The stage is set for a memorable dining experience at La Boheme in Lymm as Janet Reeder discovers
When did restaurants start dispensing with table linen? Maybe when the tables themselves got more ‘designer’ and show-offy. Nowadays we are lucky to get tablecloth at all but not at La Boheme, a French gem just outside leafy Lymm.
White tablecloths are the first sign that La Boheme is a ‘proper’ restaurant. Another is the fact that we are told that everything is made to order, so if we want something tweaked on the menu their head chef Olivier Troalen and his team can probably do it.
There’s no need for any tweaking because everything on the menu reads as ‘delicious’ and as we are there for lunch we can have two courses and coffee for £18.50. Little wonder the place soon fills with smartly dressed diners, ranging from pensioner ladies doing lunch to families and young couples.
To start, we choose from the lunchtime specials menu. First up are goat’s cheese bon-bons, that have been coated with sesame seeds and deep fried. Little pops of sharp cheese enveloped in a crisp, light crumb. It’s a good looking dish that includes a rich tomato sauce to cut into the solid texture of the cheese and a hit of fresh basil. Our second starter was (appropriately for a French restaurant) frog’s legs.
My other half jumped at the chance (get it?) to try this French classic which arrived accompanied by the earthy autumnal flavours of mushrooms. ‘Like chicken’ is the verdict on the tenderly cooked legs.
Showing he’s a leg man, at least where food is concerned, he then went for a main of duck leg that had been confit in-house by La Boheme’s chefs. This large, rich piece of meat was accompanied by Dauphinoise potatoes and was a superbly accomplished dish. The joy was in the fact everything had been cooked to order, was totally fresh and comforting. The duck was moist and soft, the potatoes creamy. It was like the poshest Sunday dinner you could ever have.
The vegetarian main was a roulade created with roast potatoes and stuffed with vegetables and aubergine, a kind of vegetarian hot-pot and was as hearty as a meat-free dish can get. This is the kind of cooking you may be lucky to find as you tootle through France on holiday and then rave about on your return.
We paid £6 extra to sample the pleasures of dessert. A Paris Brest, choux pastry with a feather light crispy shell, encasing a rich creamy nutty cream centre, while (oh dear!) we also succumbed to an Assiette Gourmand for an extra £3.50.
This was a genuine ‘spoil yourself’ course that apparently changes depending upon what’s on the menu but on the day we were there displayed a light, treacly sticky toffee pudding, the perfect ice cream in a crisp chocolate shell, a silky chocolate tart and creamy crème brulee. Tea and coffee come as part of the deal. And it’s a great deal. So incidentally is the evening menu which is £24 for two courses and £30 for three.
La Boheme, 3 Mill lane, Heatley, Lymm, WA13 9SD. 01925 753657, www.laboheme.co.uk
