Eating at the Elephant

 

Our second 'dinner day' in a row ended at the strangely named, but delightfully pleasant, restaurant called The Elephant. With the Elephant greeting you as you enter and other examples throughout the building, it is clear that whatever is the reason for the name, they take it seriously in their decor. 

More details at the end of today's post. 

Morning

In the familiar pattern of the holiday I was up at 5.15am and drafting yesterday's blog post for Drew to review and add comments. My breakfast done Drew got up at 7am and we outlined the day.

Drew had told me last week he needed time on Thursday to do some computer stuff far too complicated for me to understand! This suited me fine, as Thursday is normally the day, I spend drafting the Parish Newsletter (the weekly sheet) and getting other things ready for the weekend - all now possible remotely thanks to good wi-fi. I'm reminded of last summer where in a cottage in farming territory in Yaxham, East Anglia I was having to go out to Costa Coffee or visit a friend's house ten miles away to get some of these things done!

So, today is the first quiet day of the holiday when the focus is on sitting on the house's balcony overlooking Phear Park while typing, doing my accounts, reading and filing emails, catching up on some podcasts and other relaxing things.

Lunch

At 12.30pm we had lunch in the house - a Braeburn Apple, Conference Pear and Granny Smith Apple for me and two easy peelers and another chunk of chocolatey goodness my sister made for him, for Drew.

Afternoon

With our tasks finished we took a lazy stroll back to the Exmouth seafront this afternoon. Fulfilling a request to take some photos of Exmouth with the tide in, as most of our previous ones have been at low tide.

Dinner

After our relaxing day we showered and changed ready for the drive to The Elephant, Torquay. The idea of coming to this restaurant was my sisters who told us that her husband really liked the place, I can see why. It is unpretentious but with wonderful food.

The Elephant was the first restaurant in Torquay to achieve a Michelin Star. As this 15-year-old article in the Guardian rather cynically reflects:

Don't mention you-know-who - this was to be the guiding principle of today's review, which concerns a catering establishment in Torquay, on the grounds that it was all a long time ago, let's hear no more about him, all forgotten now, etc, etc.

Except that, far from being forgotten, he still casts such a gigantic culinary shadow over the town that when The Elephant won Torquay's first Michelin star almost two years ago, even the region's director of tourism couldn't help but mention him herself. "The Basil Fawlty image of Torquay always was just a creation," Maureen McAllister observed, "and this really puts it to bed." ... does the notion of a first-rate restaurant in Torquay remain so laughable, despite Ms. McAllister's insistence that "there is no faster rising star in the world of food than the English Riviera"

Over the years in between it seems that Chef Simon Hulstone as become more comfortable in his achievements, as the restaurant was tastefully presented, with careful, attentive, service and good, local food, presented in clever ways, but not so clever as to move from food to theatre. 

For a second night in a row, can you hear Gollum say "Greedy little Hobbitses", we again choose the Tasting Menu and it was a delight to explore the regional delicacies of the region.

The meal began with Sourdough, Whipped Beurre Noisette, Sea Salt and Goats curd with elderflower, pickled onions and radish. The sourdough was well risen and the curd offered a sharp, slightly bitter flavour softend by the sweet elderflower and benefitted from all the additional acidity goat's milk has over that of cows or sheep. A great start.

The first course was Salt Baked Cheltenham Beetroot with White Almond Gazpacho, Gooseberry and Granola

It seemed to smile up off the plate at us. Each mouthful had a slightly different taste with the granola providing crunch, the beetroot an earthy undertone and the white gazpacho a long gentle, almost creamy aftertaste. The herb and edible flowers each had a distinctive note which all together formed a perfect set of tastes.

The second course was Brixham Crab, Sour Apple Jelly, Exmoor Caviar, Rye Bread and Apple Marigold Sorbet. The crab was so delicately picked that without the flavour you would never have known it had been in a shell. The Rye bread was a crumb which had been roasted so that it was crisp. Crisp enough for Drew to mistake it for shell in his first bite, before realising it was bread crumb. The surprise of that crunch with the very sour, sourness of the apple worked well with the saltiness brought to the dish by the samphire. The sorbet was less sour, but still had a sharpness which meant it had a place on this savoury dish.

The dish was pretty and the flavours excelled expectations, plus the crab had come such a short distance, from Brixham, the lights of which we could see from the quay just below the restaurant.

