Well at last, a brand new independent restaurant opening in Derby. This is exactly what local enthusiasts of "something that's half decent to eat, but isn't a chain" have been waiting for! The dark Bat Cave interior had intrigued me since the day it opened and now they've had enough time to correct any initial blips (I believe they had more than their fair share), it's time to don our miners helmet lamps and take the plunge.
It really is dark in here, not only are the walls, furniture, lights, etc all black, but the menu was pretty difficult to read being printed in black on dark grey paper.
The maitre 'de promptly turned up in his dark Gothan City suit, inappropriately smeared and stained in places. Maybe he's secretly attempting to paint one of the rooms white, in between his front of house duties.
An order for the Potted Atlantic Prawns (£5.75) and Smoked Mackerel Tian (£5.50) was placed along with a Crispy Belly Pork (£10.95) and a Poached Fried Chicken Roulade (£11.95) logged for mains. When enquiring if we'd need to order any accompaniments, extra chips were promptly offered by the man in black. Not a good sign.
G&T and Vodka & tonic were duly delivered. Hang on a minute, that's lemonade not tonic. Here we go .....
Once the transformation from humans to foxes was complete, I scanned round the room with my new ability to see in the dark and was taken aback by the sheer size of the place. My hearing must have also become more acute (bat like) as I was suddenly aware of the sheer volume in here. Several long tables towards the back of the room with large parties on them obviously made up the bulk of the volume. Hen do's or birthday's no doubt.
The starters came with suspicious lightening speed. My Potted Prawns wrapped in smoked salmon, were very chilled, they'd either been de-frosted or just taken out of a very cold fridge? Characterless in taste and texture, as was the thick wedge of foccacia, very "Morrisons bakery". The Mackerel tian was...... you guessed it, Mackrel pate. Bog standard stuff. Both dishes were displayed on large irregular shaped plates, massively over presented. All dressed up, with nowhere to go!
Within minutes our plates had been whisked away and we were presented with the main attraction on two more large inappropriate "OH, don't they look trendy" plates.
Tell me if I'm crazy but Crispy Belly Pork, needs to be crispy. Yes, you guessed it, it wasn't. A thick slice of wobbly pork isn't top of my list. The twice cooked chicken roulade wasn't saying much either, chunky chips, spinach and an alleged thyme jus were sharing the plate.
The speedy service, bland over presented food served to at least 100 covers at a time, made me think........ Could this be the new Antibo's?
Fine dining it certainly isn't.
Unfortunately this place is all show, at medium dough, for people "not in the know"!
No doubt you'll be invited to Karen's 21st birthday here, you'll see what I mean.......
Food 5/10
Venue 6/10
Service 4/10
Tel: 01332 208262
www.timetograze.com
"In darkness there is no sin, Light only brings the fear, Nothing to corrupt the eyes, There is no vision here" (Wait for the Blackout, The Damned 1980)
Martin (sometime in July, it wasn't that memorable)
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4 comments:
I am very suprised by the review you have written for Graze, I have eaten there several times and have been more than happy on all occassions!! went the other night had 3 courses for £12.95 stupendous value i must say!! After talking to the manager(not a stained suit in sight) I was imformed Graze have a new chef someone called David Jones who acheived his own michelin star at somewhere called the Carved Angel, I have never really understood the hype of these stars and rossettes but there you go, I sampled on my last visit a wonderfully presented goats cheese tartlet with hazlenuts etc very delicious!! followed by spiced slow roasted belly pork with asian greens and a sticky soy, chilli sauce this really was the best, to finish i had traditional bakewell tart with proper custard and jam ice-cream, there were 4 of us dining and we all tried somthing different, maybe you should give it another try matey, I too have eaten at all the places you have listed but this really is the best value for the quality food i have eaten in derby for as long as i can remember, also I have noticed a nice place for lunch a cheaper alternative than Soul Deli which is fairly decent and again good value Original Olive on the spot!!
Johnboy Derby
Johnboy
I will cetainly re-visit Graze in the next few weeks and update my blog accordingly.
As you're aware restaurant service and food can change on a daily basis. What I wrote about Graze was a true reflection of my experience on that day.
I will be posting a whole new series of dining experiences soon.
Many thanks.
Martin
Try the Bay Tree in Melbourne - delicious food - ambient surroundings and the service is pretty good too! Breakfast there is a joy but only available on certain days - need to book early to get in the Bay Tree. Also you dont seem to have tried the Shalimar on Midland Road - very good food and nice atmosphere. I have been to Graze but much prefer the Bay Tree.
What a disappointment.. last day before the planned refurb - arrived at early for our table and was forgotten for 1.5 hours - by the time we were on our second bottle and feeling slightly worse for wear apart from two pieces of bread. To make up for our wait the manager (who didnt bother to come to see us directly) sent his waiter with the phrase "sorry we lost your order the manager has offered the first bottle of cheaper wine free"... aghast that we were so little thought of we insisted NO we want that one free of charge now. No manners nor interest from the condescending so called manager. The food when it arrived was tasty and nice, shame as the place was really full. Train your manager in real customer services, wipe the smirk of your face and appreciate your customers. NOT a good experience at all Graze......
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