Rainy Sunday Lunch @ Chapter Arts

The speed of being able to get thoughts to text quickly after a great meal is one of the joys of blogging. Especially on a day like today, when lunch was impromptu, the venue chosen on the basis it was close enough to avoid a soaking from the deluge of rain, and, more importantly, whilst I had my trusty moleskine, I'd forgotten my pen so the dinner notes are all in my head!

Chapter Arts Centre is undergoing major refurbishment at the moment, and so the cafeteria area kind of feels a little bit like a school canteen if Ikea had been in charge of the design. But this is a temporary home and, to be fair, they've done a good job at turning an old dance studio into a working cafe and bar. It's actually hard to imagine the move back to the new space, but it'll definitely be a treat if the standard of the menu is maintained.

So what did we eat?

After umming and ahhing, Andy settled on the Sunday Roast and I on the Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Lemon and Pomegranate cous cous (£6.95). Despite being on the board, we were informed that they didn't do the Sunday Roast anymore but that the whole menu (which was previously only available after 5pm on Sundays) was available. So Andy quickly chose the Wild Mushroom Welsh Ravioli (£7.95).

Not sure what was particularly welsh about the ravioli, was it the mushrooms or the pasta itself? Anyways, I digress....

After about 20 minutes (for they cook the food fresh - hurrah!), lunch arrived.

A generous plate of ravioli, stuffed with wild mushrooms and ricotta, was well received. The cream sauce had even more of the little fungal beauties, providing some bite to the dish. The only complaint was that the garlic bread was decidedly un-garlicky, but was put to good use mopping up the last of the sauce.

My tagine was so close to perfection in a bowl. Two juicy chicken thighs smothered in a thick, sweet and spicy cinnamon sauce. Sultanas, onions and toasted almonds gave a great textural contrast to the soft meat. The cous cous, jewelled with pomegranate and moss green with coriander, soaked up the sauce beautifully, but was lacking in lemon of any kind. Also felt that mint would have been more appropriate than the coriander, giving a cool flavour against the sweet heat of the rest of the dish, but overall it impressed.

With soft drinks the whole meal came to £19.30. They also have an offer on in July and August that if you buy two main meals, you can get a bottle of wine for £7 - bargain. As well as this, Chapter also stock a great range of local and imported beers (I'm loving the Timmermans fruit beers - mmm cherry!).

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