Christmas menu review
57 Colegate
Norwich
NR3 1DD
Christmas menu served throughout December
(Booking essential)
A
nightime inspection was a first for me, as was a Christmas dinner
inspection. The Golden Star on Colegate was lit up nicely in the
darkness when we arrived.
We'd been here before for breakfast in 2014, you can read the breakfast review here. It's certainly a really cosy and traditional pub so it seemed like a good place to enjoy a Christmas meal.
There's the main room out the front and this smaller room out the back where our table was reserved.
I
promised my wife there would be Christmas crackers and breathed a huge
sigh of relief when I spotted them on the table. She was struggling to
understand why the two course Christmas menu cost £22.50 and the two
course Sunday lunch cost £12.95, my only answer was that there would be
Christmas crackers!
At least if the Christmas cracker jokes didn't entertain us there was a selection of board games nearby.
Our table was beside the window looking out onto Duke Street.
Ok, time to get the party started!
With
Christmas hats on we checked out the contents of the crackers. I really
struggled with the charade but quite enjoyed the challenge!
My
wife was happy to go for two courses but I persuaded her to go for all
three courses in the end. The Golden Star had thought about vegetarians
and vegans too when planning their Christmas menu.
We're
no wine connoisseurs so we ordered the cheapest bottle of white on the
menu at £12.90. It seemed like a reasonable price to us and tasted ok so
we were happy enough.
Starters
I chose the duck rillettes, potted confit duck leg served with toasted sourdough bread and plum chutney.
The
tender and moist duck leg tasted so good I could have happily eaten it
all straight out of the pot. There were other items on the plate though
so I resisted the urge and set about combining the flavours.
Duck
leg with plum chutney over toasted sourdough was a winning combination.
The plum chutney was divine and the sharpness of it counteracted the
richness of the duck. As starters go I was impressed, so far so good!
My wife's starter was wild mushroom and chestnut pate tart.
Mains
My
main course was roast Norfolk turkey served with pigs in blankets,
roast potatoes, roasted root vegetables and gravy. It was exactly as
described on the menu but I felt a tad disappointed to be eating a
Christmas dinner without stuffing or sprouts.
There were two large slices of turkey which was moist and tender, the gravy was sublime.
Great pigs in blankets and nice large roast potatoes with crispy edges.
The cranberry sauce was excellent, plenty of it too.
The
roasted vegetables consisted of carrot, swede and parsnip. All nice
enough but I'd have liked to have seen far more veg on the plate.
My wife's main course was butternut squash and pistachio loaf served with roast potatoes, roasted root vegetables and gravy.
Dessert
We
both had Christmas pudding for dessert, a vegan version was available
for my wife. We both agreed it stole the show and was definitely the
highlight of the meal. I didn't see any redcurrants as stated on the
menu but the pudding was rich and delicious, coated in brandy butter
which had us literally scraping the plate at the end.
I
love Christmas food and nothing quite beats a good Christmas dinner. On
the way home from the city a few weeks back I spotted the Christmas
menu outside The Golden Star, I decided it might be a nice thing to do
with my wife. To be honest though she took some convincing as the price
tag of a Christmas meal seemed to be almost double that of a Sunday
lunch. In the end though sheer persuasion and the fact that The Golden
Star were offering vegan options sealed the deal so we booked a table
for two...
Upon entering
- The Golden Star has a homely and traditional interior with heaps of
character. It was nice and warm when we arrived and there was a hive of
activity at the bar. There are two main rooms here, one at the front
where the main bar is and another along the side with a smaller bar. We
would be sitting in the side room which suited us as it seemed quite
cosy in there. Our table was all set up with cutlery wrapped in a
festive serviette, a candle giving a warm glow and a pair of Christmas
crackers. An excellent place to enjoy a Christmas meal I felt. 9/10
Service -
We received a warm welcome and was offered drinks before being shown to
our table. All of our food choices had been pre-ordered so we enjoyed a
few glasses of wine whilst waiting for the different courses to arrive.
We were asked if everything was ok during the meal and again at the end
so there was plenty of opportunity to raise any concerns. The staff
seemed keen to please and the courses arrived at just the right time. 9/10
Type of roast - Ready served on the plate, no shared veg dilemmas here.
Choices available - Four starter, five main and four dessert.
Cracker contents -
A hat, small gifts (a tape measure and card trick) and a joke which
also featured trivia and a guessing game. It kept us entertained for a
while! 7/10
Contents -
Starter: Potted confit duck leg served with toasted sourdough bread and plum chutney.
Main: Roast
Norfolk turkey served with pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, roasted
root vegetables (carrot, swede and parsnip) and gravy.
Dessert: Christmas pudding with brandy butter.