The seafood theme continued into the next course, which was Hand Dived Devon Scallop, Whey Butter Sauce, Verjus Jelly, Fennel Pollen with puffed rice and pickled black and green grape slices, yes, grape slices, I'd never gone smaller than having a grace before, but the chef has done it here. The pickling of the grapes was very gentle, but it complemented the grape juice in the verjus exceptionally well. The scallops were thinly sliced and hard a rich carbonation on one side and were soft and translucent on the other - a perfect mix. The whey butter sauce played a role in bringing the whole dish together. A bit rich on its own, it complemented the firmness and flavour of the scallop perfectly. 

Our fourth course was again from a local fish supplier, a Fillet of Brixham Turbot with Roasted Chicken Sauce, Devon Eel, Girolles, Turnip Fondant and Sisho leaf.

When faced with my favourite fish, I sometimes want to tell the chef, just cook it in the pan and leave it as it is. As the fish has such a meaty flavour anyway. So there are times when I get annoyed with people messing with turbot, but not here. The lightly flavoured tempured sisho leaf gave a crunchiness to the dish, the eel a lovely strong counterpart to the strength of the turbot itself. The turnip fondant tasted earthy as turnips do, but must have taken hours to form and cook, so was worth eating, though apart from bringing bread to the dish it didn't really add anything much. The girolles on the other hand were like little bursts of summer on the plate, soft and oleaginous, having one or two of them on the fork with every slice of fish made the fish taste even better than it normally does. 

The meat course was a Dry Aged Beef Fillet with Beef Fat Carrot, Oyster Emulsion, Heritage Carrots and Rocket Pesto.

The tenderness of the meat was perfect, the jus rich and tangy. The carrot puree was smooth and sweet. The carrot could have been a meal in itself, though I suspect having been cooked in beef fat not one for vegetarians. The oyster emulsion and slices of heritage carrots of different colour layered over the top with fine herbs would have made this a show stopper, except that the beef was so rich in flavour, that even an amazingly tasty carrot came second to it. A thoughrough delight.  

The cheese course was Sharpham Camembert toasted and served on a slice of Malt Loaf with Crispy Shallots on top served with a green tomato chutney. The cheese oozed over the loaf and together with the crispiness of the shallots made a perfect combination. I'm not a fan of chutney, so didn't taste it, Drew tasted it, but felt that it would have fitted better on a sweet course than on a cheese course.

The innovative pre-dessert also had more of the flavours of a herb or vegetable course than of a dessert one, which suited me fine. The Wild Dill Ice Cream covered by Fennel Foam had a sharp Lemon Gel through it. I love the taste of dill, and am always reminded of the character Dill the dog, from the cartoon The Herbs, when eating it. This flavour was enhanced with the sharpness of lemon making this tiny palette cleanser one of my favourite dishes of the meal.

The dessert was Poached Apricot with Elderflower Granita, a Yoghurt Sorbet and White Chocolate Crumb

The apricot tasted perfectly of apricot, the elderflower was under the sorbet which had the delightful acidity of a Greek yoghurt - apart from the very sweet white chocolate this dessert was made for a person who prefers savoury food. It worked for me, so instead of Drew getting a second dessert he had to be satisfied with me passing over my chocolate crumb.

The meal finished with Espresso with Petits Fours - these were Coconut and white chocolate sponge, Blackcurrant jelly with Thai basil gel and White chocolate with passion fruit centre. Drew enjoyed all six of them and commented that this place had a perfect sense of what a petits fours should be. 

After Dinner

We walked back along the front and up to the Car Park (again RingGo was the payment method, it has proved a boon this holiday. Drew took some photos of Torquay by night showing the lights over the bay. The full set are on Flickr.

Driving Home

We left Torquay at  9.55pm and arrived back in Exmouth at 10:50pm. Tonight's drive had been 33 miles too and 31 miles back (we had a detour on the way down due to a car accident ahead) leaving us with 50% charge and a notional 66 miles. We put it on charge at 10:55pm and it was completed by 7am this morning.

I realise as I type that I didn't report on the journey to Dartmouth yesterday it was 47 miles there and 50 miles back. Leaving the car at 30% and 39 miles left. So, it charged from 11.30pm on Wednesday to 11.30am today. Which, given our plans for today worked out very well for us.