Dash of Style

Mr Greedy has lost two stone. I know! How inconsiderate of him to render his nickname obsolete. Not through any of his own doing I might add.

And no, he has not succumbed to a miracle diet or liposuction. It was in fact his appendix that let him down. It turned out to be burst and gangrenous. Sorry am I putting you off your food? It certainly put him off his.

So next time you’re feeling a bit bloated, try not eating for 10 days and that should help you drop a few pounds. You can dab a soaked cotton wool bud in your mouth, but nothing further. Add in five different tubes, protruding from most of your orifices, and a hospital gown that beggered belief, and you’ll know why eating out became rather a challenge for the best part of two months.

Six weeks of playing Florence Nightingale, was not a role I was best suited to either.

But the famine is now over, and Mr Greedy is back, smaller and leaner than ever, and looking frighteningly similar to the man I married all those years ago.

He’s just been hiding in a sumo suit.

So, to cut a long story short, we’re back in business.

And to celebrate we headed off to The Dashwood in Kirtlington, which despite its out-of-the-way location, is braving the recession by serving a mind-boggling good value ‘Celebrating British Produce’ menu, with two courses for £10.95 and three at £12.95, Monday-Friday for lunch or dinner.

And while most such menus serve simple fare to wrestle back the profits, The Dashwood has come out guns blazing to show you just what it can do, offering food that has you reeling with choice rather than starved of interest.

Mr Greedy of course was not going to be corsetted by any set menu after his period of confinement and waded straight into the à la carte menu with the enthusiasm of an imprisoned man on day release.

So for him, after much salivating, (sorry am I putting you off your food again?) he settled on the crispy salt squid, orange, chorizo, parsley and mint salad with citrus dressing (£6) while I opted for the set menu’s pea and spinach soup with crusty bread. The perfectly portioned soup was delicate and delicious, with a hot freshly-made unsalted roll, which allowed the flavours to speak for themselves.

The squid was slightly overcooked and needed more dressing, but otherwise a refreshing change from Mr Greedy’s usual choice of scallops.

He then surprised me twice in one night (shame on you reader) by ordering the lamb with gnocchi rather than his predictable steak order, making me wonder whether they’d discharged the wrong patient.

Either way, I liked the new version. I had the leek and blue cheese tart with mixed leaf and apple salad, oh and some delicious home cut and fried chips with a coriander dip, and a side of almond buttered green beans.

Again the dish was subtle and tasty, with great attention to detail and presentation, washed down with a gentle Stellenbosch at £4.75 a glass. The lamb (£14) came with wild mushrooms, wilted spinach, pea and mint gnocchi and not enough rosemary sauce, but otherwise the fragrant green gnocchi perfectly complimented the spring lamb.

The iced passion fruit parfait with warm poached pineapple, lime and chilli syrup and honey pistachio tuille, sounded better than it tasted.

A sorbet would have worked better with the Asian ingredients I felt. Mr Greedy’s Cambridge burnt cream with poached rhubarb and a sable biscuit (£5.50) was a variation on a creme brulee, and a better choice.

Add the beautiful Dashwood restaurant conversion, boutique hotel and its quaint setting into the bargain, and you’re really on to a winner here, because despite the fabulous meal, the service was perfect and the open-plan kitchen make it a really personal and intimate evening.

They are trying really hard here and as a result deserve some attention. So if you fancy some good innovative food at a profit crunching price, get on down and give The Dashwood a go.

As for Mr Greedy, he’ll be locked away until the next review – too much of a good thing can’t be good for him.

The Dashwood Hotel & Restaurant is at South Green, Heyford Road, Kirtlington. See thedashwood.co.uk or call 01869 352707.