A brown meal

Post-bump H, the lovely m and I haven’t met for ages in fact the last time was in this same Brown’s restaurant but back then with a different logo when the bump was still in residence. In that time Brown’s seems to be a lot more popular but we manage to grab a table near the window (oooh light, I see to get excited about that in restaurant these days!)

I could be mistaken but I believe the menu has gone up a notch, there are rather a lot of interesting propositions which make selecting quite challenging and our waitress has to return several times whilst we (actually mainly me) prevaricates. After due consideration we tuck into our vibrant starters; I have the juicy, plump PAN FRIED BLACK PEARL SCALLOPS with watercress, puy lentils and a lobster sauce and it’s very good indeed.
H has the terribly tomato-ey PAN-FRIED KING PRAWNS with a tomato, chilli, garlic and olive oil dressing which I decline her kind offer of trying.

And m has the SLOW ROASTED PEPPERS with plum and sweet cherry tomatoes, garlic and fresh basil. She also seems very happy with her choice.

H and m barely hesitate, both immediately choosing the SALMON & SPRING ONION FISHCAKES with lemon hollandaise and dressed mixed leaves and seemed to be very happy with their selection. I struggle between the beef Wellington, the duck confit, the 28 day aged rib eye steak, the bacon cheese burger or the brie, spinach and asparagus tart.
The decision I finally came to however was the GRILLED CHICKEN topped with prosciutto and taleggio cheese with hollandaise and chips and the reason for this was I’d seen Gino D’Campo make a delicious looking battered out chicken fillet topped with taleggio and ham on Cooking the Books the other night. Though he spoilt his by piling it on top of roasted tomatoes and even though it’s very simple and I could easily whip it up the idea had really stuck in my head so I thought I’d check out the Brown’s version. And of course there’s the added bonus of hollandaise which I am huge fan of. The chicken is very tasty and even though deep down I would have liked a taleggio topped chicken, beef Wellington, duck confit, brie, spinach and asparagus (though I have to ask where would you get asparagus from in November?) tasting plate I was pleased with my final decision.
Continuing the tradition of our previous meetings we order a quick BROWN’S CHOCOLATE FUDGE BROWNIE topped with chocolate sauce served with vanilla ice cream and three spoons. We don’t need to see the menu again to make our decision as the extensive reconnaissance earlier had readied us for a speedy dessert and a quick getaway. And we all agreed it was a fine chocolaty brownie and crowned a rather tasty Brown’s lunch. And knowing that there were plenty of other delights on their menu, we may have to organise another return match.
As Brown's have had a bit of a re-vamp, the menu upgraded from just pasta and 'everything with chips' (not that we didn't enjoy that explosion of carbs last time) but I think you've got to admit it looks pretty good I think Brown's should be upgraded to two brown forks.