England August 2012 day 6 and River Cottage Canteen

Thursday

 We had contacted  friends to see if they fancied going out for lunch alas they had ordered a new fridge and had to wait in. So we headed off by ourselves to visit first Yeovil and then onto Axminster for lunch, yes you guessed it, to River Cottage Canteen.

What we didn’t realise it was also market day.

So after driving a couple of times around the town (it isn’t all that big) we got a car park just around the corner from Trinity square.

It was just after lunch so a lot of people had already eaten and just leaving. We got shown to a our table and all most immediately along came the waitress (who we later found out was called Steffi), what a nice friendly lass, nothing was too much bother for her, if she didn’t know she went and asked the kitchen brigade. She told us all about the history of the building, how it had started life as the church hall and after being used as store rooms, workshops and ever changing uses was eventually bought by Hugh and transformed into the River Cottage canteen and Deli.

The daily changing menu was up on a blackboard and was very diverse (I think it also shows Hughs new vegetarian direction)

Linda ordered the char grilled peppers, tomatoes, mozzarella, hazel nuts and fregola

I had the Cornish mussels cooked with leek in a Cornish cider. It was served with home baked bread, walnut spelt and a poppy seed spelt. I ordered a bottle of dry cider and ate the bread before the mussels came so had to order some more.

Well what can you say about a salad, mussels, and chips if they can’t get that right then they shouldn’t be in the cooking trade, it was very nice and the mussels plump and juicy, the broth was very tasty and I was greatful for the extra bread to mop it up with. The chips big chunky and very tasty (not your frites normally associated with Moule frites)

Linda enjoyed the salad ,never having had fegola, she asked Steffi what it was, who went and asked the chef, we all now know it is little pasta balls, that originated in Sicily.

We thanked Steffi (did I tell you, a lovely helpful lass) paid the bill and went to the deli in the front as Linda wanted some cakes and other fattening stuff, the pies and pasties called out to me, but I resisted.

As we left our table the waiting que had once again formed, but what a happy bunch of staff Hugh has put together.

We went outside and visited the Church grounds which is also in Trinity Square.

We thought it would be a good idea to pop into Lyme Regis, you will by now know all about my good ideas, well some of them turn out not to be all that good. This was one of those that turned out simply rotten. We reached the hill down into Lyme Regis (you know the one, very, very steep and passes Mark Hix’s place. It took us best part of 40 minutes to reach the harbour, bumper to bumper, it was RNLI day, now having been in the Navy I have a lot of time for the Life Boats and their crews, but there place is saving us mariners at sea, not blocking up the narrow streets of Lyme Regis, causing traffic jams and grid lock. If they must do it well not when I am passing through. By the time we got through we thought we may as well head back to Dorchester. Which we did and got in just in time for a nice cuppa.