Last night's dinner: Le Paradis.

So, we went out to Duxford yesterday for our dinner. It was very nice :)

First, we went into the bar, lots of comfy sofas, and had a drink and canapes and decided on the menu. My decisions were a little odd, due to my first choice (pot roasted pigeon with truffled sweet potatoes and baby veg) being off.

Anyway, after that, we went into a mostly-empty dining room, and got given a table by the window. Then we were brought a surprise appetiser (smoked ham, salad and raisins in wine vinegar and olive oil) before our starters. I had white onione soup with chicken livers and balsamic chocolate. The balsamic chocolate was perfect, and I'm almost surprised I hadn't already thought of it as a soup garnish - it would work perfectly for fennel soup, for example. He had salmon and lambs lettuce in a beetroot dressing. Both were perfect, a really nice blend of flavours. Then we had our main course, and I had baked scallops with poached foie gras (see? I should have chosen a different starter, the two livery things in a row were a bit much) and mash and baby veg, and he had veal with white pudding and roasted gatrlic and baby veg. Again, perfectly cooked, delightfully balanced flavours.

The courses flowed quite quickly from each other, very good timing, and the waiter was there when we wanted and not when we didn't.

Afterwards, we had dessert, and another difficult decision :) He had strawberry and thyme sorbet, with a straberry coulis. Just sweet enough with a slight edge from the thyme. I had rhubarb creme brulee with basil mascarpone. Again, the sweetness of the creme brulee was offset just enough by the basil in the mascarpone.

Afterwards, we had (very nice) coffee and petits fours back in the bar (no, we weren't pushed out to make room - we were asked which we'd prefer)

Delightful meal and I'd heartily recommend the restaurant.