Hey Sweeties,
Last Thursday evening I had the pleasure of being invited to try out the new spring menu at The Elephant at the Market in Newbury*.
The Elephant at the Market – Tasting the New Spring Menu
Arriving at The Elephant at the Market at 7pm, my husband and I were very warmly greeted and shown to our table. As we walked through the restaurant I instantly picked up on a warm, homely ambience and the modern decor was very much to my taste.
Something to Drink?
As we were settling ourselves at our table, we were asked if we wanted a bottle of wine? Unfortunately I was the designated driver for the evening so even though I could enjoy a glass over dinner, I couldn’t go mad with a whole bottle but Ian was certainly up for it. Our host offered to select something for us and after gathering our preference was a Sauvignon Blanc, she came back with a bottle of Saint Clair from New Zealand and honestly, it couldn’t have been better matched. We also asked for a bottle of still water.
The Spring Menu
There is nothing more intimidating than a menu that has pages and pages of options, or a menu that is the complete opposite with barely any variety at all… fortunately the menu at The Elephant at the Market is none of these! Particularly well known for their charcoal oven steaks and wood fired pizzas, The Elephant at the Market also offer a variety of nibbles, starters and main meals. As a vegetarian, I sometimes dread what options there are for me in restaurants and what is available says a lot about a place; to my delight, I had a few really good options here and there was no boring tomato pasta in sight!
Starter
For starters, Ian selected the spiced lamb and poppy seed sausage roll with mango chutney, and I chose the marinated buffalo mozzarella, asparagus, peas, broad beans, mint, lemon, in an olive oil dressing.
Spiced lamb and poppy seed sausage roll, mango chutney
Marinated buffalo mozzarella, asparagus, peas, broad beans, mint, lemon, olive oil dressing
My choice was light, fresh and extremely tasty, and Ian really enjoyed the sausage roll… his only small feedback would be that it didn’t need quite so much mango chutney with it.
Mains
For our mains, Ian plumped for the 8oz rump steak with triple cooked chips, garlic and watercress butter, smoked flat mushroom, accompanied with a peppercorn sauce. I had a few vegetarian and even vegan suitable meals to chose from and quickly decided upon the char-grilled aubergine with marinated tomato, olive cous cous, hummus, toasted almonds and dukkha spice.
8oz Rump steak- triple cooked chips, garlic and watercress butter, smoked flat mushroom, peppercorn sauce
Char-grilled aubergine, marinated tomato, olive cous cous, hummus, toasted almonds, dukkha spice
Ian asked for his rump steak to be cooked medium and to be honest it came out more well done than medium, which was a little disappointing but it didn’t take away from the meal overall. The peppercorn sauce was particularly rated highly.
My meal honestly was one of the tastiest I have ever had, it was scrummy!! Asides from how delicious it was, for me it showed that real thought and a level of maturity had gone behind the restaurant’s meat-free meals. So many places just cannot be be bothered to offer more than pasta or a basic mushroom risotto which shows a real lack of imagination and care. At The Elephant at the Market, every element on the plate of the char-grilled aubergine matched perfectly with each other and I really could have had seconds; definite compliments to the chef(s).
Desserts
Ian and I are real dessert fans and I think we would openly admit we could have devoured most of this section of the menu! However, with some restraint Ian chose the giant profiterole with honeycomb, salted caramel, chocolate sauce; and I selected the lemon meringue pavlova with lemon curd and toasted almonds.
Giant profiterole, honeycomb, salted caramel, chocolate sauce
Lemon meringue pavlova, lemon curd, toasted almonds
The tastiest of the two desserts was definitely the giant profiterole and I am a little bit sad I didn’t select it for myself. I love lemon desserts as it’s a lovely way to cleanse the palate, but for me the meringue was a little too heavy; I think it would have been better broken up or in smaller chunks. However, the lemon curd and creamy accompaniment were delicious.
Summary
Overall, I cannot find fault with The Elephant at the Market, the service was fantastic, the food was delicious, I loved that we were recommended a really good wine and the ambience matched perfectly the laid-back dining Ian and I adore. We 100% would not hesitate to go back as and when we’re passing by Newbury in the future.
Until next time x
*I was invited to try the new spring menu at The Elephant at the Market in Newbury, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are honest and my own.
