Page 46 - Phonebox July 2013

foodie
PHONEBOX
phoneboxfoodie.wordpress.com facebook.com/phoneboxfoodie
three fyshes and a whole lot more
I've been frequenting the Three Fyshes in Turvey, on and off, since I was barely legal. It has been through many a hand, some good, some not so. My earliest memories are of a proper local, with rather more cats and dogs on the seats than customers.
On this occasion, we set off on foot from Olney in the early evening sunshine. It is a pretty route, a tad under four miles. Not long enough to burn up the calories to come unfortunately. Especially as we undertook a mini pub crawl, taking in the Robin Hood at Clifton Reynes and the Old Mill in Newton Blossomville on the way!
The pub is good - Moretti on tap, good ales and ciders. There's a drinking bit as you go through the door, with a fair few locals creating a buzz. The garden is through the conservatory. And for winter, there is a huge fireplace too.
The restaurant is separated from the bar on the other side of the building. But it was busy enough to create it's own buzz. The staff, although very young, are friendly and attentive. Rushed off their feet and a little forgetful, but in a forgiveable, charming way. (Maybe I'm getting softer in my old age.)
There were some rather nice things on the starter menu including Scallops with Black Pudding and a Smoked Venison with Blue Cheese Salad. But our party plumped for the sociable option of sharing boards - and ordered both a fish and a meat. Huge. That's the only word for them. Oh and tasty - that would be another word. The fish board came piled with smoked salmon, smoked mackerel, roll mops, whitebait, and prawns. The meat board was a mixture of salamis, parma ham, a gorgeously creamy cheese called Blue Monday, dried
tomatoes, olives and rocket. Fresh and superb quality. Crusty bread too. Whilst this type of starter might not need much cooking (there was some - the whitebait and prawns were served hot), it does need high quality ingredients to make it work, and some idea of what goes together. So far everyone was smiling. £14 per board and appetites nicely whet.
My main was a confit of duck leg at £13. It is supposed to be a dry meat, but this was a bit overcooked just in places. But the bits that weren't over dry were perfectly delicious, with a surprising tangy coating on the outside, served with really creamy, cheesy crushed potatoes and a pile of red cabbage. And mine was the only complaint of the night. The other main courses were two sirloin steaks (a medium and a medium rare). These were £15 and included two side dishes of your choice. Both were cooked spot on. Beautifully tender and packed with flavour. The chips were skin-on, chunky and they tasted good. Clearly homemade. The final dish was grilled seabass fillets served under lashings of samphire and it too was judged excellent.
The sharing boards meant we had no room for desserts or cheese board - but I will be hoping to discover more of this Blue Monday (created by ex Blur bassist Alex James apparently).
Pretty good all in all. Better than pub grub. But not over-fancy
fine dining. A focus on good ingredients, cooked sympatheti- cally. And we'll be back soon to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Save some Blue Monday for me, please.
in season...
..ten things to cook with strawberries
Love strawberry season - the smell of fresh strawberries in the veg shop is impossible to resist. It’s the taste of summer for me and I try to make the most of the season by eating them everyday. Here are some great ideas for recipes, all from www.bbcgoodfood.com
...for breakfast
Classic breakfast smoothie Strawberry brunch bruschetta
...for pudding
Strawberry rose Eton mess Strawberry and white chocolate cheesecake
...for salad
Salmon, strawberry and fennel salad
...for cake
strawberry and vanilla shortcakes strawberry and cinnamon torte
...for ice cream
Strawberry creme fraiche ice cream Strawberry milkpops
...for jam
Soft set strawberry & pimms jam
46 Phonebox Magazine