Lunch

 

We enjoyed a special lunch today - partly as another celebration of my seventy second birthday. We went to "The Silver Plate" restaurant which is within the main Sheffield College building. There, post sixteen students mostly pursue work-related courses ranging from engineering to hairdressing.

One of the departments specialises in food and hospitality and the main point of "The Silver Plate" is to give students real life opportunities to experience meal preparation and table service. The young people are carefully supervised and over many years the department has developed a reputation for excellence.

The dining room is spotlessly clean and the tables are expertly laid out with polished cutlery, glasses and small flowers in vases.

Shirley and I were assigned a young waiter called Thomas. He is just eighteen years old and we were the very first diners that he had ever served as he only began his course three weeks ago. He was really nervous so we had to assure him that he was doing a good job and need not feel overstressed. With his shaking hands, he managed to spill a little water when he poured it into our glasses but I assured him that I would not be complaining to his supervisor. This made him chuckle.

The very reasonably priced three course meal was utterly delightful. There was college baked bread to accompany our starters. It arrived in a small hessian sack that had hot ceramic beads in the bottom. I chose the ham hock terrine but Shirley went for the mushroom bao buns. 

For the main course we both picked the sea bass dish (see above and below). I asked Shirley to take a picture of my plate saying, "I plan to make my blog visitors jealous!". The fresh fish was steamed to perfection and the complementary accompaniments - braised rice, bok choy, slices of lotus root and coconut and lime sauce enhanced one's enjoyment of the sea bass.

For dessert, Shirley selected the Eve's pudding but I opted for the baked egg custard tart with nutmeg ice cream. Both were exceedingly yummy. We each had a glass of good quality sauvignon blanc.

It was a superb lunch and we vowed to return early in the new year. Securing tables can be challenging as "The Silver Plate" is a well-known secret for Sheffielders who enjoy great food that is above the norm and very reasonably priced.