Hansom Restaurant and Wine Bar

Hot Newcomer

"Newly listed in the Michelin guide after just 4 months i thought I had better try their first menu of this status. Tasting menu usually £75 but to celebrate the Michelin listing 20% discount on Thursday evenings in July and August. Canapes chicken "parmo", truffle, celery breaded piece of chicken thigh, ever so slightly over done, a little more it would have been dry. The cheese sauce was fine, would it work with Wensleydale rather than a cheddar that was mentioned? The truffled white emulsion needed a bit more truffle to be noticed. It was good & hot. Kohlrabi, seaweed, horseradish a mini tartlet seems to be "de riguer" on tasting menus at the moment, the nori for the case instead of a brique pastry was a nice change the kohlrabi and horseradish cream filling was fine, both flavours noticable, the kohlrabi was nicely done, it can sometimes be a little "woody". Bread The focaccia "style" was perhaps a little too deep, top to bottom,(best 2.5-5cm, 1 to 2&1/2 inch)and the crumb a little too soft and fine. Too many times I've seen this in this country, being made as a "loaf" when it should be just slightly thicker than a deep pan pizza. Traditional that I have had before has a more open bubbly texture and chewier crust. Rosemary flavour there but light on olive oil. It only lasts the day, and rather than butter with it a good peppery extra virgin dipping oil needed. The Theakstons bread was ok. I'm not a marmite fan, and as such don't like it mixed into butter (they tried that on me at The Box Tree, Ilkley and somewhere else too that escapes my memory!) but standard butter was soon there to replace. Thanks. The seed crackers were good, although for us older folks with gaps in teeth sometimes a little unruly! I was told it is held together with a potato starch, (you can also use chia seeds), it seemed to have a slight hint of "pork crackling" in the seasoning. Sweetcorn, pickled plum, smoked hazelnut, foraged herbs. The sweetcorn tuile with cornflowers was nice and crisp, very delicate. The charred sweetcorn nicely done and the bursting juice good with the other elements. The pickled plum presented well in the dish, but due to the richness of the "parfait cream" its flavour was a little lost. The hazelnut could take a bit more smoke. Overall the rich nut cream was the overriding flavour, taking over the plum and sweetcorn, balance therefore a little out. Either reduce the amount of that cream (I think best option, smaller bowl, as it is very rich) or punch up the flavours of the plum perhaps with a citrus? or sharper pickle? I question whether pea shoots are foraged herbs as they were described on the menu? A pleasant dish though. Presentation good but for the cutlery, a smaller size spoon would be better (but maybe bigger than a teaspoon) East Coast Cod, Warm tartare sauce, Brown shrimp, Lovage Cod was perfectly on point, flaking nicely and soft (any delay in serving would have sent it over). The sauce a pleasant cream with chopped capers and gherkin and chopped herb I couldn't make out. Topped with a little pickled cauliflower (ok), the lovage leaves (this added a little perfume and taste, enough as it can be strong) and "brown shrimp" that looked to me like a prawn cut into 3 pieces (far too plump and pink for brown shrimp that I have seen!). Swaledale lamb, tomato, courgette, wild garlic. Lamb loin nicely cooked, but the tomato "chunks" would have been better if skinned and perhaps similar in shape, size. The red pepper sauce didn't, strangely, go with the tomatoes, taste wise, nor with the lamb jus/gravy. The stuffed courgette, with braised lamb, seemed to be trying an homage to stuffed marrow, but it was a steamed courgette "ring" filled with the braise and underseasoned. The fried wild garlic leaves were a little chewy, rather than crispy and lacking flavour. A little more seasoning across all was needed. Black garlic dots brought little apart from contrast colour effect on the plate. The lamb with the tomatoes, courgette and pepper sauce suggested towards the mediterranean, but the lamb loin, braised lamb in the courgette and the lamb gravy sent you to a more British dish. A little confused for me. Yorkshire Blackcurrants, Yoghurt, Fennel, Blackcurrant leaf. Blackcurrants nice flavour, sometimes can be very tart, if macerated in house well done. Meringue tuile fine, set yoghurt and fennel beneath was well flavoured. The thinly "biscuit/tuile coated" blackcurrant leaf was a nice addition. Spillmans strawberry, goat curd, elderflower. Tasty little dessert with fresh and dried strawberry around a tempered shell, with some small basil leaves. The filling pleasant and the gel soft and flavoured, the shell itself a little thick, as was the biscuit base it sat upon. Difficult to detect elder flower, was it in the curd, the gel or the tempered shell, overpowered by the strawberry and basil. But overall a pleasant finish. Chocolate Marshmallow and wine gum petit fours Ok and straight forward enough, personal preference would be a darker chocolate powder on the marshmallow. It seemed a bit drinking chocolate rather than cocoa, and add a small touch of sherbet powder (NOT popping candy!) in the wine gum coating for that "sparkle". Service was fine and pleasant, not over intrusive"