psmv5: Orgo day

In the course of reporting on our licensed dining experiences in the far west in the course of our recent trip there (reference 1), I also trailed a visit to the Riverford Field Kitchen (reference 2 has some good pictures) which I now get around to.

The first distinguishing feature is that it is out in the country, southwest of Buckfastleigh upper left and northwest of (Sea Trout) Staverton lower right. Not quite where one might expect to find a restaurant.

The second such feature is that the restaurant is reservations only and you either go there for lunch or for dinner. And when you get there, there is no choice about the core of the meal, although you can opt for veggie or meat for your main course, you can choose your dessert and you can choose your beverages. You are allowed orgo alchohol.

The big plus of this being that the food can be freshly prepared and be ready to go at the right time. You get much more quality for your pound than can be expected in a walk-in restaurant offering lots of choice.

The third feature is that the restaurant appears to be an accessory to what is primarily a vegetable box delivery operation - an operation which even appears in the market at Epsom from time to time. So Riverford is about where it says 'Resr' in the middle of the first (Ordnance Survey) snap, just to the west of the Bumpston Cross Electricity Sub-Station. Enlarged above in the second (gmaps) snap, we get to see the restaurant operation, below and to the right with a yellow spot, the vegetable box operation, above and to the left. You get into the restaurant from the road bottom right, cunningly arranged so that the large sheds are more or less invisible. The stripes of the vegetable gardens can be seen below.

The approach. The Friday lunchtime that we were there, the place was pretty full, inside and out. Say between 50 and 75 covers.

The main menu. I took the meat, rather better than on the last occasion, while BH took the veggie option. Food good, we thought rather eastern Mediterranean in flavour & style, served by cheerful and enthusiastic young ladies, some foreign. The young gentlemen did the preparation and cooking in the open plan kitchen at the end of the dining area.

The dessert menu. I took the steamed pudding, rather good. But it would have been better without the chunks of rhubarb carefully placed on top: I did not think the two rather different flavours and textures went very well together. BH went for the custard tart, which she tells me was pretty good for a restaurant custard tart - but that she is a bit of a connoisseur of such tarts - and partial to the Portuguese version - and she would not have given this one full marks.

The wine came from the people at reference 4 and was called Kemetner, a seemingly undated Grüner Veltliner, but I failed to find it there, and had to resort to Bing, who turned up reference 5 - which tells us of this wine 'Smell: Mild honey notes in the fragrance. Taste: full-bodied'. News to me, but perfectly satisfactory in any event. I washed mine down with a spot of vegetarian brandy - as opposed to the teetotal brandy which features at one point in 'The Good Soldier Švejk'.

All in all, a meal which was both unusual and excellent. We shall be back.

We came across this fine foxglove on exit. A flower of which I am fond and which we have completely failed to grow in our garden at Epsom. For some reason, we did manage them in our garden at Cambridge. Probably there when we arrived.