Bits of Harry Potter were filmed here, and it is probably one of the few places in the world to be described as new, whilst being over five centuries old.
Formal Hall, in Oxford colleges, tend to mean a served meal, where students are required to dress in academic gowns, and the food is slightly better than usual. In the newer colleges (it's all relative), Formal Hall occurs once a week, and is, indeed, a three course meal a cut above the usual hall servery. In the older colleges, of which New is definitely one, a canteen style meal is served around 630, and a second, formal, sitting at 730. Although this is a served three course meal, the food is identical to the previous sitting, and has had the benefit of being kept warm for an hour longer. Yum.
The entree of carrot and coriander soup was replaced with potato and leek at short notice, apparently, because they ran out. A great start.
Mains were: lamb cassoulet, three bean stack for vegetarians, served with new potatoes and carrots.
The lamb was cooked decently, being tender and still flavourful, but it wasn't cassoulet. It was simply stewed in tomato sauce, with very little depth in flavour, and tasting of little other than tomato. It was quite nice a tomato sauce, mind you, being full of fruit and not at all acidic. The menu had read creamed potatoes, but apparently that had run out as well.
Choux with cream and chocolate.
There was a New and Christ Church crew date on, that night. What that is takes a whole different post to explain. A taster is that we left them as one of the fine young gentlemen swigged lager from his shoe. Public schoolboys, eh?
Guest Night
The following Friday saw us at the New College Guest Night, which is an opportunity for students to invite friends and show off what the college chefs can do. It also coincided with Halloween, and a 'bop' after dinner. The price is also higher, at £10 per head, rather than the usual £4-5 for formal hall dinners.
The menu was promising, although, what on earth is 'foie gras mash'?? Chunks of liver in my mashed potato? Why? Truffles, yum. Almost any spice or herb, yum. Lumps of liver? how does that add taste or texture contrasts that would accentuate the creaminess of the mash?
Dinner began well: the smoked salmon was delicious. Silky, smooth, not at all salty, and refreshingly matched with the cucumber parpadelle, and a very tasty salsa-verde/pesto. The blini was a very odd texture. Not bad, per se, but with no bite at all, it was too mushy for my liking.
The vegetarian entree was half an artichoke, and some sort of mushroom. Our vegetarian friend, HW, didn't like the mushroom, and didn't even realised that the artichoke was indeed that, and merely played with it.
The filet mignon was a devastating disappointment. Being the avid steak lovers that A and I both are, being served boiled meat is a cruel stab in the gut. Even in the dim candle lit great hall, we could see that the meat was at best flaccid and grey, and a quick prod confirmed that they were well-done, killing any appeal that filet mignon might have had.
Parsnip chips were soft and chewy, not a good description for anything listed as a 'chip'. The foie gras mash was, as expected, extremely confusing. My (very very dry) mash had a lump of liver in it, as did A's. I am fairly certain that it was exactly that - liver - not the creamy, buttery goodness that is foie gras. Tasteless, chewy, and an unappetising grey, it failed to impress. The mash itself not only failed because of its dryness, but was also cooling rapidly due to the difficulties in serving 150 steaks simultaneously.
The vegetarian stack, I am told, was fine. What would you expect from a vegetarian?
The dessert was interesting. Tasty, but so oddly executed. The iced lemon parfait tasted beautiful, but was frozen so solid that the entire table was casually guarding plates with their left hand, and surreptitiously prodding gently with their right. Apparent on everybody's faces was the understanding that pushing too hard with a spoon would mean an airborne parfait, showers of raspberry, and certain ignominy.
Good company, flowing wine, silly costumes and the promise of a long party downstairs certainly perked up the evening.
On the way home, we came across the new kebab van to take residence outside the Taylorian entrance to the University Museum, the Ashmoleon. Owned by he same guy who has the healthy meals place in the covered market, this is an attempt at a 'gourmet' burger. More expensive than the usual kebab followed by a good puke, at approximately £3 per burger it was still an affordable deal.
Bah, so many pansy, fruity, vegetarian choices. Tofu steak? That's not a steak! If it didn't suffer, then I'm not eating it. Or something like that.
I had a cheese burger, with gruyere. A chose the steak burger, also served with cheese. My beefburger was unceremoniously smacked on to the hotplate as a ball, and smooshed down by the cook. A very asymmetric patty was formed, and I was certain that it would fall apart. What resulted was a floury bap sandwiched around a delicious beef patty, made from beef!, topped with salad (not brown lettuce), guacamole, salsa, and grilled gruyere. Delicious. Not enough red meat for me, but absolutely delicious.
A's steak burger was made up of very thinly sliced strips of a cheap cut of beef (probably, at best, topside), marinaded in soy sauce and other flavours (possibly worcester sauce, and something sweet). With a selection of sauces, it tasted divine.
If you're in Oxford, and end up turfed out of your favourite local, hunt down this little gem and enjoy a fabulous burger. Just don't get taken in by that vegetarian stuff.
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1 comment:
Mm, tofu steak! I'll have to remember that place next time I'm in Oxford.
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