I had the joy of eating here during the week, for a tasty little work night dinner. Having never been before and not really knowing the area past Joe's Kitchen (despite having studied nearby) I didn't know what to expect. Whatever my expectations were, or lack thereof, I was happy when I walked in.
The restaurant was busy and the conversation was buzzing at a pleasant hum. Good acoustics meant that my ear drums weren't trying to make a bid for freedom and save themselves...and I was able to continue a conversation with the friend I was meeting.
Dim lighting set a nice contrast to the chill outside...but not so dim that I was unable to see my food; a nasty little trick to save face on poor presentation.
The crowd was mainly the after work, city crew - young...but then, maybe I'm getting old. Anyway, I digress. What mattered was that the people and the decor married together nicely - simple, cosy, no pretensions of any kind.
Our Aussie waiter was a compact, pleasant looking man - though he did seem slightly over keen to take our order. We had to send him away for more time twice, but as he was so relaxed and friendly about it I'll put that down, in part, to my friend and I yakking away and not looking at the menu.
I did spot the dreaded risotto, lurking on the specials board, which my friend chose. She said it was delicious and I believe her but thankfully due to a couple of other options I had a little choice.
I opted out of having a starter - watching the waistline (grow) and all - and chose a curried pumpkin and root vegetable casserole with pilau rice for my main and gingerbread with honeycomb ice cream and butterscotch for dessert. I let the waiter choose the wine as I had no idea what I was in the mood for. All I knew was that I wanted red.
The casserole was presented well, a small pumpkin used as the casserole dish - nice touch. The rice was cooked just right and everything tasted hearty and though the flavours were rich, nothing was overpowering. It all complimented each other quite nicely. None of that bizarre 'we don't know how to cater for vegetarians and, we don't even know how to cook a risotto so we'll give them curried mushroom tart on a bed of green shenanigans with a delicate sauce of ridiculous'.
My only gripe was with the dessert. They had run out of honeycomb ice cream. 'No', I hear you scream! But, alas, it's true, and the options I was left with did not really go. Ferrero Rocher, Strawberry and something that my memory has refused to remember. By this point we had lost our Aussie waiter who was probably sick of waiting for us to be indecisive then getting asked whether he wanted to talk about the Rugby World Cup. Instead, a lovely waitress told me that Ferrero Rocher was the best option out of what was left and she was probably right but it still didn't go. The separate components of my dessert were scrumptious: gingerbread - moist, yummy, goodness; butterscotch - so good I'd drink it in a mug and not think about my arteries; Ferrero Rocher Ice cream flavour - yummy in my tummy. However, together it did not quite work and I blame the ice cream. I think had they not run out of the honeycomb ice cream it would have been perfect.
All in all, I had a lovely overall experience at the Garrison and I would definitely go again. Carnivore and Veggie friendly - how can you go wrong with that!
Price: £25.00 for a main, dessert, glass of wine and service charge
Veggie Friendly: 4/5
Food: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Atmosphere: 4/5
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