Clive's is still going, but Shawn has moved onto his own place, 'Little Jumbo', serving food, top quality liquor and wines. And some beer. More on that later.
Myself and a gorgeous brunette of my acquaintance went there a few weeks ago for food and drink. I apologize if some of my descriptions are not spot on from memory. I'll try to give an idea of the place and style.
It's a walk in and get seated place, no reservations. No queues but the place was almost full on a Friday night. We settled into a two person table along one wall opposite a bar. Patrons could sit at the bar as well, and gaze at the HUGE array of bottles. The drink menu is a tome, with many different types of alcohol: gins, whiskies, bourbons, apertifs and digestifs of all sorts that I had never heard off, rums and vodkas. The cocktail list is short, but the staff assured us they could make any of the classics. Shawn's reputation ensures that you know they'll be proud of anything they do serve.
The menu is simple and based around local ingredients, sourced from the market. Each dish is small packing a huge flavour punch. Nothing overly fussy. No multi-layered piles of leaves and meats and sauces. A Cauliflower Gratin was served in a small jar, as I recall, and creamy, crunchy and great. The duck rillette was also served in a jar, with toasted bread. The bread was a little oily, which was a shame as the fat of the duck was all you needed to go with the crunch of the toast. The rillette itself was beautiful. Intense duck flavours, coarse texture and that beautiful mouth feel of duck grease.
The lamb shank was fall of the bone goodness, and with the honey roasted fennel it was joyous. I love how the small plates can be ordered in any combination, but you can create your own combinations and discover new matches yourself. I wouldn't have ordered a lamb and fennel dish, maybe you would. But mix and match, and we got a winner.
The staff were extremely knowledgeable, answering questions about the drinks and food. Explaining how the kitchen prepares stuff from the market selections, how they have their own in house herb garden, how they take stuff off the menu if it's not working given what they have in that day. The details here are taken care of. Not in a fussy, obsequious way, but just by paying attention and creating an environment where the experience is relaxing and the tastes shine forward.
We finished with a selection of continental cheeses. A small slice of Lambs Milk Blue from the French Basque country was the out and out highlight of the experience. So much flavour in each bite. It was creamy, with a lot of bite and plenty of the savoury sharpness. Each little piece was conversation stopping good. Eat, chew, enjoy for a few moments. The rest of the meal was great, but this was beyond great to a level which I have only tasted a few times in my life.
Yes, all that praise for some cheese.
The dried crackers/bread was perfect for such a strong flavour, and I recall saying the rillette would have been enhanced being served with this bread.
I can't recall much about the drinks, except we were offered a small cup of the house blend tea as a pallatte cleanser, while the cocktails and wine went down well. I do recall the beer menu was... disappointing. There's no big flavours on the beer list. There's nothing that will challenge you, that enhances the food experience, not like the cocktail and wine menu does. It just accompanies it.
I went for the Hoyner Pilsner, as it was a crisp subtle flavour. But I wanted to have a choice of an over the top hoppy Bomb of a beer, or a rich, complex malty ale. Something like the Innis&Gunn Rum Cask would have been perfect to compliment the duck, or the Green Flash IPA from San Diego. Okay, neither are local, but there are equivalents that are more forward. Just for the choice. The Hoyner Pilsner is a damn fine beer to be dining out with, and may be other choices wouldn't fit as well as I think they would.
Overall, a great night out, great company, great service, great food and great environment. Going in for a drink and sharing plate with friends can work just as well, I'm told. But it worked for us as a date night meal too.
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