We enjoyed the meal so much we took the chef home with us. Well, not quite but we could have done. For £100 he gives a three-hour cookery demonstration for four people in your home.
Not a bad idea but you would find it difficult to recreate the atmosphere of Bentley's in your own home.
This was our first visit, prompted by several gushing recommendations. It lived up to our expectations, though the location is none too promising.
It's on a main road in Shelf in a modest terrace of shops opposite the Interface factory and a few yards from Bottomley's and the Duke William pub.
Behind the modest facade, you find a wonderfully atmospheric restaurant. There's a comfortable bar with a huge blackboard of offerings instead of a traditional menu and two cosy dining rooms in the cellar.
The menu is concise - half a dozen or so starters and a similar number of main courses. On the day we called it was dominated by fish. I would have appreciated more alternatives but we quickly settled on our orders.
The dishes are deliciously described and reasonably priced for an elegant establishment. Jackie started with mussels in white wine and cream while I settled for ham salad with goat cheese, dressing and seasoned mayonnaise (£4.75 each).
Both were beautifully presented, especially the salad which was adventurous and crisp.
For main courses, Jackie chose pan-fried salmon oven-baked with warm potato salad (£11) while I went for chicken supreme in a tasty spicy sauce (£10.50) which were accompanied by a decent portion of sliced potatoes in a cream sauce, green beans, grated carrot and beetroot.
The service was prompt, courteous and efficient - especially when you consider we turned up on a busy Saturday night without booking. We should have phoned - or even booked by email - in advance.
The bill came to £35.75 for two courses and a drink each which we thought reasonable for somewhere so special. And it's certainly somewhere we would revisit for a special occasion.
Steven Teale
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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