"Relaxing" and Alyn Williams at the Westbury

So yesterday was Saturday, and unlike any Saturday in my house back home, we did absolutely nothing at all apart from walking across the road to waitrose, until 6pm. This was very strange and difficult, especially with a tired uncle in the house :). It didn't really help that it was raining and no one really wanted to be out in the rain, so we stayed home. I made some muffins using some muesli that we bought that tastes a bit like weetbix when mixed with yoghurt and they were very yummy, I used a bran muffin recipe and substituted for the muesli as well as adding blueberries-fresh no less, into the 'classic bran muffin' recipe I found. But apart from that, most of the day was spent on the couch letting miako in and out of the house as she pleased, she can never decide where she wants to be... so indecisive! :).

Crab with dashi jelly

Tonight, we went out to Alyn Williams at the Westbury, a one Michelin starred restaurant-it was amazing! Because it is Saturday, they only have the tasting menu on offer... What a pity! :)
To start they brought out mini profiteroles, gruyere cheese-they were really light with a slight chesse flavour, then they brought out breads that were gradually eaten over the evening, and then it began...
For the first course, we had crab with dashi jelly, shrimp powder and micro herbs if some sort on top. This was light and delicate, one of my favourites of the night.

Scallops with horseradish foam
and pumpkin puree

Second we had scallops with pumpkin purée and horseradish cream, the scallops were perfectly cooked and were really nice with the other elements of the dish.

Chick pea panise, tandoori and
coriander

Andrew and Sonias mackerel ceviche

Third I had the vegetarian option (you could choose to swap between the two tasting menus) chickpea panise, tandoori and coriander, I liked the tastes of this dish but the panise was a bit pasty for my liking and seemed to stick to the inside of my mouth-was still delicious as a while however :) Andrew and Sonia had the other option, which also looked great, it was mackerel ceviche with pomegranate, it was delicate looking  and they said it was delicious also.

Braised snails with baked potato
foam and brown butter

Andrew and Sonias Leek with
Smoked egg... they chickened out of the snails

Next up was the option between braised snails, baked potato and brown butter, or smoked egg, leek and truffle. Sonia and Andrew jumped in and decided that because they were getting the egg, I had to get the snails. Surprisingly, this was actually tasty and the snails weren't rubbery at all, however I couldn't finish it because the baked potato foam was so rich and creamy/cheesy. Although I liked the dish, I probably wouldn't have ordered it again simply because of its richness that I didn't enjoy as much as the egg would have been :).

Venison with agnolotti and mushrooms 

For the next course, we had venison with pear, agnolotti, girolles (type of mushroom) and chard. This was another delicious dish. The venison was beautifully rare and the whole dish was just yum.

Cheese course

After this, the waiter came and asked if we would like a fromage course...what? Turns out fromage is the French word for cheese, so I had to sit through eating cheese. Not my favourite part of the meal but still interesting, the goats cheese was nice-that's about it apart from another one that was not dissimilar to Parmesan in taste and texture.

Cheesecake

As this was a tasting menu, we still had more to go, two desserts! I love dessert and both were fabulous. The first was cheesecake with ginger ale granita, a tiny sprinkle of strong ginger crumb, and caramelised apple. The light ginger ale granita cut through any richness of the cheesecake and it was truly delicious.

The final dessert was described as chocolate, lime, dill. This had aerated chocolate-like chocolate in an aero bar, this was with a dill emulsion, an extremely sour lime gel, and a chocolate crumb that was topped with a cute little marshmallow. This dish was amazing and unexpected, the chocolate looks like a sponge cake but is just pure chocolate, the lime gel was an awesome addition to the dish and cut through the chocolate beautifully.

Chocolate, lime, dill

Sadly the evening was over... But wait, there's more! When coffees came out, along came chocolates, four of each-salted caramel liquid centre dusted with bitter cocoa, and Pedro Ximenez soft truffle centre with crushed up coffee beans, both were delicious but I think the overall favourite at the table was the salted caramel, it was amazing! 
So tonight was the first of many fancy dinners out-thank you Sonia and Andrew again for taking me here, it was amazing!
I hope everyone had a good day and that the final production went really well. I miss you all xoxo
Kyla

Chocolate truffles