Review of 'La Boheme'

In my on-going effort to find interesting, and nice restaurants for our wedding anniversary (14 years now, love you Mel!) we have travelled near and far. This year I found “La Boheme”, about an hour's drive north-east from our home along the busy M6 motorway. “La Boheme” is located in the tiny town of Lymm, an inauspiciously short distance from Manchester airport, with a very good rating on various “Eating in Cheshire” web sites so off we went on a rainy, dark Friday night trying to take heed of their request that we do NOT show up early due to their small (pre-meal) lounge. Taking this to heart, after a rather anxious drive through the Friday rush hour traffic (the last Friday before Christmas) we arrived bang on time…

The small restaurant has it's own, large, pot-holed car park around the back along a narrow alley where we were able to find a spot in the far corner. Walking along the same alley, minding the cars, we came around to the front entrance off the busy main road where we immediately felt like we were in someone's home or a cosy village hall though this one with pictures of the chef with the Roux family and Raymond Blanc (all British culinary luminaries). There was a bit of confusion trying to figure out whether we were supposed to hang our own coats on the coat racks to our left (yes, we were) then trying to figure out what we did next…go to the restaurant to our left or lounge to our right? Picking the right we were overwhelmed by a crowd of people sitting on the sofas and armchairs, many of appeared to be leaning over to eat off of coffee tables…A minute or so later the rather busy maitre'd came in so I approached to confirm our arrival at which point she immediately showed us to our seats in the main dining room past the floor to ceiling wine cooler.

We were seated close to the front of the room against the far wall at a pleasant table for two already set with the normal cutlery and plates but also, as it is Christmas, two crackers (Mel won both, which appears to be common now…I need to improve my technique). The room was very crowded with every table filled. As people left the tables were quickly cleared to allow the next group in. A quiet and romantic experience this was not with the noisy chatter of our fellow diners throughout as well as servers continually jogging around the room. The décor was a bit gauche - Poor-quality, framed pictures of classic French art on the walls, plastic Christmas decorations, ceiling pot lights, tables crowded together, lounge-style seats along the walls, and glass-room separators. I suppose it was fine, but it did scream high-quality French cuisine to me, more like a “family friendly restaurant” that you might find in the US. More of a “nice” UK pub atmosphere.

The only menu option was the “Le Diner De Noel”, 2 courses (as well as canapes and palate cleanser) for a very reasonable £40 (available for dinners between Wednesday and Saturday). It was particularly reasonable when we looked at the rather amazing ingredients featured - Haddock, scallops, partridge, monkfish, king prawns, pork belly, venison, halibut, veal, steak, salmon, as well as the expected “turkey” (a neighbouring table had this “Notre Roast Turkey Roti” and it disappointingly looked much like something you would find at a pub, albeit a nice pub - I was looking for, and expecting, classic FRENCH cooking, not pub cooking…).

Eventually we managed to place our drink orders (there was a fairly limited drink menu, mostly with bottles for wine, but they did have a few options for non-drinkers as well) then our selection for the meal.

Menus eventually removed our canapes arrived in short order on a piece of slate: Celeriac Soup, Smoked Trout with Cream Cheese on a Biscuit, and a Pork Croquet with Mushrooms. Unfortunately, the smoked trout was completely overwhelmed by the flavour of the cheese biscuit it was sitting on but the soup and the croquet were quite pleasant indeed with the meat flavour of the croquet only coming in a few seconds after the initial flavour of the crispy shell and batter (worth savouring on the palate before swallowing).

After our canape plate was removed a large basket of bread was brought around to our table for our selection - A lightly flavoured sweet onion bread, another flavoured with carraway and a sourdough. These were all quite full bodied and set us up for the, well, short wait for the starters to arrive. A small container of fresh butter on the table was a good size (sometimes you get so little butter we end up having to keep asking for top-ups…).

My companion surprisingly opted for the “Trio De Porc Aux Trois Saveurs” (“Braised pork cheek, crispy pork belly & grilled black pudding, presented on a warm diced apple & leek compote, dressed with a sweet cider jus”) - I say “surprisingly” since she is not a huge fan of pork belly due to it often having so much fat but in this case there was on a small layer of fat with a lovely, lightly crispy layer on top. She also complimented the black pudding which can often be very pasty and not very pleasant.

I chose the “Perdrix Au Choux De Bruxelle” (“Pad fried partridge breast & grilled white pudding, presented on a fricassee of shredded sprouts, pancetta & chestnuts, dressed with a Southern comfort & redcurrent juc, garnished with crispy game chips” - well, one chip, to be fair) which was quite pleasant. The partridge was getting a bit dry with a very mild taste, this one much like, I suppose, turkey in flavour. The white pudding was lovely, more like a delicate sausage while the large portion of accompanying vegetables on which the partridge was perched were perfectly cooked with a bit of a bite remaining along with their flavour. The pancetta and chestnuts added a touch of Christmas (and texture) to the plate but did not dominate the flavours while the ring of jus around the plate was incredibly meaty.

