Thursday 4 November 2010

Casamia: the experience




Before I go on I must confess that I have a slightly bias opinion with regards to this restaurant, but I will try to be as truthful and fair as possible.

Behind a wrought iron gate and down a dimly lit passage in the sleepy suburb of Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, lies Casamia Restaurant. Owned by the Sanchez family, this really is a family affair. Brothers Jonray and Peter are the creative minds in the kitchen and parents Paco and Susan are the calming, charming influence front of house.



I opted for Menu 2 which is a tasting menu of 9 courses. The combination of traditional techniques and ingredients blended with modern practices was fantastic. The meal started as it meant to go on with a scrambled duck egg, cured pig and winter savoury. It was brought to the table in a hollowed out duck egg and served in a egg box. The textures were perfect, the soft scrambled egg intwined with delicious small cubes of cured pork with the light and airy winter savoury was a sensory jumpstart to the rest of the meal.





The centre piece of the tasting menu was the Saddle of Lamb, Kidney, Parsley, Carrot and Pine Nuts. This simple sounding dish was jam packed with flavours. The Lamb was cooked beautifully, the carrots were sweet and deep with flavour, the kidneys helped to boost the meaty flavours and the parsley emulsion lifted the whole dish with it's fragrance. It was simple elegance.




This next dish is probably the one that will stick in my memory as the stand out of the meal. It was a very clever way of combining your senses while eating. Just before the dessert was brought to the table, they brought out a mini fruit bowl with a cox apple and a sort of bouquet garnie of winter spices. The main plate of the dessert was a cox's apple done in a couple of ways. In a smooth puree and also in small cubes. This was served with roasted almond ice-cream. Just before I was about to dive into the ice-cream the waitress poured liquid nitrogen over the mini fruit bowl, causing the reaction seen above. This somehow intensified the aromas in the fruit bowl of the winter spices and apple. As it wafted around the table and our plates we ate the dessert. It was superb. The combination of smell and taste was really interesting, as the aroma seemed to intensify the taste of the dessert, and well, the ice-cream was delicious anyway!

Casamia has been awarded a Michelin star, but should have many more in my opinion. As you may recall, I have a bias toward this super restaurant, but i can honestly say that there was not one little thing that disappointed me. The incredible food created by Jonray and Peter and fabulously personal service given by Paco and Susan is a credit to Bristol. I wish them all luck for the final of Ramsay's Best Restaurant next week and looking forward to continuing to work closely together.

www.casamiarestaurant.co.uk



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