Allium – a relaxed contemporary restaurant situated in the Cotswold Wool Town of Fairford

Allium
Market Place
Fairford
Gloucestershire
GL7 4AH
Tel 01285 712200
http://www.allium.uk.net

Allium is a relaxed contemporary restaurant situated in the pretty Cotswold Wool Town of Fairford between Lechlade and Cirencester.

Reviewed By Tina Furniss-Roe

Review Date Saturday October 3rd 2010

Four of us had an extraordinary meal here last Saturday. The place is in a small Cotswolds town about 10 miles from Cirencester. Cute country town. From the outside not a lot to let on that there is a very inventive restaurant behind the door.

A warm and one feels very genuine welcome from Erica, who co-owns the place. A nice mix of clientele, older younger, some foodies, some people out for a celebration. The menu is very tight with just 4 or 5 courses, but we all found something intriguing. Highlights were the simple sardines in their own Allium tin on an inventive vegetable bed, the three cheese entree, the skate on ice (a perfectly poached skate on a glazed surface with a delicate pouch of miso soup and herbs that breaks as the ‘ice’ breaks.) Clever. I also had a fabulous pud of rhubarb with ginger strips and green tea ice cream.There could be a risk of all of this being pretentious but the staff are discreet and clearly know their stuff. The setting is fresh modern and comfortable. Lovely, bitter sweet way to finish the meal.

My partner dived happily into the cheeseboard, side-stepping arterial sclerosis to indulge in a simply stunning collection of cheeses. They have won awards for it and the quality and selection of this English-only spread was very very high.

A strong short-ish wine list with alot of Regional French red, although we took an unusual Australian 3 way varietal blend. Interesting bread cooked on site and the most sublime fluffy light local butter. No surprise that they have opened a deli supplied by their own kitchen.

Downsides ? An out of the way town, a rather low key exterior, fairly strong lighting, a parade of micro-plats between each course. I don’t like this too much but my partner and the other male present had no issues wolfing these down.

Overall a great meal, and feel this place is very up and coming given all the awards they have had. Inventive, British cuisine with strong local
roots and surprising twists. As they say, definitely worth the trip.