~pjgh

“Let’s go to Inn Cognito”, I said.

We’d not been for a good couple of years, the couple of times previous we found the place a little tired. The menu offers a good standard of Mexican, Italian, steaks, burgers and so on but felt a little too much like a posh chain, rather than an individual restaurant. The specials board is always interesting and of a good standard, too.

The specials board was full of interesting options which we both ate from, but could not pass up one of their tomato and garlic pizza breads for a pre-starter. Awesome! So simple, so perfect!

Greeted after all this time by a massive smile and a gratuity from Stephen, the Chef. The place felt good. We were seated near the hatch into the kitchen and could see and hear a lot of what was going on in the kitchen - hard work, basically. It was also good to hear how courteous the Chef was to his staff when asked if he wanted another drink and during a quieter time later on explaining to the waitresses what was going into a pie he was making that was no doubt destined for the specials board the following day.

Starters? Well, my wife decided to go straight for a main but I could not pass up on the Warm Salad of Duck and Black Pudding. In a word, fantastic! I loved it. I know … I know … it’s not hard to slice some duck, fry from black pudding and pop it over some salad leaves with a little jus over the top,  but this is exactly what the Chef does so well - classic combinations without messing it up by over complicating or crowding the ingredients.

Mains? My wife had a Chicken Piri Piri and I went for the Lamb Kleftico which arrived in a paper bag still sizzling away with the oils inside.

Wow! Wow to both - the Chicken Piri Piri was accompanied by some small sauteed potatoes, tossed with chorizo slices. There were a few fresh vegetables alongside, too - you know, mini corn on the cobs, mange tout and carrots. Classic, simple and just perfect. Perfect and HUGE!

My lamb was just stunning - a very generous piece of meat cooked to absolute perfection and accompanied with slices of potato and whole mini carrots cooked in with the meat. The slow cooking made a sumptuous dish that was sheer perfection for me … and when the richness of the meat got too much, there were the little pieces of feta in there, too which pierced the dish with little shards of astringency at exactly the right moments.

Fantastic! Afters? What better than an assortment of ice creams - vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. Baileys liquer coffee for the Mrs.

Both stuffed, very happy and more so that the place seems to be back on its feet after what felt like a flat line for a couple of years. Chef Stephen Bray has got his groove back and after more than 25 years in the same place, that’s no mean feat!

The cost was just over £50 which included four pints of Guinness and an orange juice. The orange juice was for me LOL! Oh, go on, then yes … the Guinnesses were for me!

I happily give the place 8/10 - it was quite late when we ate, having arrived at just after nine in the evening. The standard menu is the staple of the place - easy, varied and always of a good standard. The specials board is varied, interesting and just full of classic combinations done well, not over-complcated and on the whole exactly what you want for a good night out.

I’m sorry, but I have to say that this is one of the worst meals at this kind of price I have eaten in a long time. We decided to try La Rue again after some years where previously we had not enjoyed it; not enjoyed it on more than one occasion.

“It’s changed”, say people.

The place was full, which boded well. A little hot for a summer evening, but comfortable and thankfully the music was not on too loud to hear each other.

Had it changed? Well, it hadn’t! From the outset, the choice of pre-dinner drinks was abysmal and the poor waitresses had no idea about anything other than, “there’s beer” pointing to the lager and “… erm … some shots”. Great! I’ll have the German Pils, the only draught beer, which clearly tasted of maize and so could not be a German Pils. Oh well … let’s hope the food is better.

What a bizarre menu! I’m all for adventurous, but taking a classic combination and sticking a polar opposite from out in left field just because, well it just doesn’t work. That went on through the starters to the mains. Scrabbling for something that I could eat, I opted for a Kofta starter with some out of the bottle chilli sauce and a tzatziki without the ziki! My wife had a smoked haddock and pea tart, which turned to the be pureed, rather missing the point of beautiful flakes of smoked haddock and rather tasted of baby food! My good lady said she enjoyed it, though. Oh, the Kofta was on a tortilla! What? Yes, I know …

The mains faired no better. I had lamb shank in a roasted Mediterranean vegetable jus with garlic potatoes. Gorgeous, except for the flavour … which jarred between the roasted vegetable jus and the creamy garlic potato gratin. Nooooo … crushed garlic potatoes. Did I say, classic combinations with a left field entry?

My wife had a piece of salmon, which could have been good if it had been cooked in butter to bring out the sumptuous flavour of the fish and was served with an utterly tasteless risotto. Tasteless? Yes, clearly no use of a good stock made from left over bones, most likely water, salt and perhaps a splash of wine. Even lemon juice would have lifted it a little.

Puddings. How can they mess this up? Well, I was so fed up by this point, I asked for a mix and match from a couple of dishes so as to avoid the bizarre combinations and opted for a custard tart with some vanilla ice cream rather than the chocolate ice cream it was billed with. Finally, I’d found something on the menu that worked, yet I’d had to put it together. I forget what my wife had, but she left it. Just reading this through, apparently it was cheesecake and “one of the worst cheesecake”, no make that “the worst cheesecakes” she’s ever had!

How disappointing!

I got a decent grappa at the end to take the taste away and my wife had a coffee, which they’d manage to burn. Oh well, we won’t be going there again.

Sounding most pompous, I should suggest that the chef find a culinary primer course in classic combinations and stick to it - the basics are good, but when put together simply do not work.

Cost? About £65 including the wine at £20 ish.

I can’t even give the place 1/10 - there were no saving graces. I simply cannot recommend this to anyone. No, in fact, I can give it 1/10 for the really good Georges DeBoeuf Fleurie we had with the meal. That was good.