A couple of weeks ago we decided to venture through the snow to try out The Deer Park’s new menu. We’re regular visitors as it’s our local, and the food has always been really nice, I especially recommend their Sunday roasts! They recently added a handful of new dishes to expand their menu and we couldn’t resist going to try.
I started with the kiln-smoked salmon tacos. The portion was just right with two tacos served in those handy taco holders. They looked great, with sour cream, pickled beetroot and peppers, but they were unfortunately fridge-cold. This really affected the taste as you couldn’t really get any of the flavours, except the beetroot which was sweet and delicious. I think these could have been really nice if they were served room temperature or even slightly warm.
Gary had the lobster and king prawn pot which was really good! Served as a mousse, it a lovely texture accompanied with gorgeous crunchy ciabatta toast. Yum. I definitely had food envy!
For mains, they didn’t have the chicken pie I’d ordered (though they explained the snow had affected their deliveries) which I was really sad about because who doesn’t want pie when it’s snowing outside?? I opted instead for the chargrilled lamb and balsamic kebabs, with chips instead of the couscous salad. The lamb kebabs were really well seasoned with a slight hint of spice, though they were a little bit on the oily side.
Gary went for the roasted pork belly which came with scallops and dauphinoise potatoes, and a rich jus . I’m not a fan of pork belly, but did try a little bit in the interests of the review. It was really tender and the jus was full of flavour.
Pudding was the real star of the show, we chose to share the the Dulce de Leche lava fondant served with peanut butter brittle and praline ice cream. The fondant oozed beautiful Dulce de Leche, we found ourselves spoon battling for the last bite. It was one of the best puddings I’ve ever had!
Overall the new Deer Park menu is good and service was excellent as always. There’s a lot more to choose from now and some really nice sounding dishes that we didn’t try such as the buttermilk chicken and a pan fried seabass, and of course the pie that my heart was set on! I’m sure we’ll be back again to sample some more dishes soon.