A TASTE SENSATION S EVEN PLAT E S OF FOOD HEAVEN
Some of the country’s top chefs have donned their aprons and cooked at Thyme Kitchen in Lichfield since its launch and in January that was no exception when Daniel Lee, MasterChef: The Professionals winner for 2021 took over the stoves.
A massive fan of Asian food, marketing director Tina Thomas-Bassett went along to sample Daniel’s seven course tasting menu which he presented over the course of three weekends there.
It is always really pleasant walking into Thyme kitchen. The atmosphere is very homely with soft music playing, flickering candlelight on the tables and exotic smells wafting from the kitchen. The staff are enthusiastic and passionate about what they do and tonight was no different.
As we browsed the seven courser taster menu, our waitress suggested we also choose the wine flight, expertly paired with the food. With some unusual-sounding dishes on offer, this seemed like a good plan. With all the choices taken care of for us, we could just sit back and enjoy the experience.
To start with we were presented with the most mouthwatering snacks described simply as ‘Crab, chilli, basil | Duck, hoisin, cucumber’. I have to admit to never eating crab, but this was simply delicious and the duck a very clever play on duck pancakes.
The next course (Lo Bak Go, spring onion, sriracha) was a delicious traditional dim sum dish, a ‘cake’ made using mooli cooked out with rice flour and cornflour, seasoned and pan fried, served with sriracha sauce and spring onion. The sweetness and spiciness of the sriracha sauce paired beautifully with the Lo Bak Go and really set the tastebuds tingling.
Our next course was a very moreish Mantou, essentially a bao (bun) which is steamed and then deep fried, served with a miso and sesame butter. The bun was so soft and the miso sesame butter such a beautiful creamy flavoursome texture, the two worked perfectly together.
Scallops are a favourite of mine and the scallop course did not disappoint. Deliciously cooked in XO sauce, seared on one side and served with a sweet potato puree with ginger and diced sweet potato, finished with a chive foam, this was a dish that certainly left you desiring more.
Daniel is always keen to explore his Asian culinary roots and then add his own twist to it and the next course really showed his culinary flair. Hainanese Chicken, rice, sesame, chilli is considered to be Singapore’s national dish and one of the dishes that saw Daniel win through to the finals of the TV competition. This version served before us featured poached chicken seasoned with pandan and sesame oil, served with rice cooked in chicken broth, and a chilli sauce. There was also stir fried choi sum on the side and a terrine of chicken broth to pour over and honestly this is just one of the best dishes we have ever eaten - simple but delicious.
A nice little palate cleanser came next - yoghurt, yuzu, lime, grape. Small but yummy, this was a set yuzu-infused yoghurt with grapes that have been pickled in lime and was so refreshing.
The final dessert course was a very playful play on a traditional crumble, the pear poached in a sake liquor, the crumble made using custard powder and you can really taste the custard coming through. This was all cleverly finished with a shiso (Japanese leaf) mascarpone.
While we would both have happily eaten everything put in front of us, the experience is certainly enhanced by the attention to detail the staff bring to the table, explaining each course as they present it to diners. This was only topped by Daniel himself coming out of the kitchen after service, together with his MasterChef trophy, to talk to the guests and chat about his incredible dishes and his own cooking journey, before and during the show. It was a privilege to meet him and thank him for quite an inspirational meal.
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WINING & DINING THYME K I TCHEN
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