Best to reserve before you go, there is only space for around 16-20 covers and it was full the entire time we were there. The space also only has outdoor-type heaters, so if like me you feel the cold, wrap up before you go. I kept my coat on the whole time and the staff brought over blankets too. Or if you fancy heading, save it for a Summer trip.
Unless you email them before you go, or cleverly can pick out clues from their twitter (I guessed we'd be having pickled beetroot and partridge) the menu will be a surprise until it is placed in front of you.
To drink I went for the unusual rosehip sour, made with their homemade rosehip syrup. Off to a great start.
We started with a partridge liver paté, which was divine. Really tasty served with thin slivers of toast, along with complementary salted butter and the most incredible sourdough. I hate it when bread tastes that good.
Then came cured trout, apple, buttermilk and rye.
Really unusual, extremely pretty and a lovely combination of textures.
Next up, festival squash, radicchio, walnuts and lardo.
Again, lovely. The squash was full of flavour and the textures made every mouthful interesting to eat and taste.
Then, after about 40 mins of waiting and with no apology when it finally came, our main meal: partridge, carrot, beetroot, smoked pig's cheek. Minus the pig cheek. No mention from the staff either about the missing pig cheek, however we think they compensated by adding more partridge, which was upsetting! I love a bit of pig's cheek.
Came with claws and all.
This was a little disappointing. I was excited for my first taste of partridge, however the bird I was served was a little…a lot…under done. I'm all for rare. I love my meat rare. But there is a difference between rare and raw flesh. I had to send mine back. And it pretty much put me off the rest of my meal. Every time I saw a bit of pink, I was double checking that it was cooked.
Saying that, my sister didn't have this problem! Hers was on the right side of raw.
The dessert was, thankfully, bliss. A really good ending to the meal. Had this been bad, the memory of the bad would have overrided the good.
An usual dessert, something I've never had before. Chestnut panna cotta with mulled hawthorns. Very festive! It was my favourite dish out of the whole meal, the hawthorns were delicious and tasted like winter alcoholic drinks, the chestnuts on the side gave a much-needed crunch and the panna cotta, although not technically perfect, tasted divine. An absolutely wonderful Winter dessert.
So, a mixed bag from Salon. Lovely atmosphere and rustic feel of the place, a hipster's paradise. However there was 12.5% service on the bill, which we paid, although didn't think it was fully deserved considering the wait with no explanations or apologies. The meal wasn't exactly cheap and we felt it was a little cheeky from them.
I would consider trying Salon again in a different season to get a new experience from the produce, and hopefully so I can also leave feeling completely satisfied. I would also go again to try their snacks as a tapas meal, which looked and sound delicious!!
Remember, if you decide to go in Winter, wrap up!!
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