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“When walking down Derby's restaurant quarter you can't...”

written by LadiesNightOutClub on 08/02/2009

Good Points
Large meal portions, food was very well presented, meat very well cooked and tender.
Loved the decor, everything well presented

General Comments
When walking down Derby's restaurant quarter you can't fail to miss Graze. With its almost black interior and polished surfaces it exudes a classy atmosphere yet is down to earth and quite relaxing. The decor isn't what I'd normally expect from a restaurant and I admit it took me a while to appreciate this difference but by the end of the night it had really made an impression on me.

With ten members of the Derby based Ladies Night Out Club present we were seated at one long table, served our first drink of the night and then left to peruse the menu. Being a set choice menu I wasn't expecting a wide variety of options however I and a couple of the other ladies were pleasantly surprised by the six or seven choices that were available for each course.

Most of the ladies opted for a starter dish and I decided to order the brie and mushroom tartlet with a b arnaise sauce and crispy free range egg. Unlike a pastry tart it wasn't too flaky but a little moist and succulent with the soft and savoury brie cheese delightfully combining with the mushroom's delicate flavour. I'm still a little unsure as to why it was served with a free range egg but nonetheless we all enjoyed our beautifully presented and tasty starters.

For the main course I choose the caramelised pumpkin risotto with wilted spinach, ricotta and parmesan shavings. My risotto had a lovely rich and creamy flavour, although a little runny for my liking, whilst the spinach and ricotta complemented the meal perfectly.

One of the ladies opposite me chose the Derbyshire steak and ale pie with coarse grain mustard mash and graze gravy. On arriving the pie was huge whilst the mustard mash was lovely and creamy. Afterwards she mentioned that although it was delicious it definitely needed the gravy to help moisten the large amount of pastry.

Almost everyone agreed that their main courses were superb however a common comment was that some of the dishes did have slight quirks to them and thought that the chef was trying to be too imaginative.

Finally to dessert and like the previous two courses the menu offered a wide selection of sumptuous sweets to tempt us however after a filling starter and main course I decided instead to have a cup of coffee. I'll admit, the Bakewell Tart did look quite inviting and I was caught in two minds whether to order one but maybe next time I'll skip the starter to leave a little more room for a pudding!

Only two problems with the night come to mind. One was the level of noise within the restaurant due to a large party of diners sitting just behind our table; obviously this can happen at any restaurant and can't be helped, and second, I personally believe that the waiter that served us was not as attentive as he could have been and seemed to find the amount of people to serve overwhelming.

The restaurant manager however did apologise for having to the wait for food and so offered us a free bottle of wine which went some way to amending this issue.

Overall Graze is definitely a place that I will be returning to. The menu offers a wide choice, is reasonably priced with good sized portions whilst offering a relaxing up-market feel and atmosphere. As a bonus they also use locally grown produce and all of their food is freshly prepared to order.

All of the ladies agreed that they would have no qualms about recommending Graze restaurant to their friends and would eat there again.