Good Food Guide 2006 - Edited by Andrew Turvil
Sevendials, on a seven-pronged intersection a short uphill canter from the railway station, is the four-year-old brainchild of London escapee Sam Metcalfe
The informal ambience of varnished wood floor and undressed tables is in keeping with his modern brasserie cooking. Dishes are ingredient-laden, so that a soup of curry-spiced smoked haddock and leek contains a poached egg, while a serving of local scallops is grilled, served on sweet potato champ and finished off with toasted hazelnuts and coriander butter. A fish main course might pair sea bass and lemon sole in puff pastry with currants and ginger, its hollandaise sauce spiked up with Pernod. Slow-cooked local pork belly comes more straightforwardly with grain mustard mash, cabbage and a sauce of cider and apple. Sides – which you may not need – are extra, and meals end with the likes of poached pear with star-anise parfait, or lemon and blueberry cheesecake with raspberry coulis. The wine list is noticeably weightier in reds than whites, with six house wines from £12.