The Elephant – Pop up delight by Simon Hulstone

There is something about the last days of summer that we all love. That last of the summer feeling, on roof top bar, drinking cider and basking in the sunshine. We were experiencing an Indian summer back in 2017 and loving it. We decided to play tourists for the day (as one does) and ended up in John Lewis, Oxford street. At the time, John Lewis had converted their roof top into summer houses with pub and restaurant space featuring different chefs in rotation. It so happened that Simon Hulstone was the chef being featured that day.

Who is Simon Hulstone? He is chef extraordinaire and owner of Michelin star restaurant The Elephant, based in Torquay, South west England. We were absolutely chuffed to sample dishes at thus his pop-up! We looked at the menu and decided to try everything. I mean, come on, it was an opportunity not to be missed people, it is Simon Hulstone like!!! Plus, the menu had us intrigued to say the least.

We started off with chicken crackling[1] and let me tell you, it was the bomb. It was deep fried chicken flavoured with sour cream and chicken salt. Chicken salt? Yep, chicken salt! The black garlic prawns served with lemon slices tasted as fresh as ever, straight from the rivers in South Devon. Interestingly, the prawns had to be de-shelled by yours truly, because, Neal ain’t got a scooby lol. it went down a treat still.

I do love when tomato dishes surprise me. I never truly know what to expect? Yes, the menu says tomato and yet, I am still surprised when, it literally is tomatoes plated up lol! My fascination with tomato dishes started at Cinc Sentits and I have remained fascinated since. Tomato dishes are literally just tomatoes, or a selection of tomatoes chopped and served with dressing that is made up of 4 ingredients, that taste flipping amazing! At Cinc Sentits the tomatoes were served in fried caper, pickled onion, and basil. At Tom’s kitchen, it was a tomato salad tossed in dressing and done!

The same with Simon’s tomato dish. It was heritage tomatoes, buttermilk, horseradish, wild garlic, capers, and Nepalese pepper. And you guessed right, it tasted fantastic!

Beetroot, I think is one of those things if you have never tried it, might put you off. Especially with the way beetroot looks – runny and what not. It really is not that bad, I like it  because it is one of those vegetables that crunch and I like my veggies with crunch. Apologies, I am waffling about the intricacies of beetroot instead of talking about the beetroot served by Simon, my bad! We had what I like to call a zingy beetroot salad. It was heritage beets, Goat’s cheese, vinegar, and pickled mustard seeds. It was scrumptiously good, The right amount of crunch for me from both the beets and a balance of texture and flavour! So good!

When your sea Trout is Ginger Fjord Trout made with Kikoman soy, cucumber, natural yogurt, and Cornish dulse powder, well all you can do is tuck in! And no, it looked nothing like a fish dish. It had serious wholesome and earthy flavours when you tucked in, all we could do was to enjoy.  Our crab dish was Brixham crab meat served on top of a bantam egg on toast with salsa verde and tellicherry. Talk about crab and toast eh? It tasted as gorgeous as it looked plated up and served. It was truly a layer of flavour and I loved it, a lot! We also had crispy New Zealand Lamb with steamed broccoli, curd, roast garlic pepper and luvage. Yet, again, looked nothing like what I was expecting and tasted epic!

Yes, Simon, you came through and showed out with this pop-up and we are thankful. We cannot wait to book a weekend in Devon and come have a proper Meal at The Elephant.

cheers

Ndidi

[1] Crisp fatty skin of pork or chicken