The name "Macaroni Market" conjures up a cheap and cheerful bistro in my mind, a place to pop in for some pasta or a quick bite to eat, but the owners seem to be aiming for something a little more classy. The menu is simple offering soup of the day, a range of bruschettas, salads, a few main courses and a wide variety of pricey sandwiches.
After perusing the menu I settled upon the soup of the day (pumpkin) and the goat's cheese and dry fig compote bruschetta.
I sat in front of the kitchen and watched the waitress deliver the order to the head chef, who seemed quite bemused at me wanting all four bruschetta to be topped with goat's cheese and figs. The waitress came back and explained that the chef thought that the cheese and fig combo might be too sweet and urged me to try some of the others. I settled on two humous and two cheese and fig, in the hope that I might sate my craving for some salty creamy goaty goodness.
The soup and bruschetta arrived promptly and looked wonderful. A lot of care had been taken over the presentation of the dishes and both looked absolutely delectable. The pumpkin soup was rich and creamy, delicious save for the sweet white foam that topped it. The foam looked pretty, but did nothing to enhance the flavour of the dish, in fact at times its cloying sweetness overpowered the pumpkin, leaving me feeling like I was sipping on dessert.
The humous bruschetta was far better - a mountainous blob of oily cold chickpea paste on hot toasted baguette. Very tasty.
Moving on to the goat's cheese and fig I was a little apprehensive, I worried about the sweetness and the fact that there were only three lonely little pieces of cheese on the bread. Far too many figs for my liking.... The cheese was wonderful, but drowned in the sweetness of too many figs. No wonder I had been warned off by the chef...
At this point I realised that the toasted foccacia promised on the menu as a side to my soup had not found it's way to my table. I spoke to the waitress (who was very apologetic) and soon got the extra bread, unfortunately they had been a little over zealous with the grill and the toast was charred beyond the point of pleasantness.
As I scraped the remains of the soup from the bowl with my blackened foccacia, the waitress came over again, this time with a complimentary glass of juice. A very pleasant surprise after a small mishap. The service was very good as was the quality of the food, however, sweet pumpkin soup and an over abundance of figs left me slightly dissapointed.
On paying my bill they did hand over two free coffee coupons and they seemed to being trying their best. I just hope that they get better over the coming weeks and that they can improve their cheese to fig ratio.
4 comments:
have any interest in food blogging for Fatman? ^____^
We'll have to check this place out . . . there's no such thing as too much goat cheese.
Just had a dinner party there on Mon night in the resturant side - very nice! We contacted the manager a few days before and negotiated a good deal. He provided salad, steak (big) and dessert for a set price. We also went to the lounge/club next door for some drinks.
Went there last night and it was dreadful. The room is very nice, the food is well presented. The problem is the 'chefs' simply can't cook!
My meal was dreadful (sent back the first offering they brought me) and the wife's only a little better. For that kind of money my expectations were not even close to being met. Avoid this place until they get their act together.
Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. I've not been there for a few months, so perhaps they've changed staff or got sloppy. Disappointing news from what seemed to be a promising place...
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