Cornus

I have written previously about the background of Cornus, its chef and the wine list. The full tasting menu was priced at £165, but there was also a shorter tasting menu at £75 at lunch only and a set lunch at £55 for three courses. You could also order a la carte, with starters priced £19 to £32, main courses from £30 to £52, and desserts £16.60 to £18.

The meal today began with a sequence of canapes. A large gougere was made with aged Comte and stuffed with Gruyere fondue, brushed with beurre noisette and finished with shavings of aged Gruyere. This had plenty of cheese flavour and the choux pastry had very good texture. Cheese, mushroom and onion tartlet was a malt tartlet with chive emulsion, onion ketchup, cheese fondue, deep-fried cauliflower mushroom and shavings of aged Parmesan. This canape was very good indeed, the onion providing some balance to the richness of the cheese. Squid ink crackers were made from prawns, squid ink, tapioca flour and prawn consommé, topped with taramasalata, espelette pepper, lemon zest and langoustine powder. There was also a lovely pig’s head croquette, crisp and packed full of meaty flavour (average of 17/20 for the canapes).

There was a choice of two different breads. Sourdough of rye, barley and wheat was from Flourish bakery in Watford, while foccacia was baked in-house. The latter was made with sour dough and flavoured with Lyonnaise onion, sage and roasted squash, then honey glazed. This was served with Au Bon Beurre butter made by Oliver Martin in Northern France using cream from 3 different breeds of cattle (Jersey, Holstein and Normande), which is 3% salted.

The first formal course of the meal was sea bass tartare. The raw sea bass was diced and mixed with crème fraiche, shallot, chives, white soy sauce, lemon zest and pickled pink ginger. White soy sauce is used to season the dish in place of salt, bringing an umami flavour without altering the texture of the fish. The sea bass mix is then placed on top of pickled white radish and topped with dots of oyster cream seasoned with seaweed powder. The dish is finished with crispy shallot, julienne of Granny Smith apple and purple shiso leaves. This was a lovely dish the acidity of the apple is an excellent foil for the sea bass (17/20).

The next dish was one that I had enjoyed before. Devon crab was supplied by Kevin Bartlett of Top Catch. It was cooked at 75 degrees (half roasted, half steamed) until translucent. It is then chilled, picked over and mixed with wasabi mayonnaise, spring onion, nashi pear, chives, lime juice and zest. The dish was topped with Hass avocado puree, a quenelle of green apple sorbet, and a disk of green apple jelly. It was finished with dots of avocado puree, finger lime, coriander shoots and shiso flowers. This is a superb dish, a balance between the natural sweetness of the crab and the acidity of the apple and the lime, all enlivened by the gentle spicy kick of wasabi (18/20).

Next was a velouté of cauliflower, truffle cheese tortellini, Capezzana olive oil and black truffle. This velouté was made from cauliflower and Parmesan, along with Parmesan and cauliflower stock. The tortellini themselves were made with parsley, truffle and egg yolk. The inside of the tortellini is a mix of various cheeses and more truffle. The dish is finished off with Capezzana olive oil and truffle shavings. This was an enjoyable dish though for me it was not quite in the same league as the previous two. Nonetheless, the pasta had good texture and the truffle flavour came through well (16/20). The next dish was turbot with hand-rolled noodles, Japanese mushrooms and bonito dashi. The turbot was from Cornwall, the fillet being from a large 7kg fish which was steamed. This rested on a base of both ink and hand-rolled noodles, with different Japanese mushrooms including shimeji, shiitake, enoki and cauliflower fungus. The fillet was topped with a jelly made of dashi and crispy seaweed with vinegar dust. The dish is finished at the table with a pouring of dashi sauce, based on a recipe from Kyoto. The turbot had excellent flavour and the noodles had a pleasing texture, the mushrooms going well with the fish and the subtle dashi stock (17/20).

Roast Cornish John Dory was pan-fried and served with caramelised parsley root, stuffed chicken wings, pied de mouton and roast chicken juice. The chicken wings were stuffed with tarragon, chicken mousse and shallots, pied de mouton mushrooms, caramelised parsley root and parsley puree. The dish was finished with chicken roasting juices. The chicken wings were a nice touch, the mousse having excellent flavour and a good pairing for the mild flavour of the John Dory. The seasoning was quite bold, which I don’t mind, though some might find this a touch salty (16/20).

The final savoury course was Pyrenean Lamb with caramelised celeriac, cauliflower cheese croquette and roasting juice. The meat was Auxuria Lamb from the Basque Valley in the Pyrenees, which is only milk-fed between November and June for up to 45 days. The leg and the saddle were both served, accompanied by roasted salsify and celeriac. There was also a cauliflower cheese croquette (using Ossau-Iraty sheep cheese), and a lamb kofte with kidney and liver glazed with balsamic and Pyrenean black truffle. Finally, there was a lamb jus made with white wine vinegar, veal and chicken stock, rosemary, mushroom, garlic, bay leaf and thyme. The lamb had excellent flavour and was carefully cooked, and the jus had plenty of depth (17/20).

An initial dessert was a millefeuille vanilla crème diplomat, with passion fruit gel, diced mango, coconut ice cream and mango cream. This used a variety of mango called Kent mango, which originated in Florida but is grown widely these days. The pastry layers were delicate and the sharpness of the fruit cut nicely through the richness of the cream (16/20). This was followed by a chocolate tart made with Kidavoa chocolate, a 50% single original chocolate from Madagascar. Filo pastry had banana ice cream inside, along with fresh diced banana, hazelnut praline and banana chantilly on the inside. The chocolate ganache was made with fermented banana-infused chocolate. The dish was finished with edible gold and crisp chocolate biscuits. This was quite rich and the banana flavour was not as dominant as I had feared (16/20). Along with Blue Mountain coffee from Difference Coffee were petit fours of milk chocolate fudge and clotted cream, as well as raspberry and lychee, flavoured with Ispahan rose. Service was superb as usual, and the bill came to £264 per person. Cornus is a fine restaurant using unusually high-grade ingredients, the experience enhanced by a fine service team.

Further reviews: 20th Dec 2024 | 08th Nov 2024 | 16th Aug 2024