Opulence

Cathedral Quarter House, 16 St Mary’s Gate, Derby , DE1 3JR

www.cathedralquarterhotel.com

This place is amazing with its panelled walls and intricate plasterwork on the ceilings.  It manages to mix the Victorian elegance with hints of modern class very well.  My friend and I were delighted by the non-alcoholic cocktail as we waited in the bar to be seated. 

On browsing the menu we both decided on salad of Dorset crab to start, followed by bream for main.  It was to our amazement that we were then given a complimentary piece of foie gras (please check out this link to find out how it is produced).  My partner who does not eat meat but does eat fish would have been shocked had he have been there.  Anyway, knowing what the poor animal had been through to provide the chef with this product, I told the waiter to send it back to the Chef.  My friend decided to try hers and I am sad to say that she didn’t like it and described the taste to be like eating a plate of lard. 

We did not let this spoil our meal though, which I can say was of the top most quality and one of the most memorable meals that I had eaten in a long time.  All the flavours danced on your tongue leaving you with a feeling of complete satisfaction.

Dessert was titled “Strawberries and cream”, which I know sounds boring but just read the description from the menu before you decide.  Strawberry jelly, panacotta, marinated strawberries, basil ice cream.  May I say this was my most favourite part of the meal and the basil ice cream was so unbelievably good that I felt like I was in heaven.  If only I could eat it everyday. 

Now, this is going to shock you despite giving this restaurant a 10/10 for food and a 7/10 for service, I am afraid I shall not be going back until the foie gras is deleted from the menu.  If you feel you can read the link and still partake in food that is produced in this fashion, then I will recommend this as a great restaurant to try but if the link puts you off in any way then please, please, please boycott all restaurants that serve foie gras.  By boycotting them, hopefully the chef’s will see sense to stop serving it.