Edesia Is Hungry: Midsummer House

During July we treated my mum and my stepdad to a lunch at Midsummer House, and I feel I've neglected my duty to report back on such a memorable meal.

We went for the seven course menu, with a vegetarian version for my wife, and gluten free for my mum. We started with a fabulous range of canapes out in the garden, and on an absolute scorcher of a day. In particular I remember a truffle eclair which just has to grace my list of favourite things ever, simply awesome.

The barbecued beetroot this time included nitrogen frozen goats cheese, hard, angular looking bricks that melted in your mouth, a wonderful technical element that didn't take anything away from the excellent cheese. A stunning quail dish included hay smoked crispy quails eggs and a finger of toast, puree and grapes, with special gluten free bread for my mum. I was also delighted to try a scallop and apple dish I've seen in other reviews, and it was beyond my expectations, a perfect dish.

My wifes vegetarian menu included some memorable dishes, a crispy coated poached egg on a bed of brilliant green pea puree, peas, and girolles, and a dish of smoked roscoff onion filled with a grain risotto that arrived under a dome of smoke.

The meal ended with similar desserts to our previous visit, with the strawberry dish being accompanied by a strawberry soup concentrated by running it through a centrifuge. We finished with a generous range of chocolates, as well as maraschino cherries for my mum, and those gorgeous bottereaux for the rest of us, hollow diamond shaped pastries dipped in calvados cream and apple puree the thought of which still puts a smile on my face today. Oh, and I mustn't forget the visit from Clifford the English Bulldog, a fine chap indeed.

This was a very special day, indeed my mum saying was the best she has ever had. From the first to last bite, everything was nearly perfect.

The house.

Tomato sorbet.

Liver parfait cigar, tartare of fish on fish skin crisp.

See that eclair in the middle? One of the nicest things you'll ever eat.

Crab amuse. My wife had a tomato gazpacho instead.

Beetroot, goats cheese.

Quail, grapes, shallot puree

Hay smoked crispy quails eggs.

Toast.

Crispy hens egg, peas, girolles. Vegetarian food doesn't come much better than this.

These came first.

And were grated on the scallop and apple dish.

The smoked roscoff onion arrived under a dome filled with smoke.

Lamb, tomato, old Yorke cheese.

On a hot day, the nitrogen frozen shards of blueberry in this lemon posset were just what I needed.

Strawberry dessert.

The ladies also received a box of chocolates to take home. The chocolate on the far right was filled with pistachio puree and the best of them all. Easily the match of any of the famous chocolatiers.

I could murder a plate of these right now.

Midsummer House

Midsummer House, set on the picturesque Midsummer Green on the edge of the River Cam in Cambridge, is the 2 star restaurant of the very talented Daniel Clifford. We had to park on the other side of the river and cross a footbridge to get to the restaurant and ended up parking just near the house my mother was brought up in. The main room is the conservatory of Midsummer House, with a walled garden surrounding it, a light and airy environment. There is a choice of lunch, a 7 course Taste of Market menu and an 8 course Taste of Summer House menu, we went for the vegetarian and standard versions of the Taste of Summer menu.

Canapes were brought out whilst deciding on the menu's, a puree of tomato and vodka, essentially a slightly thicker bloody mary, fresh and flavourful, some fabulous cheese gougeres and an incredible pomme souffle filled with sour cream. I immediately knew we were in for a good meal, these were canapes of the highest order.

The amuse bouche was a light mousse of peas, with tomato underneath, and for me, prawns too. The mousse was incredibly light, more or less a foam, with an exceptionally deep pea flavour, with some tomato and some really excellent prawns.

The next course started table side, with the waiter spooning dried mushrooms and herbs into a cafetiere and adding mushroom stock, this was left to infuse on the table. The dishes arrived a few minutes later, for my wife some plump mushroom tortellini accompanied by girolles and herbs, the consomme from the cafetiere was then poured on. The tortellini and consomme were really good, with a huge depth of flavour, about as good a pasta as to be found anywhere. For me, a bowl with Cornish crab, mayonnaise and a sweet corn ice cream. The crab was really nice, fresh and flavoursome and I absolutely adored the sweet corn ice cream, a flavour I'm used to from my days in the Far East, but here refined and perfected like no other I'd had before.

The next course involved a little bit of theatre, a table inset with one of those Green Big Eggs, a fancy ceramic barbecue, was wheeled over, and 2 plates set, one of the chefs then came out and removed a whole roasted beetroot, and explained a little of the concept of the dish and how it was roasted for over 2 hours that morning in one of the Green Eggs. The beetroot were sliced in half and a semi-sphere scooped out and added to the plate, which also included sheeps curd, horseradish, beetroot puree and hazelnuts. The beetroot was superb, wonderfully flavoured, the curd, horseradish and other accompaniments partnered it perfectly.

The fish course was roasted stone bass, with razor clams, cucumber, wasabi and sorrel, with a grating of lime zest at the table. The cooking of the fish was spot on, with a gorgeous crisp skin, and I also loved the razor clams, cucumber and wasabi an excellent match for this fish. What stood out was the scents and flavour added by the grating of the lime at the table, elevating the entire dish to stratospheric heights. My wife's dish was a confit stuffed tomato. with courgettes and subtly spiced vegetables in a crispy sandwich.

Our main courses were again of very high quality, for me duck, cherries, sweet potato puree, hazelnuts and a tamarind gravy, with 2 crispy green leaves and a side dish of croustillant of confit duck on a bed of hazelnuts. The duck was superb and the gravy a shiny, unctuous, lip-smacking delight of a sauce, absolutely world class. I never found out what the leaves, were, but can confirm they were delicious. The croustillant contained a hidden surprise, a whole cherry! The juicy cherry and rich confit duck was a match made in heaven, top stuff. My wife's main was a pithivier of vegetables, with a side of vegetables, puree and sauce soubise. This was excellent pastry work, and essentially as perfect a pasty as you will get.

Pre-dessert was a lemon posset, with blueberries and lemon espuma. Lovely flavours here, and the blueberries were really something, I believe they had been frozen in liquid nitrogen then smashed, and were a lovely delight hidden within the excellently flavoured posset and foam, both sweet and tart. Dessert itself was a wonderful dish of strawberries, creme fraiche ice cream, an elderflower mousse in a cannelloni of strawberry, little cubes of shortbread, jellies and strawberry juices poured at the table. Every element was executed perfectly, and as good as summer treat as can be. A lovely finish to the meal.

We took coffee upstairs in a small lounge area with an external balcony, although a tad warm, I'm not sure why the radiators were on in the middle of a long August heatwave. The petit fours were different, warm sweet pastries laid out on a tray with 2 dips, one caramel and one of Calvados cream. The pastries were again top quality, incredibly light and crisp, and perfect for the dips, my favourite being the Calvados cream, awesome flavours there. Finally, a large wooden box loaded with chocolates was brought up and we chose 5 each. As with the rest of the meal, these were delicious, especially the lovage and bay leaf chocolates, 2 flavours I've not had the pleasure of trying before.

The bill came to about 230, and included 2 glasses of champagne, soft drinks for me and 2 glasses of white for my wife.

We loved Midsummer House, with its gorgeous riverside setting, world class service and as good as food as we've had anywhere. Every aspect, from the ingredients to the execution was of the highest order, and there were some real stand out dishes. I can't wait to return.

Canapes.