Evelyn’s Table is in the former beer cellar (or basement) of a 3 story building.  The street level is the Blue Posts pub and the top level is a wine bar with snacks.  Evelyn’s does 2 seatings for a tasting menu every night but Sunday and you have priority seating, with reservation, at the wine bar before or after your tasting.  We got a spot an hour before our late tasting and the bar supplied us with nuts and olives to eat with drinks.  The staircase is narrow leading down to the 12 seat counter, led by Chef James Goodyear.   Chef’s French training is integrated into British produce and Japanese techniques in the evolving menu.  They have a one Michelin star rating and provide you with a menu for the evening.  I found the seating uncomfortable and the diners were a wild mix.  Yes, we were the seniors there but one member of a young couple never removed their hoodie and the unaccompanied woman next to me kept her phone close to her face all night.  The 3 chefs gave nice explanations to the food but the rest of the interaction was with the girls who cleared and served.  While the food was not bad I would not call it great either.  I hope the weirdness of the evening didn’t affect my impression but I can’t really recommend this place.

Set-Up

 

Food

Ike Jime trout was with smoked pine and turnips.  Ike Jime is a traditional slaughter technique that instantly kills the fish.  These fish can be kept 5 times longer than purchased fish at the store and the technique enhances the fish’s flavor.  The sea trout was from Cornwall and cured with yuzu juice then smoked over pine.  Seaweed, turnips, sea herbs and pickled lime were mixed with the bones of the fish to make a broth  Some pine oil was the last addition along with some roe.   The fish had a smooth jelly like texture.  A second bowl contained a creamy fish emulsion topped with roe.  I liked the fish in the bigger bowl better.

 

Iberico pork was plated with winter vegetables and a pumpkin seed miso sauce.  The pluma cut of pork was from the neck area and tender and flavorful.  The sauces helped.  A nasturtium leaf wrapped a piece of pumpkin.  I liked that it was fairly rare.

 

Scottish langoustine was plated with celeriac and koshihikari rice.  The lightly steamed langoustine was seasoned with walnuts and a risotto-like rice was under the onion pieces all surrounded by celeriac purée mixed with mussel stock.  Pickled black currants were somewhere in the mix.  The langoustine was perfectly cooked and delicious as was the rice portion.  This dish had lots of textures and was pretty good.

 

A round loaf of sourdough bread was for the two of us and presented with a Guiness cherry vinegar over cream fraiche spruce butter.  You got a moist towel to clean up after eating this one.  The crisp crust was matched with a light crumb inside.

 

Lake District venison was with wild mushrooms and smoked juniper.  Quince and pickled quince miso were on the plate and the sauce was made from the venison bones and truffles.  The very tender meat was fairly rare and almost mushy in texture.  Lots of different sauces got blended into one another for overall good tastes but this was not a plate-licking dish.

 

Pre-dessert was a panna cotta set cream with thyme and ginger seed oil and topped with jelly of honey and bee pollen.  The gelatin was smooth and the panna cotta creamy.  It was nice.

 

Dessert was made with Jerusalem artichoke, truffle honey and tonka bean ice cream.  It was finished with warm caramel sauce and glazed with black truffle.  The caramelized Jerusalem artichokes had a light essence of truffle but mostly this was a jumble of sweet, good flavors.

 

The final treat of the night was a canellé of browned butter with a fermented red cherry.  It was good.