Autumn arrived suddenly, it seemed, so when booking a table at the Weeping Willow in Barrow, I did feel I needed to stress: “A table inside, please… not in the tipi.” That seemed a good decision when we arrived in the dark – and though the impressive canvas construction in the garden looked warm and welcoming, I was glad we were heading through the traditional-looking pub to the modern dining area at the back.
The Weeping Willow is part of the Chestnut group which includes the Northgate in Bury St Edmunds, the Packhorse in Moulton and more. There’s a common theme of modern British dining in comfortably modern interiors – but every venue is different, with its own character and its own chef delivering their own dishes.
It looks promising from the menu. I can’t see a single dish that doesn’t get the tastebuds tingling in anticipation – indecisive diners could be stuck for some time. There’s a good selection of vegetarian options, including one or two vegan ones for each course. In the end, in the interests of pseudo-science, my partner Ali and I decide to do a comparative test of Scotch egg starters.
I've gone for the conventional meat-based one: the 'Dingley Dell' black pudding Scotch egg with hispi summer slaw (£7). It arrives, cut in half with the yolk an appealingly liquid fold. I confess, my initial reaction is that it isn't the biggest portion, but it's deceptive - there's a lot of good eating on the plate, with a robust but not overpowering meatiness from the crisp black-pudding case complementing the iron-strength of the egg. The slaw is fresh, almost like a palette cleanser after that. It's actually the perfect size for a starter.
Ali's vegetarian version is the avocado, pea and edamame bean Scotch egg with fennel, mango and chive remoulade (£7) which arrives sealed, building a bit of drama into the dinner at an early stage: would the yolk be soft? Slicing it open, it's perfect. "It takes some skill to judge that," Ali notes. "All the white is firm but the yolk's still runny and the outside is perfect." It is indeed - crunchy exterior over melting body that, despite being all plant, has a suitable richness to work with the egg. "It tastes like the best avocado on toast ever," Ali concludes.
The 11 mains range in price from £15 (field mushroom and avocado burger) to £26 (10oz sirloin with all the trimmings) and frankly all of them look appetising. Pescatarian Ali opts for the fillet of seabass with spaghetti puttanesca, wild rocket and broad bean salad (£17), which arrives looking very impressive, with the fish balanced on top of a tower of pasta, rich with anchovy, olive and tomato. How does it taste? "Really good," she hesitates. "It's not wow-ing me. But it's really good."
That makes perfect sense to me. I've opted for the chargrilled chicken, with avocado, Suffolk prosciutto, house salad, and poached ‘Rattlesden’ egg (£15.25). I'm not bowled away by the presentation, with the chicken and slightly untidily poached egg largely buried apologetically under the salad.
I'm not fussed if a poached egg has some stringy white - it's well cooked and tastes great; the chicken is succulent and well seasoned; the prosciutto... well, to be fair a bit of bacon with more smoke and less pedigree might serve the dish better. But all those elements are lovely and work together in delicious harmony. But the slightly damp, undressed salad just seems to wash a lot of the flavour away. It is really good... but it's not wow-ing me, either.
What does wow me a little is the side dish... There are a range of potato-based options and we've opted to share the dirty posh chips (£5.50) which are generously sliced, fluffy, doused with Parmesan, truffle oil, and béarnaise and peppercorn sauce. They're nice dunked in the little pot of bearnaise, but get better the more you get into them, as much of the peppercorn sauce is the bottom of the container and it's simply fabulous.
While eating the main, we've been playing the game - you know it, I'm sure you play it too: what's that desert coming out of the kitchen? Trying to guess which one to go for, especially as, again, on paper every one of the eight options looks like it has the potential to be great. I'd more-or-less settled on the cheese board (£9) until I saw the sticky toffee pudding, butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream (£7) arrive at the next table... That's the one for me, I thought.
It is a good choice: a lovely light sponge pudding, a gangbuster of a butterscotch sauce and a lovely quenelle of ice cream to cut through the rich sugariness of it all. Absolutely delicious.
Ali has gone for the chocolate fondant, dark chocolate aero, raspberry sorbet and pistachio curd (£7). "That's the most incredible thing I've ever tasted," she says after the first brush with the aero. I'm allowed a (small) sample and it is noteworthy: it feels momentarily solid, then disappears leaving you with a rich chocolate taste and a smile. The star of the show, though, is the fondant. This is oozily excellent, rich as it should be with a great contrast between the firm exterior and the runny middle.
The other two elements divide the jury, though we both thing there only needs to be three things on the plate. Ali doesn't like the pistachio curd, which I think is wonderful; I find the sorbet too sharp, but she loves the way it cuts through the rich chocolate tones of the aero and the fondant. Maybe we're both wrong and they do both need to be there? Either way, that's a great pudding.
Our meal - with one glass of wine and pint of shandy (I was driving, okay) comes to £72.85 - which I think is excellent value. It's a lovely venue, the service is efficient but not intrusive and the food is great - perhaps equal parts brilliant and ordinary, but that's still a very high standard overall. Was there a bit of wow there at the end? Maybe... it certainly is really good. I'd strongly recommend a visit.
The Weeping Willow
39 Bury Rd, Barrow Hill, Barrow, Bury Saint Edmunds, IP29 5AB
Tel: 01284 771881
www.theweepingwillow.co.uk
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