Terre à Terre

It's been a long time since I posted about Terre à Terre, about a year and a half if we're counting. I've definitely eaten there since then but either we've been in the evening & my pictures were terrible or I've just been ordering the same thing over & over again. Not this time though, oh no, this time everything I ordered was new. Late last year Terre à Terre had a disastrous fire in the kitchen, nobody was hurt but the kitchen was ruined and they were only able to re-open this February. Nick & I decided that we had to go there for our wedding anniversary lunch feast.

The atmosphere there was lovely and relaxed as always, I hate the somewhat stuffy feeling that some upscale restaurants have but my scruffy punk self always feels right at home at Terre à Terre.

I decided to order from the Phoenix Bites menu as the main and dessert I'd decided I had to try were on there leaving me with only one more decision to make. I chose the Congee Shiso Yuzi and Tempura Shiitake to start the meal.

This kombu and miso risotto with black rice comes surrounded by a yuzu dressing and is topped with a shiitake and Chinese chive tempura, bean sprouts and shisho leaves. Obviously it was delicious, I've always loved risotto and this one had such an amazing Terre à Terre twist. I would never have considered adding any of these flavours to a risotto and I was super impressed with the crispy tempura. Also now that I know they can do a cracking batter I'm hoping that they'll add a vegan option to their beer battered fish & chip style dish. Currently it's made with halloumi for the vegetarians and I think a tofu version for vegans would be amazing.

Nick ordered his classic starter of garlic bread and sesame hoisin tofu. He orders this every time! I love both of these and of course he let me have a nibble.

The Come Pine with Me rosti was the obvious choice for a main. I almost always order the rosti and this twist meant that I could eat my favourite dish and try something new!

You can't really see them all in the picture but the potato, onion and garlic rosti was topped with loads of different types of mushrooms. I'd never buy this many types of mushroom to cook with at home so it was an exciting treat. I loved the flavour of the fir oil and the mushroom sauce and the crispy tofu atop the rosti was perfect.

I was surprised and excited that Terre à Terre have a new vegan option on the dessert menu. I felt like it hadn't changed in a while and I'm happy to see that they've stepped up their vegan dessert game.

The Churros have always come with one pot of rain vodka soaked cherries and one of melty dipping chocolate, this option still exists but now there's this sea salt caramel and chocolate double dipping sauce too.

Yeah, you heard that right, vegan sea salt caramel and chocolate dipping sauce to accompany your churros. It was epic! I'm still thinking about this dessert and I can't wait to go back to eat it all over again.