11:51am Monday 15th March 2010
By Nick Churchill
RAPIDLY becoming one of the worst-kept food secrets in Dorset, The Blue Vinny is clearly winning fans by the week.
Not that long ago getting a table was rarely a problem, but I think I’ll be booking ahead in future after turning up at 6pm the other Friday to find it fully booked.
Happily, the Blue Vinny staff are never ones to let something like a full book get in the way of anyone enjoying a meal there and having promised to get the order in quick, they made room for us ahead of an 8pm reservation.
The pub feels like what it always was – a great local – but its regularly refreshed menu, excellent service and, above all, the food belie its humble ambience.
I started with broccoli and Blue Vinny soup which was both hearty and wholesome, with plenty of room in the bowl for the well balanced flavours of creamy blue cheese and peppery vegetable.
My other half enjoyed toasted wild mushrooms on lightly toasted brioche topped with a perfectly cooked poached egg and tart Hollandaise sauce.
Although we never felt hurried, the food arrived promptly and superbly presented.
I went for a lamb burger topped with Blue Vinny (there is a bit of a theme!) which came with hand-cut chips and salad.
It was a bit of a risk, but the well seasoned spiced lamb wasn’t at all greasy and went well with the cheese.
Across the table the oven-roasted free-range breast of chicken, wrapped in pancetta and filled with garlic and herb cream cheese on buttery tarragon mashed potato and vegetables, was equally well received.
Fortunately our appetites had been fully sharpened by an afternoon’s walking in nearby Moreton Forest, which handily provided all the excuse we needed to indulge in pudding!
My vanilla panna cotta with raspberry coulis was a supreme example of delicate creamy sweetness tempered by the refreshing sharpness of the fruit; while the banoffee cheesecake looked good as well – a mild cheesecake topped with warm banana slices and lashings of sticky toffee.
It was back to the heavy-duty walking the next day, but what a great meal.
The bill, with a couple of rounds of drinks, came to just over £50.
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