W
L
MOOR HALL
by Carl Housbey
I first visited Moor Hall back in early 2017 just a few weeks after it opened,
this was before even the AA or Michelin had carried out their inspections.
Since then Mark Birchall and his team have gained 5 AA Rosettes and 2
Michelin Stars, so I thought it was about time that I wrote another article
to bring you all up to date.
Moor Hall is situated in Aughton just outside the town of Ormskirk, it has
easy access from the M58 motorway so doesn’t take long to drive to from
anywhere in the North West, but I wanted to be able to enjoy some of their
very fine wines with my dinner which is why I decided to treat myself and
book into one of the seven extremely comfortable and luxurious rooms for
the night. Plus, the kitchen brigade makes an excellent breakfast, so it was a
win-win situation as far as I was concerned.
The menu structure is very simple, for lunch there is a choice of either four
or eight courses, and for dinner just the eight courses are available, although
by the time you include the delicious snacks that are served in the lounge
with your aperitif you can pretty much double that number. As already
mentioned, I was staying overnight and had arrived mid-afternoon, so that
meant I also enjoyed the complimentary cake and coffee before checking
into my room.
It is a shame that I don’t have more space available in the magazine as the
snacks would warrant a whole article by themselves, so I will just have to
give you a few brief highlights. Shall we start with the wonderfully flavoured
charcuterie which is home cured in the meat aging room beneath the barn,
or how about the lighter than air pillows of black pudding and pickled
gooseberry that disappear in a single bite, or better still the smoked eel with
fermented garlic that is served in little potato cases that look like baskets of
flowers in the garden.
Once sat at the table we were served a couple of pre starters to whet our
appetite even further, the first was a langoustine that had been served raw so
that none of the freshness and beautifully sweet flavours were lost, next a soft
creamy Lindisfarne oyster that had been very lightly poached in buttermilk
and finished off with a dill emulsion, both absolutely superb. The first actual
course has been on the menu in one form or another since the very start,
and that is the baked carrots with Doddington cheese snow, this time served
with chrysanthemum and sea buckthorn, but just as delicious as ever.
46 wirrallife.com
Another perennial and one of my favourites is the crab with turnip, this had
been paired with sunflower seeds and anise hyssop to give the broth a very
slight liquorice note that enhanced the overall dish without overwhelming
the delicate, perfectly cooked crab. Speaking of favourite courses, I have
always adored Mark’s interpretation of steak tartare, as he serves the meat
coarsely chopped giving it a much improved texture in my opinion, and that
little hit of piquancy from the mustard dressing suited the Holstein Friesian
particularly well, the beef was so tender it just melted in the mouth.
Next was veal sweetbread with fermented grains, topped with sliced black
truffle and artichoke – my mouth is watering just thinking about this one,
a real treat as it’s not often that you can find sweetbreads on a menu. Those
of you that love fish would have been in seventh heaven if you had tried the
roasted monkfish with shrimp, salsify and sea herbs in a satisfyingly rich
shellfish sauce which tasted so good that I almost licked the plate when no
one was looking.
By this stage of the meal Mrs Gastro Grazer was starting to feel full so I knew
that some tasty morsels would be likely to head my way from her plate, and I
was particularly lucky that our next dish came in two parts, first was a thick
juicy slice of fallow deer with beetroot, elderberry, and hen of the woods,
second was a side dish of ragu made from the trimmings and offal which
was soon on my side of the table – I was like a pig wallowing in the mud as I
delightedly finished it all off.
Fortunately for Mrs GG the desserts were all light, fruit based, and not too
sweet so she managed to squeeze them in much to my disappointment,
although I am sure the extremely attentive front of house staff had skilfully
given her a slight break without us noticing. In fact, that pretty much sums
up the level of service from the team at Moor Hall, everything just appears
exactly when you want it without having to ask like some kind of telekinesis
– in a word faultless.
So all I need to say now is get yourself a reservation as soon as possible by
clicking on www.moorhall.com or calling 01695 572511, you will be glad
you did and can thank me later.
To see what else I get up to, why not follow me on Twitter @carlhousbey.