?By Seb Inglis-Jones
Mrs Mustard, Saddler Street
Having usurped Hide?s prime slice of real estate on Saddler Street, Mrs Mustard, the new restaurant in town sits proud and prim behind a new lick of brown paint and a rather promising epithet: ?Totally scrumptious food emporium?.
Now as any student population would attest to (and Durham is no exception), if a restaurant, coffee shop, bar, pub, club, is to triumph in tugging on the heart and wallet strings of said population, it must possess some particular and cohesive vibe.
Let me explain. You might go to Flat White because it?s cosy, because the hotchpotch d?cor, charming service and quaint tea cups tickle your fancy? just as the food in Zen is consistently appealing, the internet in Nero fast, and a pint in the Swan a tenth the price of entry into Academy.
The million dollar question, then, is does Mrs Mustard have an alluring vibe, a convincing selling point? In terms of layout it hasn?t shrugged off the Hide exoskeleton ? the tables could be ex-Hide ? but new contributions include brass cooking pots and pans, a whimsical fireplace and one or two bookshelves presenting the tasteful detritus of Mrs Mustard?s kitchen. Particularly appealing are the multiple ceiling lights that hang, individually, like jelly fish tendrils. A few niggles distract from the otherwise homogenous flavour of the place; the Costa-esque wall prints, the garish toilet sign, but these are mere niggles to anyone other than a true cynic. Not too bad so far.
The cuisine is quintessentially British, boasting a lavish selection of meat dishes, and with prices ranging from ?9 to ?20 Mrs Mustard and her team have vaulted straight to the top end of the student budget. At that price it better be good I hear you say. Well, I?ve got good news and bad news.
I have been to Mrs Mustard twice now, returning because the pork belly and king scallops I had as a main course (from the dinner menu) was one of the best dishes I can remember having; a bouquet of taste and texture, the sort of thing you?d expect to find in one of London?s finer restaurants.
Keen to re-live these dizzying flavoursome heights I returned for lunch, ordering miniature Yorkshire puddings with roast beef and gravy followed by spicy prawns wrapped in flatbread whilst my companion ordered a chicken and bacon salad. Everything was beautifully presented; the gravy arrived in a miniature cooking pot and the salad was fluffy like a newly brushed Persian cat, but this is where the compliments stop I?m afraid.
In terms of taste, the word that springs to mind is ?average?. The beef was slightly dry, non-descript (as were the Yorkshire puddings), and saved only by the gravy, whereas, whilst the prawn wraps were ok, I found myself musing over the many dishes Durham could offer for ?9? a superb mushroom risotto from Zizzi perhaps.
So here?s the wrap, if you?ll forgive the pun: I thought, upon my first visit, that Mrs Mustard might be a new epicentre of fine dining in Durham. The Pork belly was genuinely sensational. It was, however, let down by its peers; so much so that I could not confidently guarantee a good meal to a friend looking for a sure thing.
What, then, is the selling point? It?s pricy and the d?cor does not exude any idiosyncrasy. If you choose your dish wisely, perhaps on recommendation, you will have a pleasant surprise, but there is nothing I can put my finger on to suggest that Mrs Mustard will be anything other than just another restaurant, and I say that with a sigh.
Photographs: Seb Inglis-Jones
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Related posts:
- Restaurant review: The Gourmet Spot
- Restaurant Review: The Lodge
- San Marco: Review
- Review: Flat White
Source: http://www.palatinate.org.uk/?p=28457
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