Unfortunately for me this week has been rammed full and, when invited to The Oast House to try their new desserts, I was already booked for an event elsewhere. I’m not lying when I say I was devastated. I have the world’s sweetest tooth! The beautiful and talented Rowan was more than happy to take on this task; here is her thoughts on the evening:
As children, we’re taught that if you eat up every scrap of your dinner, and you’re very lucky and well behaved, you might get to have pudding. If you don’t finish your dinner, then oh dear – you’ve been bad, and there will be no pudding for you, missy! As grown ups, we’re able to make rude hand gestures at this rule and eat desserts whenever we want, whether or not we’ve been well behaved. And let’s face it, bad girls do have more fun…
On Tuesday evening, a group of bad girls gathered at The Oast House to have our desserts before dinner. Hannah had invited some of the local ladies along to try out the new desserts menu, drink tea and bubbles, and have a good natter. Keeley wasn’t able to be there, so I went along to sample the desserts on her behalf (I’m always happy to help out a friend, especially if there’s cake and prosecco involved..!)
The Oast House is in Spinningfields, and going there makes me feel a bit like a Viking: it’s all wooden walls, long benches, and furry blankets to sit on. Don’t worry though, seekers of whimsy, they have some beautiful mismatched china. Now, The Oast House is based on the design of traditional oast houses, which were used for drying hops in preparation for the brewing process, so naturally I felt right at home… Don’t worry, I’m not going to go off on too much of a beery tangent; for once I was focused on getting stuck into some desserts.
The new dessert menu is fairly straight forward, full of comforting old favourites, and there’s a lot of ice-cream; perfect for the summer. The warm chocolate fudge cake was deliciously intense, and served alongside a scoop of great quality vanilla ice-cream. This a chocolate enthusiast’s heaven, rich, dense and moist, and although I’m not generally too keen on chocolate cake, even I’d consider nibbling this alongside a coffee over brunch.
Next on the menu was the sticky toffee pudding, again, served with a scoop of the ice-cream. I was initially a bit dubious about trying this, as I’m used to stodgy, heavy, gloopy offerings coming out of a pub’s kitchen from a frozen catering multi-pack. Then I took a bite, and, bloody hell, was I wrong! Light, springy, with a gorgeous sauce – if you think you don’t like sticky toffee pudding, try this one. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
The hanging marshmallow and strawberry kebabs were great fun. Dangled over a bowl of ice-cream, they come with a pot of sauce which is tipped over the kebab from the top of the skewer and trickles down, drizzling delicious Sailor Jerry sauce all over the strawberries and marshmallows. If you don’t like rum or are ordering it for your darling offspring then you can opt for a normal chocolate sauce instead.
After sampling all of these desserts, I had started flagging a bit – I don’t normally eat puddings, usually opting for a boozy coffee to round off my meals – but I perked up again when a trio of sundaes appeared in front of us. There’s something about a sundae that just fills you with childish wonder and anticipation, and I dug into these with renewed vigour. Which would win our hearts? The decadent Rocky Road, topped with cherries and dusted with biscuit crumbs? The Peach Melba, topped with almond flakes and with real fruit nestled at the bottom? The Banoffee, which some of us were wary of (I’m not keen on bananas, for one) but turned out to be really rather lovely? I think the general consensus was that the Peach Melba won the day; its summery vibe and fresh fruit flavours will definitely make it a hit on sunny afternoons.
Speaking of sunny afternoons, there was one pudding left to try: Mr Oasty ice-cream cones, topped with a squirt of sauce or a sprinkle of sherbet. I think this might just be the ideal beer garden companion – and how many ale houses sell ice-cream?! The Mr Oasty marked the end of our dessert tour, and we were treated to a very welcome glass of prosecco. Lovely.
With its new summery dessert menu and good range of beer (and cider and wine, for you non-beery folk), The Oast House outside/beer garden area may well end up being a frequent port of call for me this summer when I’m wombling round the city centre. I’m kind of tempted to go back and buy a rich, roasty, dark beer to sip alongside a Mr Oasty, as a de-constructed rather grown-up take on an ice-cream float… But maybe I’m just being strange. Anyway, thank you so much to Hannah and to my fellow dessert explorers for a delightful evening. Cheers!
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Wow, they give good desert!