Mother's Day - that'll be a table for six plus highchair, and a hopelessly set menu. I had a shortlist of candidates to phone on the Monday of the week, and Jaff's, being conveniently located for all guests, and suitable for all palates (ie not too adventurous), was at the top. They could fit us in at noon so in the end I didn't have to call anywhere else. When we arrived it looked as if they were fully booked, and we were shown to our table and given the menu. It wasn't as "set" as I had anticipated - there's nothing worse than a limited menu - so everyone found something they wanted. I went for the full three courses, starting with prawn and melon salad, which consisted of a generous portion of prawns and fresh melon and salad. For my main course I had Thai fishcakes, two, large, and served with salad and lime aioli (though I couldn't taste the lime). For pudding I went for the white chocolate and lime cheesecake with chocolate "pouring sauce". Again, I couldn't really taste any lime or white chocolate, just cheesecake, but it was nice all the same. The "pouring sauce", though, was about two teaspoons-worth in a tiny jug, and was actually too thick to pour (I used the teaspoon from my tea to scoop it out). But it wasn't unpleasant - it's chocolate, so it's a winner anyway. What was unpleasant was my pot of tea, which tasted mildly of coffee. Not sure how they managed that! The Mother's Day menu was priced at £14.50 for two courses, or £18 for three - I don't know what happens if you only want one course. I've had issues before with the handheld electronic thingies Jaff's use for taking orders, but on this occasion there were no mix ups. All in all a pleasant and efficiently handled meal.
http://www.jaffsbarandrestaurant.co.uk/
Visited 12pm 2 April 2011
