The Hengist, Aylesford

A last minute decision yesterday to reward ourselves for getting so much of the decorating done in our bedroom this week lead to a late booking for lunch at the Michelin recommended Hengist in Aylesford High Street.  The restaurant is one of four owned by renowned chef and restauranteur Richard Phillips (the other three being Thackery's in Tunbridge Wells, Richard Phillips at Chapel Down outside Tenterden and the most recent member of the chain, Pearsons Oyster House in Whitstable) set in an unassuming building that could easily be mistaken for a private house if you were simply walking past.

At lunchtimes the restaurant offers a menu du jour which is such a bargain it is hard to ignore.  A short menu featuring just three starters, three main courses and two deserts or cheese at the amazing price of just £12.95 for two course or £14.95 for all three.  There is a small surcharge for the cheese in place of desert, but given the local cheeses on offer that is only to be expected.  The choice is not limited to the menu du jour though, oh no!  There is the full à la carte menu, featuring a variety of local produce, with main courses starting from around £18, or for the gourmand there is the chefs tasting menu.  For just £48 the hungry and adventurous diner can wade through several exciting and fascinating sounding courses (some of which present the choice of two dishes).  If you are not the designated driver, then go for the £65 option and enjoy a glass of appropriately selected wine with each course.

The dining room circles around an ancient brick fireplace and chimney, clearly the result of knocking two rooms into one.  The effect is a good one, as it lends a certain intimacy, when there can only ever be a maximum of two other tables in your immediate area.  As you might expect in such an old building, the ceilings are heavily beamed and the whole place has a cozy feel.

After ordering, but before our starters arrived we were treated to a choice of three home made breads.  There was a cheese bread, a roasted pepper and tomato bread and most intriguing of all, a rum and prune bread.  We tried all three, and all three were delicious.  I'm not sure I could have told you what the rum and prune bread was in a blind taste testing, but I enjoyed it all the same.

Only a minute or two later the waitresses reappeared with two espresso cups filled with an amuse bouche, compliments of the chef.  It was a veloute (velvet textured creamy soup) of courgette, crème fraiche and basil.  Now, I'm not a fan of courgettes.  I'm not crazy about crème fraiche, either.  But I drained every drop of it and was tempted to see if I could reach the bottom of the cup with my tongue!  My bouche was certainly amused, that's for sure.

In a vain attempt to be good, we decided to stick with the menu du jour today.  The choices were far from easy to make, even given just three options.  To start, Dee chose the paté de campagne, with à la grecque garnish and balsamic and honey jus, while I opted for mille-feuille of cured red mullet with smoked aubergine caviar and tomato and cumin dressing.  The overlooked choice was a plum tomato consommé with truffle, mushroom and black pepper ravioli.  As we hoped, and secretly expected, the starters were a delight to look at and even better to eat.

The paté was rough cut and served with lightly toasted bread and an assortment of pickled vegetables.  Rich, filling, meaty....everything you want from a paté.  My mullet, however, was nothing like I was expecting.  In my mind I had built a picture of a hot fillet of mullet in between layers of the mille-feuille pastry, what arrived was a cold piece of pickled fish on top of some discs of pastry, garnished with the caviar and sauce.  Once again, my preconceptions were shattered and I enjoyed every single mouthful.  My only criticism would be that the cured red mullet was a little too pickled, the vinegar overtones could easily have overpowered the dish.  The smoked aubergine caviar was strong enough flavoured to cut through that though and bring it all together.

Just for a change, I broke another of my rules and had a glass of white wine with my lunch.  (What?  I hear you cry!  Not drinking red?)  Having ordered two fish dishes, I thought I'd better stick with white for a change.  On the extensive wine list was a 2009 Granfort chardonnay from the Languedoc region that we visited in May, and at just a few pence more per glass than the house white I thought I'd give it a try.  Then I thought I'd better give it another try as the first glass seemed to evaporate before my very eyes.  As many of you who know me will already be aware, I usually practice the ABC rule of choosing white wine (that's Anything But Chardonnay) but on this occasion I'm glad I didn't because it was delicious.

For our main courses we both chose a fish dish.  I opted for herb crusted salmon with horseradish creamed potato and beetroot puree, while Dee chose the steamed south coast plaice with butter bean puree, palourde clams and citrus risotto.  While I enjoyed my dish immensely, I have to give this round to Dee.  Her plaice was presented beautifully and just melted in the mouth.  The risotto was a little sharp on its own, but with the sweetness of the clams and butter beans the flavours combined very well.  My salmon was cooked to perfection, but the herb crust was more like a herb jelly than a crust.  The horseradish creamed potatoes were a revelation! All the flavour of horseradish but with none of the heat.  Once again, the whole dish was balanced by the beetroot puree adding a rich depth to the over all flavour.

We chose to share a dish of mixed vegetables as a side order, which consisted of buttered Jersey Royal potatoes, sugar snap peas, fine green beans with beurre rouge and sweet and sour carrots.  All delicious, all interesting (in a way that vegetables so often are not!) and it was a great shame that the green beans were so al-dente they were almost raw because other than that they were tasty, well thought out dishes.

I'm sure you've all guessed by now that neither Dee nor I like desserts very much, so it was with nothing but a sense of duty to the loyal readers of this blog that we, against our better judgement, ordered puddings.   Having already had a sneaky glance at the desserts on the menu, I couldn't wait to find out what a Michelin recommended restaurant does to justify putting what is basically jelly and ice-cream on the menu!  They don't call it that, of course.  They call it Strawberry & Vanilla Delice, which is strawberry jelly with mascapone ice-cream.  As it turned out, it was more like a bit of a blancmange, a thin layer of sponge with a light layer of mousse-like jelly mixed with cream before it set, and a thin layer of strawberry jelly on the top.  Light, tasty, and perfectly accompanied by some red wine soaked strawberries and a ball of fresh ice-cream.  Unfortunately, once again, I have to hand this round to Dee though.  Her little set rice pudding with poached blueberries and a coconut tuille has to be the best dish of the meal.  It was delicious.  It was surprisingly light, creamy and exactly the right thing to follow her plaice.  Hands up, I should have ordered that.

Most unusually for us at lunchtime, we finished with tea and coffee.  It is always odd to be offered English breakfast tea at lunchtime (and even weirder after dinner!), is there no English lunch tea?  Dee had a pot of it, whenever it was named after.  My coffee came black and was accompanied by a jug of hot, steamed, frothy milk.  A moment after she had delivered the hot drinks our waitress returned with a slate slab covered in petit fours!  An unexpected delight, featuring home made fudge, a tiny slice of battenburg, a banana marshmallow, a chocolate truffle and a pistachio biscotti.

So how much were we rushed for this gastronomic delight?  Including two good sized glasses of excellent wine, a bottle of sparkling Kentish water, effectively a five course meal if you include the veloute and the petit fours?  Less than £50.  What a bargain.  It's a good job we don't quite live within easy walking distance, I can tell you!  Come one evening for a special occasion, come one lunchtime because you can't be bothered to cook.  Either way, you won't be disappointed!