Palmers is a new British/European restaurant which opened about 2 years ago on Roman Road. For anyone who knows the area it used to be Winkle’s seafood restaurant. It is run by a Czech family. The father works front of house and his sons are the chefs.
I visited this restaurant along with my friend and semi regular eating companion on a Monday Miss S for a meal. Starters cost between £4 and £7 and mains cost between £8 and £20. The menu changes approximately once every 3 weeks.
There were 5 starters including Mackerel with a horse radish sauce, Pork and Black Pudding Terrine with home made piccalilli, Charcuterie (mixture of cooked cured meats)with pickles, Garlic Prawns and Buillabaisse (French fish stew).
I chose Pork and Black Pudding Terrine and miss S chose Garlic Prawns. Both portions were reasonably generous. The Pork and black pudding terrine was served with a mixture of pickled vegetables including green beans, cucumber, cauliflower and pickled onions. Both dishes came with good quality fresh bread and butter. The terrine was meaty with good quality black pudding and the prawns were cooked with plenty of garlic. Over all we were both very satisfied with the starters and I would have happily chosen any of them.
The mains included 3 different steaks i.e. rump, ribeye or fillet all served with home made chips and salad, Piri-Piri chicken with new potato salad, Lamb cutlets on a bed of puy lentils, Lemon Dover Sole, and vegetable risotto made into balls, fried in breadcrumbs and served in a tomato sauce.
Miss S and myself both opted for steaks. I had the 10 ounce ribeye steak which was beautifully tender. It came with home made chunky chips and salad. The chips were crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. The steak was also served with a pot of Chimichurri and a pot of Béarnaise sauce because I wanted to try both! Chimichurri sauce is similar to salsa and Béarnaise sauce is clarified butter emulsified in egg yolks with various flavourings including shallots, Chervil, peppercorn and Tarragon. It has the consistency of slightly thin mayonnaise with a very buttery slightly peppery flavour. I preferred the Chimichurri. I also had Sauerkraut as a side dish which was nice but slightly under flavoured compared to German versions of this dish that I have tried.
The whole meal was in general perfectly cooked and while at £16 for the steak it might not be the cheapest 10 ounce ribeye I have eaten, it was among the nicest I have ever had.
Miss S had the fillet steak and she also says it was beautifully tender.
For dessert I had chocolate pudding. This was really a chocolate fondant pudding. The outside was hard and the inside was beautifully rich. It was clearly made with dark chocolate. Miss S also had this and found the chocolate to be a bit strong and overpowering. It really was a chocolate lover’s dream. Miss S also opted for a second dessert. She had an apple crumble with pistachio custard. She did not seem that keen on this pudding but I was too full to try it.
We shared a bottle of fairly pleasant drinkable southafrican red wine which cost about £16
And had an Irish coffee each. A 3 course meal each with whine and a liqueur coffee will set you back about £40 but the quality of food was excellent and the owner of the restaurant was talkative and knowledgeable about his food. I am told a Sunday roast costs about £10.95 so I am going to try it in the next few weeks.
I give this restaurant 7.5 out of 10. I would have liked some slightly more unusual main dishes though I could have easily had any of the starters or desserts no matter what the menu. There are only 5 or 6 dishes for each course so this may not be the ideal restaurant for fussy eaters.
I will be visiting this restaurant again without a doubt and I am looking forward to it.
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