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You'll yearn to try everything
Who Annie Jones is, or was, I have no idea. What I do know is that the present owners of this tiny bistro on one of Petersfield's character streets run a fine, informal, ultra-cosy restaurant with plenty of dash.
And when I say ultra-cosy, it is just that. Only slimmish people need apply to sit at one of its wooden tables. The solid oak pews are best suited to the less bulky among us, and the eight tables are packed in pretty tightly. The route to the loo around the back is equally challenging to those with girth.
There is an 80's feel to the decor thanks to a virtual cascade of dried flowers hanging from every nook and cranny from the ceiling. A vast Toulouse-Lautrec print and mirrors galore add to the bistro look. Two rakish rather louche mouse-coloured baroque lamps light up the dark green walls.
The changing menu, a mix of British cuisine with a dash of the Med and Arab dishes, is one of those you yearn to work your way through, trying everything.
The appealing pot-pourri includes carpaccio of tuna, merguez sausage with olives, garlic, chilli and spinach with a sweet chilli sauce and terrine of chicken and sweet roasted peppers for starters, all around £5-£6.
Then move on to roast rump of lamb (bought from the butcher's next door) with a tian of aubergine and roast shallot puree and a cracked black pepper jus (£14.95), butter-poached wild sea bass with dill and bay leaf (£15.95) or fillet of beef with a creamy mushroom sauce (£16.95).
Vegetarians are teased with a kumara tart with a lightly spicy mango salsa and melted goat's cheese. And what is kumara? Apparently, a New Zealand sweet potato - cooked here with coconut milk and coriander. We live and learn.
I settled back as best I could into the narrow pew and waited for my breast of chicken stuffed with tarragon butter, served with a wild mushroom risotto and truffle dressing, to arrive and watched the just-visible kitchen in motion, the 'ping, ping, ping, ping' of the microwave doing nothing to reassure me that this was going to be a fine dish to savour.
Well, I was wrong about the use of Annie Jones's microwave. It must have been just heating up the shallot puree which found it's way onto my chicken, rather than the lamb, but it added a further frisson of pleasure to this excellent dish.
Succulent, tender, tasty chicken, artfully draped over a risotto to be proud of, came with a side dish of roasted carrot, parsnip, courgette and swede. The risotto, wonderfully creamy with oodles of truffle oil flavour, was totally yummy. The whole simple dish was spot-on and excellent value for £12.95.
A lemon sabayon tart with honeyed cream (£4.25) amply demonstrated that home-made puds, in the right chefly hands, can be a triumph. I was wowed by the thin pastry, real lemon filling and whipped cream oozing honey.
A glass of house red, a rich, moreish Grenache, was equally pleasing as was the glass it was in, a tall stemmed one with a handsome thin bowl.
Annie Jones serves bistro food at it's zenith and is an agreeable, unpretentious candlelit place with friendly attentive, knowledgeable, friendly service. Just get there quick to see that mass of dried flowers. They and the green walls are set to disappear in early 2004 in redecoration plans.
My bill came to £17.90, not including a tip. |
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DINERS' VIEW
Denise Watling and Sue Robertson, from Petersfield:
'We're celebrating Sue's birthday and couldn't have chosen a nicer place,' Denise said. 'My salmon and dill tart and wild sea bass were both expertly cooked and looked a treat on their chunky, flowery plates,' Sue said. 'And it's quiet. No music,' Denise added
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MENU MYSTERY
What is tajine?
This is mistakenly thought of as a name of an Arab stew, but it is the pot the stew is cooked in. The stew can be pumpkin, squid, vegetable or broad bean with yoghurt. Or fried cheese with lamb meatballs and onions.
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