I must have walked past the Spread Eagle a thousand times, but for some reason, have never felt inclined to go in. I’ve always had the impression of a certain stuffiness about the place and I’m not quite sure where that came from. Recent renovations have certainly tried to keep a sense of history and tradition, with mahogany panelled walls, antique fireplaces and corniced ceilings in place. Remnants of centuries past also include old signs and plenty of local paintings by the likes of Thomas Gainsborough and Jack Butler Yeats. The antiquity even stretched as far as the clientele, with my partner and I being the youngest in the restaurant by far!

In contrast to the decor, the food is modern French in style and this was hammered home by the Edith Piaf style music playing rather loudly, as well as the serving staff being French.

We were appetised by an amuse bouche of bouillabaise, with a sliver of sea bass on top, which was very tasty. The starters consisted of the Monkfish with Squid & Tomato ratatouille for her and Seared blue fin tuna with shrimp salad for me. I liked the monkfish and the squid was cooked perfectly in the ratatouille. There was a feeling that the ratouille and monkfish didn’t quite seem right together, though. My tuna was excellent,  and the shrimp salad very good.

The Roasted Lobster with Rosemary and Red Pepper veloute again felt as though things didn’t quite match up and I thought the rosemary was a little overpowering. The seared fillet of beef with leek, ventreche (french pancetta) and oyster mushrooms was a delight. The beef was medium rare (although I don’t remember being asked how I liked it) and the accompanying rosti shaped leek, ventreche & mushrooms had tons of flavour. The dauphinoise potato side dish was lovely, too.

The Dessert chosen were Strawberry & Raspberry Millefeuille and the Creme Brulee tasting, which consisted of two creme brulee’s. The millefeuile looked quite spectacular and the picture I took doesn’t really do it justice (in fact all the pictures I took here didn’t really turn out that well) and it didn’t taste too bad either. My creme brulee’s (strawberry flavoured and vanilla 

flavoured) were just right.

The food I chose was excellent although my partner’s dishes left a little to be desired, despite being cooked well. The Spread Eagle is a good place to have a romantic meal for two, although the food for what it is, is a little overpriced at £27 for two courses and £31 for three. The tasting menu was £42 for 6 courses and an amuse bouche, which judging by the size of the dishes was probably better value. The service was generally good, although I’m still confused to whether I was actually asked how I wanted my beef or whether I replied accidentally to a mumbled ‘medium rare?’. I will return but will remember to retain some caution in choosing the more experimental ingredient pairings.

You can visit their website at www.spreadeaglerestaurant.com/

for more information.