Coming home to Chez Bruce

It’s taken a very long time, but I finally made it to Chez Bruce at the weekend. It’s one of those places I’ve been meaning to go to for years – we finally got our act together and made a booking for dinner on Saturday night. Booking just a week or two ahead of time, we were offered options of 6.30pm or 9.15pm. On choosing the 6.30pm option we were then told that our table would be needed back by 9pm – not ideal but we decided to go with it.

On arrival it was good to see a few other diners already seated, I did fear we might be the first of an early sitting. We were shown to a table in the smaller part of the downstairs dining area, which turned out to be rather nice – buzzy and plenty of atmosphere while feeling quite special at the same time. An amuse bouche of a savory cheesy cracker was offered while we checked through the menu and started to think about wine. tap water was brought to the table and our water glasses were regularly filled throughout the evening.

The wine list at Chez Bruce is fairly comprehensive although wines by the glass were not so inspiring. We decided we would like to start with a half bottle and sought advice from the sommelier on the dryness of a spanish albarino. He assured us it was dry and fruity so we settled on that followed by a bottle of cairanne. Both bottles were brought to the table and shown to us. Surprisingly the white was then taken away to be opened – surprising as I am used to bottles being opened where I can see them.

It soon became clear that they like to stagger orders to the kitchen so there was a bit of a wait before we ordered our food – a long enough wait that our wine glasses were topped up… hmmm. The waiter did apologise for the delay when our order was finally taken and thankfully the delay was not a sign of things to come.

I started with a dish of mackerel fillets served with a chickpea sauce, crisp shallots, yogurt and coriander, which was delicious and was a much larger portion than I was expecting. J had a starter of asparagus spears wrapped in some kind of tortilla with other bits and bobs, which she thoroughly enjoyed. We agreed that the albarino we had chosen went very well with both dishes.

During the interval between starters and main courses the cairanne we had ordered was served. This time an empty bottle was placed on the table and the wine brought in a carafe – I still felt a little uneasy about the wine not being opened at the table, but a taste of the cairanne banished any worry, it was excellent.

My main was a rolled pork belly dish served with tiny (jersey?) potatoes, extremely fresh and tasty garden vegetables and a small “something in breadcrumbs” – I could not discern any particular flavour amongst the breadcrumbs and just cannot remember what it said on the menu! Rolling the pork belly meant that flesh and fat were combined and it was very tasty. J had a veal dish for her main, with various trimmings – the veal cooked to perfection and certainly enjoyed. Once again, portions were a pretty healthy size.

Looking through choices for dessert, I was tempted by the cheese trolley but knew I was just too full to do it justice, so settled for a lemon and ricotta tart with raisins and pine nuts. Looking for a complimentary dessert wine I again sought advice from the sommelier. I wanted an italian dessert wine (if suitable) and thought that we agreed on a glass of the recioto so was rather surprised when a glass of sweet white wine was brought to the table (I was expecting something red). However, it was very nice and went very well with the divine dessert so I did not worry too much. J had a chocolate pudding with a praline parfait – and had to stop herself licking the plate clean!

We ordered coffees, which came with a bowl of the most deliciously rich chocolate truffles (one really was enough!) and a small sweet pastry (too sweet for me). I admired the heaving cheese trolley as a nearby table made their choices but knew it would have been too much for me.

We finally asked for the bill, paid and left – not long before 11pm! Service throughout the meal was friendly and professional and we were not asked to leave the table as we had been warned on booking. They are certainly on to a winning formula at Chez Bruce – it was very busy and we saw a fair turnover of tables while we were there. A small room upstairs was also in use – not sure I would be so happy eating there as it seemed rather cut off… but would be perfect for an intimate evening with your loved one!