crab and meaty chorizo, was rich and smoky.

Aubergine is a bit of a nightmare if undercooked, but this hunk was deliciously soft. Its light smokiness echoed that of the chorizo.

A generous smear of the lime creme fraiche tartly and cleverly cut through it all.

Smoked Duck with  Chicken Liver Parfait

ID plumped for home tea smoked duck, chicken liver parfait, rhubarb chutney, melba toast (£6.00). This was another very well presented plate, with more pretty, edible flowers.

In a circle around the edge of the plate were the pink and tender, lightly smoky, slivers of duck. Among these were delicate leaves and a drizzle of light, herby oil.

In contrast, the centre of the plate held a big slab of buttery chicken liver parfait in a dark, glossy pool of rhubarb chutney. The sweet-tart chutney was an excellent contrast to the rich and creamy parfait.

The only thing that might have made this starter even better was perhaps another triangle of thin and crispy melba toast to cope with the generous serving of parfait.

Duo of Staffordshire Moorlands Lamb

For our main course, we both chose duo of Staffordshire Moorlands lamb: pesto crusted rump, slow cooked shoulder, rosemary and goats cheese fondant, sprouting broccoli, port wine jus (£16.95).

I’m not sure which of the full flavoured, local lamb elements I preferred. Was it the two discs of perfectly pink and juicy rump, their layer of fat expertly rendered with a an alluring crispiness on top? Or was it the tower of soft, melt in the mouth, rich shoulder meat? Both were equally enjoyable.

The fondant potato, which are such a disappointment if not cooked properly, was softly lovely. I thought the little cubes of melting, piquant goats cheese nestled on top of the potato were an excellent accompaniment to the robust lamb.

The port wine jus, which you might think looks a little thin in the photo, was actually very well flavoured. Tender and not too al dente broccoli, along with fresh pea shoots, added springtime freshness to the plate.

Assiette of Chocolate Desserts

I felt sure that chocolate lover ID would order the Assiette of Chocolate Desserts (£6.75) and was looking forward to seeing and trying it. Annoyingly, he chose something else.

So, although someone who tends to avoid puddings that feature a lot of chocolate, I went for it instead, albeit a little apprehensively. But I’m so glad I did.

Considering the price of this dessert, the amount of work that appeared to have gone in to it was very impressive.

First off was a stunning white chocolate and pistachio mousse in a white chocolate shell. This was topped with fresh raspberries and a shard of golden sugar work.

Also on the plate was a warm chocolate brownie, slightly crunchy on top & soft within.

But my favourite was the chocolate and raspberry torte: a rich chocolate sponge base topped with raspberry mousse and fresh raspberry, encased in a dome of crisp chocolate.

If all chocolate desserts were this good, I’d be ordering them way more often.

White Chocolate & Honeycomb Cheesecake

Funnily enough, ID chose a dessert that’s usually more up my street: cheesecake. In this case it was white chocolate, honeycomb & amaretti cheesecake, warm rhubarb compote, ginger cream (£5.95).

As you’ll probably guess from looking at it, and from what’s gone before, this was another utterly satisfying dish.

Creamy and tart, soft and crunchy. A wonderful combination of flavours and textures.

This pair of very impressive desserts were a fitting end to a great meal.

Highly Recommended

Whether I’m buying in the farm shop, having a quick breakfast or lunch in the cafe, or attending one of these nights, I find that Denstone Hall always delivers the goods, often exceeding expectations.

Using local, seasonal, quality ingredients, the kitchen produced some memorable dishes last night. And at around £29 per head (despite us selecting some of the highest priced options) I think that’s great value for money.

Look out for Denstone Hall’s next evening event. I highly recommend you get yourself booked in as soon as you can.