A ONE OF A KIND FINE DINING EXPERIENCE

Stunning, Innovative and Artistic Forage’s exterior decoration matches its amazing menu.

You cannot fail to be drawn into this new social dining restaurant by the profusion of flowers round its door and over its historic outside stonework.

Forage is housed in a building that dates back centuries but the design and decor of the restaurant is amazing with small windows giving lots of natural light, lots of foliage and small trees and a rather magical ambience.

But it’s the restaurants contemporary eclectic cuisine, cooked over fire that features local, foraged and fresh ingredients that is the star of this show.

The restaurant runs a ‘waste-less’ kitchen so excess cuts of high-quality fruits, vegetables and other foods such as coffee grounds are carefully curated into flavour rubs and dressings, marmalades and vinaigrettes, through to pickled snacks and crisps.

On a rather warm day the interior of Forage was cool and comforting. The maître-de explained how the summer menu is designed in the form of small plates perfect for social dining and sharing with friends or to relax and just graze as you go!

He recommended that we each choose three dishes which looking at the menu was going to be a very difficult choice as everything looked so good. The plates come out tapas style and we were impressed by the cast-iron dishes they were served on meaning they kept hot for absolutely ages.

One of the first out dishes was the Yorkshire Pecorino Stuffed Flatbread with wild garlic butter and Zaatar, a Middle Eastern spice that gave it an aromatic flavour with citrus undertones and a hint of nuttiness. The flatbread was light generously filled with the Yorkshire Pecorino cheese.

The Forage Fried Chicken with a smoked chilli mayo was a large portion of tender chicken breaded. The chicken was just so tender and the chilli mayo was just the right accompaniment as it wasn’t too hot in taste.

Pan Fried Scallops followed next and these were cooked to perfection. They came with a delicious pea and wild garlic puree, potato scraps, nasturtium and sea herbs and curry – but so we could share we asked for the curry on the side. The presentation of this dish deserved an Oscar. The potato scraps were crisp the perfect accompaniment to the scallops.

The humble potato had never tasted so good as it did at Forage in the form of Confit Potatoes with a wild garlic emulsion. The potato had been very finely grated and then shaped and cooked to make it beautifully crispy yet it was still very light.

Another fish dish was Flame Grilled Prawns with Herb Zhug. These were cooked well but we found them very difficult to peel and some of the meat was wasted, however, the meat we did salvage was succulent. The Herb Zhug is a Middle Eastern oil and herb based sauce but it is very hot so be warned.

Our last small plate was Halloumi with peppered honey, Khadafi pastry and pistachio. This almost a Turkish dish and according to my colleague ‘absolutely delicious’ and paved the way for our desserts.

All of our small plates matched the restaurant owner, Callum Houston’s philosophy for his small plate dining to combined contemporary fusion cooking from across the world with locally sourced and foraged ingredients for fresh and eco friendly flavours.

Whilst waiting for our desserts we discovered a very secret small secret garden in the restaurant – perfect for a cheeky glass of wine between courses.

Only small it felt almost oriental and was furnished with some very comfortable chairs with comfy cushions.

We were both totally blown away by our desserts. Mine was a lemon meringue and was still hot from the oven with a wonderful fusion of flavours and sparkling gold pieces on the top. I had never experienced before and I am a dessertholic.

But nothing could prepare my colleague for her Strawberry Mille Fuille served with Sorbet. The flakey pastry was just so flakey and the strawberry filling so delicious.

Both these sweets were beautifully presented and more than ‘Heaven on a Plate’ they were in fact’ The Ultimate Heaven on a Plate.’

Forage is the kind of restaurant that can be anything you want it to be. Its perfect for any special occasion, shopping trip or girlie gossip lunch, a romantic date night or a family celebratio or just somewhere to go for a special treat to rewards yourselves.

The staff are so efficient and nothing is too much trouble for them and what’s more they really know their food and how it tastes and its flavour.

Forage’s menu changes every month and the menu contains a good selection of vegetarian choices but they ask, if you can inform them if you require vegan, so this can be produced.