A
decent combination of ingredients but some stuffing would have been
nice and the Christmas pudding didn't appear to include redcurrants as
stated on the menu. 7/10
Vegetable portions -
Nice to see them served on the plate but not really enough and a bigger
selection would have been nice. For me a few sprouts make a Christmas
dinner. 4/10
Presentation -
Each course was presented well and the main and dessert were both
piping hot. The lambs lettuce (or it could have been watercress) worked
well on the starter but seemed slightly out of place on the mains. 8/10
The food -
Starter: Tender duck served with a stunning plum chutney, I thoroughly enjoyed this over the warm toasted sourdough, a great starter!
Main:
The Norfolk turkey served here wasn't too dry and covered in cranberry
sauce was a real joy to eat. The pigs in blankets were pretty nice and
the roast potatoes large and crispy on the outside. The roasted root
vegetables were cut into small chunks, they tasted ok but the veg side
of things was a bit disappointing to be honest.
Dessert:
Desserts are usually my least favourite course but on this occasion the
Christmas pudding covered in brandy butter was my highlight of the
entire meal. I don't recall ever eating such a rich and delicious
Christmas pudding as this one and the brandy butter melted over it
beautifully.
So
an impressive starter, a slightly limited main course that lacked a few
of my favourite Christmas dinner items and a surprise victory with the
dessert. 8/10
Gravy and sauces - The
gravy was spot on, a good consistency and really rich in flavour. The
cranberry sauce was excellent too and there was plenty of it which was a
bonus. 9/10
Veggie/vegan option -
Starter: Wild mushroom and chestnut pate tart.
Main: Butternut squash and pistachio loaf served with roast potatoes, roasted root vegetables and gravy.
Dessert: Christmas pudding (Vegan)
Words from the wife -
As has been mentioned by the inspector I couldn't understand why we were paying double just because a Sunday roast was labelled 'Christmas Dinner' but as I was promised some pretty exciting crackers and 'there will be wine glasses too' (!!??!!) I threw caution to the wind and signed up for our office party. The cats couldn't come which was a bit of a blow but I'm sure they had great fun photocopying their fluffy behinds whilst we were out.
Anyway enough of that nonsense... The crackers were great, loved the crackers. A tape measure and playing cards. Not bad. The inspector wore his hat with aplomb, this is how much he was trying to prove it was not a rip off to pay double for pub food in December.
The tart which was not a tart but a pie as far as I could see was cold but gets a point for having mushrooms in, not sure if it was meant to be cold. The main course was good, too small compared to a usual pub roast dinner though. Lush roasties and veg. A wider variety would've been usual but they were done well. The vegan option was a of tube of orange sludge with little flavour.. am I selling it? Not sure if there were actually pistachio's in it but there seemed no sign as far as taste was concerned. Perhaps it was just too refined for me. I wouldn't go here again for vegan fayre when there are so many better options in Norwich but if you have a small appetite it could be for you.
The saving grace was the Christmas Pud which was scrumptious. And as I can't usually fit desert in due to the main being too filling at least the fact the other courses left such a gaping hole was a good thing in the end!
As has been mentioned by the inspector I couldn't understand why we were paying double just because a Sunday roast was labelled 'Christmas Dinner' but as I was promised some pretty exciting crackers and 'there will be wine glasses too' (!!??!!) I threw caution to the wind and signed up for our office party. The cats couldn't come which was a bit of a blow but I'm sure they had great fun photocopying their fluffy behinds whilst we were out.
Anyway enough of that nonsense... The crackers were great, loved the crackers. A tape measure and playing cards. Not bad. The inspector wore his hat with aplomb, this is how much he was trying to prove it was not a rip off to pay double for pub food in December.
The tart which was not a tart but a pie as far as I could see was cold but gets a point for having mushrooms in, not sure if it was meant to be cold. The main course was good, too small compared to a usual pub roast dinner though. Lush roasties and veg. A wider variety would've been usual but they were done well. The vegan option was a of tube of orange sludge with little flavour.. am I selling it? Not sure if there were actually pistachio's in it but there seemed no sign as far as taste was concerned. Perhaps it was just too refined for me. I wouldn't go here again for vegan fayre when there are so many better options in Norwich but if you have a small appetite it could be for you.
The saving grace was the Christmas Pud which was scrumptious. And as I can't usually fit desert in due to the main being too filling at least the fact the other courses left such a gaping hole was a good thing in the end!
Value for money:
The three course meal cost £25 per person. It was a great meal but afterwards I could understand my wife's initial
concern over price. It seemed really expensive compared to going for a
Sunday roast yet apart from a Christmas cracker everything seemed pretty
much the same to us except the main was a bit smaller. Many places are
charging a similar price though and I can only imagine it's because it's
a Christmas menu there's a premium to pay. The total cost of the meal
including the bottle of wine came to £62.90 and although we left feeling
adequately full up I could have eaten much more. This did have an
advantage in the end though as not feeling totally stuffed we went onto
gigs at The Birdcage and Waterfront afterwards. 4/10
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