Casamia

"In its own way the cuisine at Casamia is just as scientific as that at The Fat Duck. The important difference is that the emphasis here is experimenting with combinations and concentrations of ingredients to arrive at the most striking balance on the palate and never losing sight of the fact that most diners actually prefer real food. Peter Sanchez and his team hit the bullseye in this worthy aim. Add to this the welcoming dining space with its properly open kitchen, the chefs presenting the dishes at table, the friendly, knowledgeable front of house staff who are willing and empowered to act in accommodating the desires and preferences of the diners, including wine choices from the excellent cellar, and you have a fine dining experience which in any other country would be rated by the tyre maker cum booking agency as highly as does the Good Food Guide. Impressive is the least you can say about the perfectly pitched sequence of dishes and it is very difficult to spotlight our favourites from the plethora of riches put before us, but for us the standouts have to be the Canary Island carabineros (crayfish) with its shell reduction and dulse meringue, the salad dish with its myriad of different elements and textures and flavours, the carnaroli rice, kept in oak for 12 months, with beetroot sauce, its richness countered by soured cream, the baby monkfish layered with a truly memorable truffle sabayon, the duck with pak choi sharp against the meat with its honey-flavoured topping and a supreme duck sauce, and the strawberry delight enhanced by Kampot pepper. Another amazing evening!"

"by far the best that Bristol has to offer. a real treat to visit very inventive cooking"

"It is still a mystery how Casamia has still got just a single Michelin star, which makes it appear to be on the same level as some inferior pubs that we have eaten in and certainly one other restaurant in Bristol when it is clearly in another class. The first thing the diner will remark on is the relaxed nature of the dining experience, with every diner feeling like an old friend and being shown the kitchen in close-up, the chefs serving the dishes and describing them in great detail, and front of house staff not only willing to discuss all aspects of the meal but clearly able to do so since they are intimately involved as part of the team in all areas of the restaurant, which has the desired result of the whole thing running like clockwork. All this contrasts to a major extent with the stiff, uninterested, service by rote at so many other “fine dining” venues. Once again stunning dish followed stunning dish, right from the so-called snacks, an amazing all-in-one truffle and Cornish Gouda mousse in a light brick tartlet with a super aftertaste emanating from the truffle, and a prawn mayo and tartare in a sweet shell of seaweed meringue, to the petits fours, a superlight lemon Turkish delight, and a clever porcini mushroom fudge. The snacks gave way to a succession of delicately complex taste, texture and presentation wonders, some merely brilliant and others simply world-class and all accompanied by an exemplary choice of excellent wine. On the menu one word was allowed to give a clue as to the make-up of each dish. A full description requires a whole dictionary. “Salad” was a super mix of dark and light green winter leaves plus charred broccoli, light sweet carrot and tasty savoury juices. “Beetroot” was a masterly combination of yoghurt sorbet, pickled fennel, sweet beetroot risotto with soft and firm rice and pistachio for extra texture. “Rainbow Trout” from Mere Farm was brilliant confit fish combined with a crab bisque approaching perfection and coupled with delicate roe and loin, and some wonderful skin crisps - a real winner! “Turbot” turned out to be a more than worthy successor to the unsurpassable Casamia version of sole Véronique which we had on our last visit, combining the best fish with a classy champagne sabayon, perfect grapes, perfect leeks matching the sabayon to produce a dish that would earn three stars on its own across the English Channel. We were so far under the spell of the kitchen that we were almost ready to accept that “Duck” could be a simply cooked egg with apple cubelets, onion and a dashi sauce giving this “palate cleanser” an historic hit to the tastebuds, but it was swiftly followed by Creedy Carver duck breast from Devon, salt-brined and as tender and tasty as could be and cleverly supported by chia seed and fennel seed and a deft touch of coriander. The two desserts were “Passion fruit” done three ways, accompanied by tarragon gel and meringue and knocking one back with the way it developed on the palate in such an amazing fashion, and “Rhubarb” just another demonstration of the enjoyable complexity which seems to be the norm at Casamia with delightful rhubarb sorbet and jelly and cubes, bay leaf crisp and cream, juniper shard and cream and rose gel, shard and cream, all adding up to a staggeringly good finish to yet another staggeringly good dining experience here."