Men u of the month
Ad Hoc Menu
Men u of the month
Upper Deck
Bar & Restaurant , Christchurch Harbour Hotel
Tom East discovers the Upper Deck , a picturesque harbourside restaurant that makes the most of Dorset ’ s unrivalled local produce
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Marc and his chefs create daily dishes based on what produce they have in
Marc Carella , head chef at Christchurch Harbour Hotel ’ s Upper Deck Bar & Restaurant , isn ’ t one for messing around . With a bounty of fresh fish and seafood arriving in the harbour , the very best mushrooms foraged from the New Forest and all the wonderful local , seasonal vegetables at his disposal , he wants his diners to get a flavour of the ingredients in his modern classics . “ We ’ re not turning a carrot into seven different purees ,” he tells us . “ We ’ re cooking a carrot how it should be cooked . Not playing with the food too much so that when people eat it they can taste all the wonderful produce we ' ve got on our doorstep .” He talks us through some of the best-selling dishes on the restaurant ’ s new menu .
Tempura Prawns
" Being close to the seaside , we have a lot of fish dishes . You could say it ’ s an Asian influence , but I ’ d call it an English influence because we love our fish and chips . A lot of people are gluten-free , so our little secret is that we use gluten-free selfraising flour with sparkling water for the batter , and literally , that is it ."
Mudeford Crab Croquettes
" The crabs are sourced from Mudeford just down the road . We get our fresh crab meat , we bind that with dried mashed potato , and then we put a brown crab meat butter through the middle , so when you put some breadcrumbs on the croquette and deep fry it , the residual heat melts the butter in the middle . When you cut into it , you get this beautiful runny butter and this nice crab cake texture of the croquette ."
Ad Hoc Menu
Marc explains the everchanging ad hoc menu
The Upper Deck has a daily ad hoc menu , in which the chefs make dishes using ingredients that have arrived that day or are in the larder . “ Recently we had a lovely one that was a hake dish ,” says Marc . “ You take hake , roll it in chorizo breadcrumb and set it in the fridge . Then that ’ s baked in the oven so you ’ ve got the rich oils from the chorizo flavouring the fish and that was served on spiced cannellini beans , and it was lovely , it flew out - serve it with a little bit of tzatziki and coriander yoghurt ."
Cauliflower Risotto with Roasted Mushrooms and Pumpernickel Croutons
" Unfortunately , vegetarians get put on the back burner in most restaurants , but for us , to be able to offer a full vegetarian menu with lovely ingredients is what we pride ourselves on . The cauliflower is locally sourced , and when we cook the risotto , we ’ re using vegetable stock made from trimmings throughout the day . Then we add our full-flavoured cauliflower puree and we roast some really small cauliflower florets in a beurre noisette for the topping . Roasting cauliflower brings the flavour out , especially if you roast it in a brown butter . It ’ s topped with field mushrooms that are roasted in the oven for 5-8 minutes to soften them up . If you roast a mushroom on a low heat , you lose all the water content and a lot of the flavour but cook it really quickly on a high heat and it retains all the water content , so you don ’ t lose that flavour ."
Tunworth and Beetroot Tart
" The Tunworth , when it ’ s ripe , is almost like a Camembert – it ’ s got a really rich , almost tangy flavour to it . We make our own puff pastry disc , that ’ s filled with glazed balsamic onions , and then we have our own beetroot chutney with orange zest and aromatics through it , so you ' ve got that sweet , sour thing going on , and then the Tunworth has a nice creamy richness – a big oomph of flavour that compliments the dish ."
Puddings and Cocktails
" We sit down with the bar manager and I will give him the menu that I ’ ve written . It ’ s quite a fun day because we try the cocktails . We have blueberry cheesecake that ' s served with a Berry Bramble . The cheesecake is quite rich but fruity , and you ’ ll get the same from the Berry Bramble – it is quite rich but fruity and it ’ s really easy to drink ; it ’ s almost filling . There ’ s also the peanut butter parfait with an Old Fashioned . The peanut butter sits on your palate a little bit so to have that Old Fashioned afterwards really freshens the palate ."
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Christchurch Harbour Hotel , 95 Mudeford Road , Christchurch BH23 3NT . www . christchurch-harbour-hotel . co . uk Tel : 01202 400954
{ www . menu-dorset . co . uk