rory's blog

Yesterday evening I took Mandy out to Stéfans Brasserie which is in Westcliff-On-Sea. It was about 15 minutes drive from us. The meal was fairly good, but the service was very slow. It took one hour to get our main courses and with Mandy being pretty tired, because of Freya (she has a cold) that wasn't good. The starters and the desserts were the best thing about the meal.

Starters

Butter Beans Bruschetta Gremolata (wild Roquette, continental parsley and lemon) £5.50 - Good and very garlicky

Seared Peppered Yellow Fin Tuna, Wild Roquette and Vegetable Crisps, Wasabi Paste £5.75 - Excellent: the tuna was a deep red colour, Japanese with a French influence

Mains

Grilled Rib Eye Steak, Pease Pudding and Mature Cheddar Cake, Field Mushrooms and Sherry Sauce £17.95 - Overwhelmed by the sauce, couldn't distinguish the individual flavours

Roasted Barbary Duck Breast, Celeriac Puree, Prune and Cabernet Sauvignon Sauce, Parsnip Crisps £15.50 - Pretty non-descript and a fairly small portion.

Desserts

Lemon Tart, Raspberry Sorbet, Honeyed Mascarpone £5.25 - Good pastry and exquisite lemon flavour. The sorbet was beautiful.

Crème Catalan, Winter Berries Compote £5.75 - Lovely crème brûlée with loads of real vanilla.

We also had the worst seat in the house and I was facing a wall next to the stairs. The ambience was fairly good until they turned on the Barry White which didn't really compliment a French restaurant.

We may try the brasserie again, but this time for lunch.