On a whim a few weeks ago while on a trip to Lichfield we had lunch at The Wine House. It’s in a lovely location, near Lichfield Cathedral and the interior is done out to a very high spec, with leather chairs, wooden tables, a bar area and seating at one end and a lovely exposed brick wall at the other, leading into a semi open kitchen.
It wasn’t too busy when we visited for lunch, so our service was very prompt, but friendly as well.
We were certainly attracted in by the menus outside – the food sounded great and the price of the lunch menu great value at 1 course for £9 or 2 for £12. There were also a good selection of choices for this menu. The A la carte menu was more expensive, and the place certainly seems to be trying to cater for the fine dining market.
We chose off the set price lunch menu. The starters we chose were Pork Belly Spring Rolls with Sweet Chilli Sauce and the Lemon and Pepper Chicken Wings with fresh Garlic Aoili. I really enjoyed my spring rolls – they were packed full of meat and very tasty. The sauce was extremely sweet though, a little too much for my liking. The chicken wings went down well also, with the coating on the chicken having a nice peppery taste and the aoili giving a big hit of garlic.
For my main I went for the Pan Fried Sea Bream with creamy mash and Sauce Vierge. The fish was very well cooked and the mash was indeed creamy and well seasoned and I loved the sauce vierge, it was lovely and tangy and sharp which cut through the dish well. My only complaint was that the skin on bream wasn’t crispy at all, which for me meant I didn’t eat the skin as I don’t like the texture of non crispy fish skin. A relatively minor point, but its little things like that which would take it to the next level. Lee went for the Pea and Courgette Risotto with Courgette Ribbons and Pea Shoots. This dish looked wonderful, so fresh and perfect for spring and tasted just like it too. Lee’s only comment was that for him, he would have preferred it a bit ‘oozier’.
The deserts looked interesting, and there was a nice cheese selection, but as we’ve said before, we’re not big desert people on the whole and nothing enticed enough this time!
Our lunch at the Wine House was very nice, and with a few tweaks it would have been great. I would be intrigued to go back in the evening, when they are busier to see how the A La Carte Menu turns out.
http://www.thewinehouselichfield.co.uk
Disclosure: We paid for our own meal, and all opinions expressed are honest and our own
