During 2007, in the wake of showing Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, BBC America turned over Sunday mornings to other food shows so the first series of Great British Menu had an airing in the US. The north-west heat of that series was between Marcus Wareing and Simon Rimmer and each chef presented food that piqued my interest enough that I wanted to try it if I was ever near their restaurants. So far my path has never gone near a Marcus Wareing restaurant and booking Greens, Simon Rimmer’s first restaurant, was difficult due to limited space. A much easier option was to try out Earle in Hale.
Where Green’s focus is vegetarian food, Earle has a wider ranging menu focussing on locally sourced ingredients to provide simple, quality meals. This was my third visit to Earle. The first time they allowed me to drink a glass of red wine and participate in a teleconference with my colleagues in the US before I ordered. The call finished at 2 pm and the tolerance while I held off eating means that I’ve had a soft spot for the place ever since.
Where Green’s focus is vegetarian food, Earle has a wider ranging menu focussing on locally sourced ingredients to provide simple, quality meals. This was my third visit to Earle. The first time they allowed me to drink a glass of red wine and participate in a teleconference with my colleagues in the US before I ordered. The call finished at 2 pm and the tolerance while I held off eating means that I’ve had a soft spot for the place ever since.
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Chosen starter on the day was Ballotine of “Greek Salad” Lamb. This was served with cucumber ribbons, confit tomatoes and sumac dressing. The ballotine included lamb, green and black olives and feta cheese. The lamb flavour was actually quite mild but the overall mix of flavours in the juicy ballotine was lovely. The warm tomatoes provided a good punchy contrast to the ballotine and the pea shoots and cucumber ribbons added a refreshing crunch. This was a really enjoyable starter.
The Earle menu features a number of their classics. On my first visit I tried the Lancashire cheese sausage and was hooked enough to buy Simon Rimmer’s “Accidental Vegetarian” cookbook. I’ve since made the sausage a few times at home. The version available on the night had evolved from previous visits such that this time the sausage was a Lancashire cheese and sage sausage served with bubble and squeak, tomato chutney, onion rings and gravy. The sausage was good but the sage was a bit too robust for the cheese. When the cheese managed to shine through the dish made much more sense. The bubble and squeak was a tasty leek mash. The tomato chutney had a nice tart kick and the jug of onion gravy upped the dish into comfort food territory. The onion rings were properly crunchy but it wasn’t obvious why it was felt they were needed.
Dessert of choice was elderflower jelly with rhubarb pannacotta and ginger snap biscuit. The rhubarb pannacotta was the centrepiece of the dish and the first taste seemed slightly disconcerting but it got much better with subsequent mouthfuls, benefitting hugely from the inclusion of the sweeter raspberry coulis. The elderflower jelly cubes provided light contrast while the raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and poached rhubarb slices added a sweet tartness.
Overall verdict.
This visit to Earle backed up previous experiences. Service was friendly and efficient and overall the food was very pleasant.
Would I revisit Earle?
I’d happily visit Earle any time. It’s not special enough to merit a huge detour but is a good place to visit if you’re in the area.
Overall Rating - 3.5/5
This visit to Earle backed up previous experiences. Service was friendly and efficient and overall the food was very pleasant.
Would I revisit Earle?
I’d happily visit Earle any time. It’s not special enough to merit a huge detour but is a good place to visit if you’re in the area.
Overall Rating - 3.5/5
