YUMMY LUNCHTIME SPENT AT RIVER COTTAGE!!

Recently my mother and I spent our lunchtime at our local River Cottage Canteen (https://www.rivercottage.net) the baby of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. I'm not sure if anyone remembers 'River Cottage' a television series that featured on Channel 4 in 2004 until 2012. In the programme Hugh focused on setting up River Cottage HQ in Dorset and the importance of locally sourced organic ingredients from meat, fish, veg, dairy and eggs. Since then the business has grown and the kitchen offers canteen locations in: Axminster, Bristol and Winchester. Furthermore, cookery courses, dining events, private dining and venue hire are offered under the "River Cottage" umbrella. On Tuesday we set off to the canteen that's situated in Winchester. At lunchtime they offer a 2 course lunch for £11.95, but us being the greedy guts we are didn't stick to the set lunchtime menu and ordered from the main menu. 

On arrival we ordered some drinks from the lovely bar they have (pictured above). I had a G&T from locally distilled gin. It was delicious. We were then taken to our table where we ordered a meat sharer that included: sourdough bread, pickled apple, chorizo sausages and a lovely array of cured meats. ALL LOCALLY SOURCED with the furthest ingredient coming from Devon (https://pipersfarm.com) 

As you can see, it was super yummy and not too filling so we had room for our main meal. 

The main menu, like any niche restaurant, had only a few hand picked meals due to seasonal pressures. Nevertheless the options to chose from were still incredible. The had a main, lunchtime and a specials menu. On the day I had the venison ragu macaroni.  The main ingredients being venison, macaroni pasta, cauliflower and leeks. My mother had a chicken breast with pesto, rocket and greens. Alongside we shared some chunky chips seasoned with thyme, salt and pepper. Additionally, we had a side of apple, pear and fennel salad. All the food was exquisite. 

Lastly, was desert. My goodness it was amazing. At this point I was truly stuffed but couldn't leave without trying something from their desert menu. My mother and I had the sticky toffee parsnip pudding to share with butterscotch and ice cream. I know what you're thinking, because I was thinking the same thing. However, the parsnips substitute the dates which are in a traditional sticky toffee pudding. If you have a sweet tooth, this is the pudding for you. It was the icing on an incredible meal. 

All together, including drinks this lunch date came too a grand total of £74.99, plus an extra £20 for a cook book that I bought whilst I was there- Love Your Leftovers https://www.rivercottage.net/news/love-your-leftovers-out-now

Would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone in the south west region who has an interest in locally sourced organic ingredients. 

*not sponsored*