The Mistley Thorn

Another one of those hotel restaurant combination in a “country town”. I fell in love with this as soon as I saw it, and luckily, the food lived up to my expectations.

Food

I wanted everything on the menu, and actually, between the four of us, we got to try quite a lot. Feeling especially greedy, we started with some Colchester Native Oysters served raw with ginger shallot mignonette (£1.75 each) and Mersea Isalnd Rock Oysters served raw with ginger shallot mignonette (£7.50 ½ dozen) to share. The Colchester were a bit like Sydney Rocks while the Mersea were like Coffin Bay ones. They each had their good points, and I was very happy, but that could also be due to the fact that I was downing a skippers, a locally brewed beer.

Entrees:

• Grilled whole sardines in garlic butter (£6.95) - was actually the weakest entrée of the night. I guess the nicest sardines are the ones that are simply grilled, with nothing else. These sardines are not as nice as the ones my parents buy, so …
• Saffron and Glove Artichoke Risotto with Parmesan Cheese (£6.95) - was a huge plate, even though I had asked for the “small”. The risotto was actually better than the one from Midsummer House, nicely balanced by the saffron, the grains al dente.
• Roasted Pear Salad (£6.25) with Endive, Hazelnuts, st Agur Blue cheese and Walnut Vinaigrette - I only tried a little bit of this, but the sauce was out of this world. The salad leaves were so fresh, I think they might’ve come from the back garden.
• Dayboat Calamari a la Plancha with Chilli, Garlic, Coriander - was cooked to perfection, not chewy, with a slightly tangy sauce.

Main:

• Roast Rack of Lamb in a Herb Crust with Wholegrain Mustard Mash, Mint Vinaigrette & Seasonal Vegetables - a very good choice. There weren’t that many pieces, but it was about quality, not quantity. The vegetables were outstanding again.
• Grilled Skate with Caramelised garlic, Smoked Paprika, A Mano Olive Oil, Local New Potatoes & Alison's Organic salad Leaves (£13.95) - was a little heavy on the spicing, but luckily it suited this fish well. The potatoes were so heavenly. They were so soft and buttery.
• Cioppino a "Cal Ital" Seafood Stew with Local Fresh Fish, Shellfish, Tomato and herbs served with garlic crostini - I only got a small bite of this, but they balanced the flavours very well, I don’t know how good the quality of the seafood is though.
• Roasted Deben Duck Breast with Red Wine Cherry Sauce, Root Vegetable Rosti & Savoy Cabbage - for me, the best dish of the night. The duck breast was gamey, with just the right amount of fat for flavour.
• Handcut Fries (£2.25) again tasted like those new potatoes, so buttery and creamy

Dessert:

• Warm Sticky Toffee Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream
  - stock standard. Not that it’s bad, it’s just that by now I expected a lot more.
• ice cream and sorbet - quite nice, but again, nothing out of the ordinary.

sick of seeing the usual foam, Espresso was the order. As usual, it was not good.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

This was another hotel and restaurant and pub combination that litter the English countryside. We found that it was very modern, with clean lines in the design. There was an open fire, and the clienteles are local, enjoying a drink at the very modern and not at all seedy bar, before settling down to dinner and a chat with the waiters. There was a complaint about the wicker chairs though, it hurts if you have no fat in your bum, but I had no problems with that one.

Rating - 2.5

Service

The waiters were quite casual, but very accommodating. They were friendly, which I liked. It seemed they had a long day with the lunch crowd though, and were a bit disorganised for dinner to start with. They did manage to pull themselves together later to offer us a very enjoyable experience.

Rating - 3.5

C-factor

They normally have a 3-2-1 special, where you can eat 3 courses each for 2 people and pay only £25!! Unfortunately the deal was not available as it was a Bank holiday, but I think it was still good value for the quality of food we enjoyed.

Rating - 1.5

Brownie Points - 15

Info

High Street
Mistley
Essex
CO11 1HE
Phone +44 (0) 12 0639 2821
Website