Bearlands Restaurant

Launa Wallace (14 July 2009)

Simply superb! From the minute you arrive until the minute you leave. The service is personal, warm and friendly, the food exquisite, even the house wine has the taste of a mid-range qualilty wine. The setting and ambiance is top quality. I have been so impressed with this restaurant that I once ate (with different friends) there 3 times over the course of 2 weeks!

Scott from Gloucester (11 July 2009)

On entering we were seated in the reception area in the form of a large conservatory-bar area, which was large enough to seat 15-20 people comfortably. We were asked if we’d like drinks. I opted for a bottle of Budweiser and my wife Tracey had a bottle of Smirnoff Ice. Along with the drinks came the menus and wine list. The menu changes seasonally and the vegetarian options change every 4 weeks. Whilst deciding on our choices I took out a small inconspicuous red notepad. The barman-waiter noticed this and asked if he could help in any way. I told him that I would be taking notes and hopefully be posting the review on here. He seemed a little perturbed and said he wasn’t told any restaurant critics would be in and would speak to the Chef. I subsequently found out that this barman was in fact the owner Glen Tanswell. Before I go any further I think some background is required. The restaurant in its present form has been open around a year and a half and is owned and run by Glen and 4-6 staff. The Head Chef is a really nice guy named Rob Sinyard who after our meals made a point of joining us upstairs. We chose the two-course menu option, which was £21.95 a head. My wife started with the homemade French onion soup which you’ll have seen by the menu had a Welsh rarebit croute placed in the centre, whilst I opted for the scallops with lime and chilli and chilled lime couscous. Our orders were taken while in the bar area and after five minutes or so we were shown to our table downstairs in the restaurant which consisted of two main eating areas. On reflection I would say that the restaurant could seat about 40 comfortably. The décor was really stunning. Old converted wine cellars, vaulted redbrick ceilings with plaster affects that had a ‘fleur-de-lis’ pattern that had worn away over the years. This led to a really dramatic, yet romantic feel. The tables were laid with crisp white cotton tablecloths, candles, usual cutlery and glasses and a large ewer of iced water. Whilst being seated I was given an envelope by our waiter, which turned out to be a 40th birthday card that JRC had arranged by ringing the restaurant and dictating some names of people on the MB. For this I was blown away so thank you for making the effort. We were offered a roll each with a choice of butters flavoured with chilli, garlic, or unsalted. The rolls were warmed beautifully and my choice happened to have dates running through it, which were lovely. Our starters arrived promptly and it was then that I wished I owned a digital camera. My wife pointed out that although being a veggie my scallops looked stunning and could quite easily feature in any food magazine. The scallops came with corals attached and were beautiful. I’d never tried scallops before and I was expecting them to be a bit chewy. Far from it they were succulent and almost melted in my mouth. The chilli and lime worked perfectly in my opinion. I asked my wife how the soup was and all she could say was lovely and surprisingly sweet. The Welsh rarebit went well with it although it was a struggle to cut a bite size portion with a soupspoon. Needless to say I didn’t get a look in!

Our plates were cleared and shortly after the waiter returned with two lemon sorbets garnished with half a strawberry compliments of the Chef. They were served in what seemed to be rather thick wine glasses filled with solid ice and the sorbet placed on top which was delicious, light, palette cleansing as you would expect. After around ten minutes of contemplation and while the staff served a table of twenty who were in our part of the restaurant, our main courses arrived. My wife had ordered the roast tomato, seasoned spinach and feta cheese parcel wrapped in buttered filo pastry, with droplets of light vodka and tomato sauce. I ordered the roast venison haunch steak placed on a bed of creamy parsnip mash and marinated with a sweet port wine jus. I noticed while Tracey had her first mouthful and I thought we were going to have a ‘When Harry Met Sally’ moment. She announced it’s gorgeous and it all works together so beautifully. This was my cue so I took a slice of venison, placed it in my mouth and Tracey said she could almost see a tear in my eye, as I tasted it. It was so tender, cooked to perfection – pink - and the jus was to die for! Once again the presentation was out of this world. A small bowl of steamed vegetables arrived and I’m ashamed to say that they hardly had a look in. The portion size in my opinion was spot on. After sitting there raving about the flavours it was then that I noticed neither of us had reached for the salt and pepper that sat in glass mills on our table. Another compliment I think. We were asked during each course if everything was okay with our meals to which we attempted to smile whilst politely chewing our food and nodding. After our meal we decided to go back upstairs to the bar area to finish our drinks and were told that the Chef would pop up and see us if he had time. Less than ten minutes had passed when he came up, introduced himself and sat down so we could interrogate him about the food, restaurant history, suppliers etc. We were interrupted politely by the owner, I think, who asked he would return to the kitchen to oversee some main courses. Amazingly within ten minutes or so he returned sitting with us. He was a really nice softly spoken unassuming young man who, my wife pointed out, ought to be working in London somewhere. It transpired that he was only 26 years old and a local lad and the restaurant had recently won the Restaurant of the Year Award for Gloucestershire as voted by readers of the local newspapers The Citizen and Echo. He seemed puzzled that we didn’t order any puddings, to which we replied we were completely satiated and simply didn’t have room for anything else. I did point out that 7-8 of us from the Prison had booked for our Christmas Lunch and he said that when they took the booking we were one of the last taken because they are now completely booked. I forgot to add that to accompany my meal I opted for a glass of Merlot BIN 7 priced at £4.50, which was lovely and fruity and full bodied. Tracey was happy with her water. We arrived at the restaurant at 19.30 and paid the bill at 21.40, which came to £62.30 and was worth every penny. So in conclusion, if you’re ever in Gloucester don’t miss out on this ‘little gem’ of a restaurant. I wish I was able to describe what we’ve eaten with the same clarity, as Josh was able to do at the Fat Duck, but ‘practice makes perfect’. Here’s to another 40 years of fantastic food. Scott and Tracey.

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