Bastible has been open about 2 years and is fairly small with shared counter-height tables as well as small closely placed tables.  They serve only a 5 course tasting menu and do offer wine pairings.  On the menu you do get to choose your main course and dessert, picking between 2 options.  Background music, lower lighting, a conversational hum, paper napkins and a casual crowd add to the vibe of the place.  The service people were enthusiastic, friendly and helpful.  They really made it a fun evening.  

 

Everyone starts with some homemade sourdough bread and cultured butter.  Nice renditions of both.

 

The first course is a selection of snacks.   Crab, caramelized artichoke and pickled quince had a rich artichoke foam with wonderful bits of pickled quince that added a nice bit to the snack.  Good with lots of textures to go with nice flavors.

Raw radishes with taramasalatá and furikake were thin sliced radishes with a sauce of cod roe and milk emulsion.  A couple of watermelon radishes gave the dish nice color.  The radishes were very crisp and not hot or bitter.  The dip for them was mild but fun and sesame seeds added a good taste.

Comeraugh lamb, potato flatbread and anchovy mayonnaise was the last snack.  The flatbread was covered with fermented cabbage and the anchovy mayo was very savory.  The flatbread was not crispy but held up the heavily cooked meat.  It was good, again with a nice textural range.

 

The first course was Tenderstem broccoli, almond milk, goats’ cheese and kale.  Some caramelized almonds added great taste and a toastiness to the dish.  The goat cheese was very nice yet mild. It felt a little like a salad course with the broccoli not being cooked too much – just enough to get it tender.  A good course.

 

 

Smoked organic salmon, sprout tops, salsify and preserved lemon made up the next dish.  The pickled salsify was cut into ribbons that looked like noodles and were plated with the delicious meaty piece of fish.  The salmon is smoked in-house.  Sprout leaves covered a solid chunk of salsify that finished out this tasty course.

 

The next course you had to choose between options and so we each got one in order to try both.  Ox cheek, horseradish, beetroot and a landcress pesto sauce were adorned with a mustard dressing and brussels cooked in beer.  The brussels were small, buttery, almost caramelized without being charry and amazing.  The landcress – a cross between rocket and watercress – was very nice.  The beef was tender and well cooked with lots of flavor remaining in the meat.

The second option was glazed cod, mushroom dashi, hispi cabbage and pickled cocokles.  The cod was delicious and the broth made it soar.  A wonderful dish.  You couldn’t go wrong with either choice.

 

There was also a choice for dessert but we both chose the chocolate mousse, clementine leaf ice cream and pumpkin seeds.  The pumpkin seeds had been candied and it was accented with frozen bits of Clementine orange granita that was excellent.  Both of these added textural fun to the smooth, delicious mousse..  It was a yum x2.

 

Last treats were rosewater marshmallows covered with powdered sugar and caramelized white chocolate with pink peppercorns.  Both a bit quirky but I particularly liked the chocolate and pepper – a unique and fun finish to a very fine and fun meal.