A short time after our main our palate cleanser arrived, a red cabbage sorbet which was presented slightly apologetically by the server in front of us. He needn't have apologized as it was really quite nice with only a VERY faint hint of cabbage astringency but the dominant flavour was sweet, almost fruity. The scattering of toasted oats on the top added some lovely texture. The server eagerly asked our verdict when collecting our dishes then assured us he would be stealing a portion to try in the kitchen.

Thankfully we were given a few minutes before our mains arrived. After discussion with server regarding the two beef options, my companion opted for the “Filet Catona” (£4 extra, “7oz fillet of beef filled with cream cheese, garlic & chives, wrapped in pancetta, cooked to medium, served with roasted root vegetables & a shredded potato galette, dressed with a robust port sauce”). The beef was quite red, a bit too red for me though she was happy (she had requested “medium”) and told me it was wonderfully tender with a crispy bacon (pancetta) wrap that sadly overwhelmed the flavour of the meat. The deep rich port sauce was welcome, providing a unifying flavour for everything on the plate. Again, the copious portion of vegetables were absolutely lovely including big pieces of turnip, carrot, celeriac and parsnips along with a four small cherry tomatoes still on the vine.

In keeping with my more unusual meat craving, my selection was the “Medaillon De Veau A La Creme De Cepe” (“Pan fried medallion of veal cooked to medium set on a carrot puree, presented on mushrooms, braised kale, baby onions & carrots, served with pomme Anna potatoes & garnished with a creamy sweet wine & cep mushroom sauce”). The veal was lovely and pink, but again, not too gamey with a rich, full meaty flavour. The vegetables on which the meat was perched were, again, full of flavour and cooked al dente. The “pomme Anna potatoes” were my favourite thing on the plate - Amazingly crunchy on the outside and incredibly tender on the inside. Despite the copious amounts of mushroom sauce the mushroom flavour was incredibly subtle even when eaten with the mushroom pieces in the dish. I was reminded somewhat of “cream of mushroom sauce”, yes nicer perhaps, but very mild and creamy.

Thankfully the portion sizes, though not as small as other restaurants, still left us with space to have a look at the dessert menu (all options £8.75). So we had a look and placed our order, having to wait a while before they were delivered to our table.

Since I do not recall ever having it, I had the classic French Christmas dessert “Le Buche De Noel” (“Christmas chocolate log made with a light genoise sponge filled with chocolate and & orange cremeux, set on a chocolate soil, served with a delicious Grand Marnier creme Anglaise”) though I had requested that the server tell the chef to omit the alcohol so they simply did not include the small jug of custard that included it which, I supposed, meant the dish was a bit dryer than it should have been, but I found it quite tasty though I really like a dark chocolate but many may not like it. Of the cremeux I only tasted a sweet chocolate. Also, I do not recall seeing any chocolate soil and the fresh fruit (all out of season) - Strawberry, blackberry and a “Physalis” (small round orange berry with green leaves - Yeah, I didn't know the name so had to look it up) - were all extraordinarily tart.

Mel opted for the “dessert of the day” which was an apple tart served with, yes, the “Grand Marnier creme Anglaise” (perhaps the custard I had request be omitted from mine). Not realizing there may have been alcohol in the custard she smothered it over the dish then after a few mouthfuls started scrapping the custard off - She is not a huge fan of liqueurs or the strong flavour of alcohol in her desserts (neither am I and that is not only because I don't drink, I just don't like having a dessert that is dominated by the alcohol flavour, I would much prefer to taste the other ingredients). She reported the tart tasted quite good but she was not wowed.

After our final plates were cleared we were surprised when we were presented with two chocolate covered profiteroles stuffed with ice cream on a slate with “Happy Anniversary” written in chocolate. I had told them it was our anniversary but is was still a nice surprise that they did this for us. It is always a good idea, I feel, to tell a restaurant you are celebrating something as they will try to make the experience that little bit extra special. The profiteroles were lovely, not soggy and a firm texture filled with an amazingly smooth vanilla ice cream.

Our server was so helpful and pleasant throughout our meal though when presented with the card machine to pay for the meal there was no option to add a tip nor was it added to the bill which was a very reasonable £116.30 for the two of us including three drinks (a glass of wine for Mel and two non-alcoholic for me).

On our way out the lounge was looking a lot less crowded with only a couple of friendly servers folding napkins now present commenting that it is quite common to see the lounge so busy in the evening as people arrive around about the same time into the small space. I was still thankful we had arrived right at our reservation time so we did not have to be in the middle of the crowd.

All in all, a slightly disappointing evening. I was expecting some classic French cooking but instead felt like it was more like a nice pub - Perfectly fine but not what I was expecting. The food was very nice, amazingly inexpensive for the quality and ingredients used, and the staff were very friendly making us feel very much at home. The ambiance was not at all romantic, noisy, and we felt a bit like the meal was rushed as the staff continued to flitter amongst the tables. Certainly we were happy, just not over-awed as we expected…

Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2024-12-20

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Cuisine: French

Address: 3 Mill Ln, Lymm, Cheshire WA13 9SD ENGLAND

Location: Cheshire (England) - Lymm

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Telephone: +44 (0) 1925 753657

URL: https://www.laboheme.co.uk/