CityLife

Aumbry

Chefs Mary-Ellen McTague and Laurence Tottingham at Aumbry

Aumbry
Prestwich
November 2009

Average three-course cost: £18.50 (introductory offer)

Overall: 5/5
Decor: 4/5, Service: 4/5, Food: 5/5

THE good people of Prestwich shook their zimmer frames with delight upon hearing the news that protégés of multi-Michelined Heston Blumenthal were setting up store in the south Bury suburb.

Mary-Ellen McTague spent four years at the landmark Fat Duck before shifting back north. Husband Laurence Tottingham, who also bears the Blumenthal mark, has recently departed Paul Heathcote’s London Road restaurant in Alderley Edge to join forces with his wife in a new venture.

Their arrival has caused ripples of excitement in an affluent, well-populated area perhaps underserved with high-quality venues.

The new business is located in the discrete cottage formerly occupied by the Fetish For Food restaurant, sadly vacated after owner Rowena Rose decided to hang up her spurs to concentrate on the outdoor catering side of her business.

The husband and wife team has created a stimulating and inventive menu without steering into foam-making pretension.

Don’t get me wrong, foam-making and moulds made popular by Blumenthal are rightly celebrated and have re-invigorated public joy in food. But such tricks would be entirely the wrong move for an aspirational suburban bistro.

Fortunately, the small but regularly changing menu relies heavily on local produce and boasts a rotating cast of comforting favourites such as hot pots, roasts and puddings.

Pleasing combination

What marks these dishes out is the clean flavours, intelligent pairing of ingredients, and top-class presentation. Winter vegetables and hotpots were the order of the day when we visited, four weeks into opening.

I decided to treat my pal, who has recently taken a battering over his expense claims. He was in need of a good meal.

We shared a first course of soused herring, a Dutch-style variant on roll mop, soaked in vinegar and herbs. The slight sourness of the fish was balanced by dill and chopped onion. It was served with rye bread and an intense pickle of beetroot-infused horseradish.

Having recently returned from Denmark, where I gorged on every variety of smørrebrød, I’m happy to report the starter dish ranked very favourably.

My main course of roast grouse was a change of pace. The dark, gamey meat had been paired away from the bone, sparing the diner the awkward task of extraction. A dark, reduced sauce did not overpower the meat and crisp slivers of potato chips were quickly wolfed down.

I was mildly surprised by the addition of a chicken liver pate on melba, sidelined on the plate like a stowaway. But the flavours were much milder than the booze-overloaded pates of Christmas in Belgium and proved a pleasing combination.

My friend enjoyed a whole pan-fried plaice, which was simply dressed in lemon and herbs before being served with a puree of creamed potato and steamed asparagus. The plaice is such a humble but versatile fish, with white soft flesh inside and crisped just so in the skillet.

Good honest dining

I refused to share my dessert of a tart lemon posset. Again it’s a simple dish to make: cream, sugar, lemon. But, once more, it was done to perfection and served with slightly-savoury olive oil shortbread and a sweet blackberry puree.

With such fine food, I can’t help wishing the chefs had taken on slightly bigger premises. The small dining space – with only 30 or so seats – borders on the right side of intimate.

Although they have done the best job they can with the existing footprint of the building, the upstairs lounge area where you can enjoy a pre-prandial tipple is a little bit cramped. But what can you do?

The décor has a minimalist Regency theme. It’s all about dressers, gold and cream wallpaper and ornate silverware, like a successful low-budget film about the life of Marie Antoinette.

Diners can also watch the team at work – splashing, straining and serving their way through the menu – in a Tardis-like galley kitchen.

A little bit of light eavesdropping during our visit suggested many of our fellow diners in this just-opened restaurant were already regulars.

Given the huge potential local market for ladies who lunch, Aumbry is, not surprisingly, open for lunch. This currently is a steal, with your choice of three courses for less than £12.

Mary-Ellen and Paul, who alongside everything else this year have celebrated the birth of a new baby, have succeeded in creating that rare thing. Good honest dining, at an affordable price, in a comfortable setting. We hope they do very well.

Aumbry, Church Lane, Prestwich, M25 1AJ (0161 798 5841).