A Magical Lunch at The Ship Wandsworth

There are only a few more days before Christmas but I think there are a lot of us who have started celebrating earlier during the month with Xmas lunches and parties and everything in between.

Last weekend, I found myself attending a Bloggers Xmas Lunch at The Ship in Wandsworth organised by the lovely Luiz and Gail. Needless to say, I was excited and nervous at the same time. Knowing that there will be 50 of us did not help, that is so many people I was thinking to myself.

On the faithful Sunday, we all braved the blizzard weather that befallen London and headed the long trek (for me at least) to Wandsworth. How did the lunch turnout?

Onto the food and drinks first,

Starters

Amuse Bouche

Roast Butternut Squash Soup, Goat's Cheese Tortellini, White Truffle Oil

Foie Gras Terrine with Pistachio, Pear and Apple Chutney, Celery Salt and Toasted Brioche

Treacle Cured Organic Salmon, Pickled Beetroot, Butternut Squash Purée and Avruga

Poached Ham Hock Pressed with Roast Shallots, Bury Black Pudding, Celeriac Remoulade and Spiced Kumquats

Mains

Honey Glazed Duck Breast, Pasty of Confit Leg, Creamed Spinach, Root Vegetable Fondants, Port Jus

Roast Rump of Beef with Roast Potatoes, Yorkshire Pudding, Cauliflower Cheese and Swede Mash

Roast Haunch of Venison, Herb Crust, Red Wine Risotto, Shallot Puree, Thyme Sauce

Sautéed Turbot Supreme with Celeriac and Turnip Boulangère, Truffled Sabayon, Red Wine Reduction

Desserts

Homemade Christmas Pudding, Prune and Armagnac Ice Cream

Sticky Toffee Pudding, Vanilla Ice Cream

I had some wonderful dishes here at The Ship which I think they truly deserved to be mentioned and recommended to people, hence why the decision to write this post.

I was seriously impressed and special mention needs to be given to the Treacle Cured Organic Salmon with pickled beetroot, butternut squash puree and avruga. Such a lovely play of colours and different shapes, it was like an art painting. I was lucky enough to be given some to taste as I did not order this is my starter. Flavour was awesome.

The Sunday Roast of beef with Yorkshire Pudding was also delicious and had me going, I think I will enjoy coming here for my Sunday Roast!

My utmost favourite and which had my eyes widen with surprise and delight was the honey glazed duck breast. The Port Jus was just amazing, it went so well with the honey glazed duck and I was practically drooling for more. Had to practice some serious control not to polish off the entire plate as guess what, I did not order the duck as my mains either so I couldn’t possibly polished off someone else’s mains! I went back to enjoy the nice little surprise of the match between the red wine reduction and my green beans that came with my Turbot mains.

We had a break in between with a selection of cheeses which was devoured very quickly by the table. By the time dessert came, we have already been there for about 4 hours.

The Christmas Pudding was too rich for me while the sticky toffee pudding has more of a cake consistency but with a nice outer crispy crunch. I didn’t mind the cake like texture as it was definitely lighter and after all the food from before, my tummy was happy with the Sticky Toffee Pudding.

Special thanks to the kitchen and crew at The Ship as they took care of us so well with lovely wines, amouse bouche, cheese platter top ups and dessert wines as well.

The lunch quickly became a 6 hour affair and I seriously don’t know how time just flew by. I met so many lovely people and had wonderful conversations. There was even some Carol Singing for a brief moment! I entered a room of strangers but felt like by the time I left, we were leaving as friends and I am sure a lot of us there share the same feeling.

Twitter was alive with all of us tweeting before, in the midst of it and after the lunch.

My special thank you to the lovely Luiz for making me feel so welcome and putting me at ease when I said yes to attending the Bloggers Xmas Lunch. And it all started with a tweet!

Here is to more events and good times and food to come.