Shropshire is a part of the country I’ve not spent very much time in, so a few weeks ago it was nice to spend a morning having a wander round Shrewsbury. Before heading over the the National Trust property of Attington Park nearby to continue our exploring we fueled up with a spot of lunch at House of the Rising Sun.
Tucked away on a side street behind a large antique wooden door, in the heart of the town centre, from the outside House of the Rising Sun is quite unassuming. Inside however the space is quite something. There’s a moody atmosphere with dark woods and low hanging lights. I loved the bright royal blue tiles that covered the back of the bar, quite a stunning area.
Image from HOTRS website
The restaurant, which has just celebrated its second anniversary offers several menus including their new innovative ‘Wave’ menu which consists of ‘wave after wave’ of dishes selected from their menus arriving at each table to taste, created by head chef Sam Butler who recently achieved the accreditation of one of the UK’s Top 10 Sushi chefs at the `UK heat of the Global Sushi Challenge’
The food is billed as East meets West Modern Australian, combining the flavours of the Pacific Rim but underpinned by European cooking tradition. If this is the case it sounded right up my street! We were eating at lunch time, but in the evenings they also open upstairs with a dining room that ‘takes inspiration from the turn of 18th century French and British colonialism, meeting subtly with Eastern opulence and beauty’
To drink I chose one of the mocktails – a Lemon & Lime Bitters, which I found very refreshing. Lee chose from the wine list and had a glass of Luis Felipe Edwards Viognier 2012 Chile. There were good and varied choices of wines by the bottle and glass, as well as many soft drinks, infused waters, cocktails and beers.
We chose a few dishes from the Sharing Plates Menu. A couple each was suggested so this is what we went for (+ desserts of course!) Like tapas, they arrive at the table when they are ready. First to arrive was the Seared Scallops, Pork Popcorn & Winer Cherries (£9.50). I really enjoyed the flavor of the cherry with the traditional pork and scallop combination but did find them a marginally overcooked, and thought 4 queenie scallops was a little stingy for the price of the dish.
Next up was by far and away our favorite of the 4 dishes, Wild Shropshire Venison Kofta with Chilli Chocolate Sauce (£9). I’m always wary of kofta as often find them dry but these were so succulent and packed full of meaty flavor. The chilli and chocolate sauce was a genius addition and complemented them perfectly.
Seared Teriyaki Beef, Spring Onions (£13) was cooked a beautiful medium rare and was very tender. I would have liked the addition of a drizzle of glaze or sauce to tie the beef and onions together.
Last up was a Pulled Pork Steamed Bun, Pickled Apple and Smoked Mayonnaise (£4.50). The pork was meltingly tender and well seasoned and the smoky mayonnaise came through well with the sharp apple cutting through. A delicious few mouthfuls.
Another couple of things that really took my fancy were the Potato & spring onion croquettes, kimchi slaw, avocado puree and the Crispy Soft Shell Crab with Apple Passionfruit and Chilli. These would be high on my list if heading back!
We definitely still had room for dessert, so if you are hungry for lunch or not planning on sweets I would add in an extra 1 or 2 plates for sure.
For dessert Lee tried an unusual Chilled Morello Cherry Chocolate Fondant and Milk Sorbet (£7) He was a little confused as he’s only ever known a fondant to be hot, but he enjoyed the richness of this mousse like chocolate surrounding a liquid cherry center and refreshing milk sorbet.
I went for a favorite of mine – Churros (£7) Enough said really. Yummy!
This meal came to £58 in total with drinks. It’s not a cheap lunch, but overall the quality was good, the surroundings and service very amiable and for me it’s the kind of food I love to eat. I would certainly go back for dinner to try the wave menu if in the area.
Disclosure: We paid for our own drinks, the food we sampled was free of charge. All views are our own.
