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| Cherwell Boathouse |
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There is something very therapeutic about being close to water and this certainly proved to be the case when I had the pleasure of dining at the Cherwell Boathouse recently. My friend Angie joined me; she is a former a restaurateur so she was an ideal dining partner for the job in hand.
The punts moored up below the restaurant provided a wonderful backdrop for this very special Oxford restaurant, and despite it being a wet July evening it still gave us a feeling of calm. We were warmly welcomed as we stepped into the restaurant. This is always a good sign; in my experience, if they fail to acknowledge you it is rarely backed up with good service. We declined a drink before we sat down and chose to go straight to our table overlooking the punts.
The menus were interesting and had no shortage of appealing courses. We opted for the 3 course set menu at £25.00 per person rather than the à la carte. A bottle of sparkling Blenheim water and wonderful bottle of ‘Oxford Dry’ white wine grown locally at the Bothy vineyard in Frilford Heath made up the liquid refreshment. The bread served was an unusual but wonderfully tasty mix of ginger and coriander.
We chose crispy Cornish squid with shredded mango, cucumber, lime and coriander salsa for one starter and shredded sweet chilli duck leg with an oriental vegetable sesame salad for the other. For our main course we opted for the Herb crusted Hake with Nicoise salad and the crisp belly of pork with white bean puree, apple croquette potatoes and cider dressing. The flavours were good, the hake was beautifully cooked, and the crisp belly of pork was great.
We now turned out attention to the pudding: a chocolate cup filled with a glorious passion fruit mousse with summer fruit compote, a New York cheesecake with a strawberry milkshake, and the most amazing popping candy that pinged in your mouth when you least expected it. Both delicious.
A delightful dinner. We will certainly be recommending the restaurant to our visiting clients staying in our serviced accommodation and to our friends. Many thanks to the Cherwell Boathouse for an enjoyable evening.
Reviewed by Emma Righton |
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