今日の夕食は、夫が検索して予約を入れてくれた、近くのお気に入りの街 Arundel にある「Butlers」というレストランに行ってみました。

We went to “Butlers” in the nearby town of Arundel for dinner. My husband searched and booked it.

ジェギンズにトレーナーという格好で片付けなどしていて出かけたので、トップだけシンプルなカシミアのセーターに着替えて行ったのですが、着替えて良かった！いや、もう少しおしゃれすれば良かったと思いました。シンガポールでは高級レストランでも普段の格好で来る人が多いのでつい忘れてしまいましたが、ヨーロッパでもイギリスでも、夜のお出かけはカジュアルなレストランでもおしゃれして出かける方が多いのでした。まして今はクリスマスシーズン、わたしのような格好の方もおられたものの、大勢の女性がドレスアップしておられました。

I was in my jeggings and a hoodie tidying up our house during the day and changed just my top to a simple cashmere jumper before going out for dinner and I was glad I did, but wished I changed into something a little more dressy. Having lived in Singapore, where not many people dress up so much for a dinner, I forgot how people in Europe and England do dress up when they go out for dinner, specially as it’s Christmas party season now. There were a few people who were dressed like we were but the majority of ladies were very dressed up.

店内のクリスマスのライティングがシンプルで素敵でした。

I liked the Christmas lights inside. Simple but effective.

クリスマスパーティーでいらしている女性グループが多く、皆さんお酒も入っているので(レストランにはバーも併設されているので、食事の前に皆さん食前酒で良い気分になられていました)賑やかなこと！

There were many groups of ladies there for Christmas dinners. The restaurant has a bar and they were all having pre-dinner drinks and were maybe a bit tipsy before starting their meal so the restaurant was extremely lively!

メニューは、クリスマスのプリフィックスのコースのみでした。夫は前菜にゴートチーズとリンゴのテリーヌ、ビーツと胡桃添え、わたしはとうもろこしのチャウダー、サセックス・チャンバーとチャイブのマフィン添え。チャウダーは普通に美味しかったですが、乳製品が苦手なわたしにはちょっとクリーミー過ぎる感じではありました。味がというより、クリームたっぷりだとヘビーに感じてしまいます。味も濃い目。量も多すぎて、半分ちょっと頂いたかな？

There was only a Christmas menu. For the starter my husband had Goat Cheese And Apple Terrine, I had Sweetcorn Chowder With Sussex Chamber & Chive Muffin. My chowder was OK but on the salty side. It was also very creamy which made it heavy. The portion was too big for a starter and I had about a half.

メインは、夫はフィレステーキ、わたしはパンプキンのリゾット。リゾットの写真がブレブレでアップできませんが、これは、塩辛すぎました。南瓜の種が散らしてあって香ばしくカリッとする食感もよく、パンプキンは水っぽかったですが塩辛いことを除けばお米の食感も味も良かったので残念でした。量も多くて、半分も食べられず。次回はお塩を少し減らして頂きようお願いしようと思います。イギリスは全然味がついてないところがあるかと思えば、塩辛すぎるところもありばらつきが大きいのですが、塩辛いところが多いので、減らせるときは塩分控えめにとお願いする方が良い気がします。つい忘れちゃうのですが。夫のフィレ肉はあまり味がないと言っていたので、塩胡椒が足りなかったのかも。

For the main, my husband had Fillet Steak and I had Pumpkin Risotto. Unfortunately, my risotto was much too salty for me. The scattered pumpkin seeds added a lovely crunch and nuttiness, the pumpkin was quite watery and tasteless but the texture of the rice was nice and it would have been quite tasty if it weren’t so salty. I find that some places serve food that hasn’t been seasoned and some with much too much salt in England, there is a huge range, but I think more serve salty food so I should probably ask them to reduce the salt a little when I make an order, I mostly forget to do so. The portion of this dish was also too big and I couldn’t eat even a half. (The photo of the risotto I took was completely out of focus so I cannot upload it.). My husband said his steak was a OK but didn’t have much taste, which may mean it wasn’t seasoned enough.

デザートは、夫はクリスマスプディング、わたしはチョコレート・トルテ。チョコレート色トルテは、とても美味しかったですがとてもリッチで、いつもは飲まないエスプレッソをオーダーしてしまいました。これも量が多くて、夫も手伝ってくれましたが完食できず。日本の4倍はあるのです。

For the dessert, my husband had Christmas Pudding and I had Chocolate Torte. The chocolate torte was very good but so rich, I had to order an espresso, which is very unusual for me. Again it was a huge portion, probably more than 4 times of the portion in Japan. Although my husband helped me I still couldn’t finish it.

雰囲気はが良く、スタッフもフレンドリーで楽しく食事が出来ました。ガス入りのお水１本、ワインはグラスワイン2つ(大盛りでした)、お会計cお会計はチップをを入れて86ポンド(12600円)。街では高級レストランの部類でこのお値段、シンガポールの3分の1以下だと思います。比べる相手が高すぎるのですが、安く感じてお得な気分。日本と比べても安いと思います。

The decor is very nice, the staff very friendly and we had a lovely evening. With a bottle of sparkling water and 2 glasses of red wine (very generous portion), the bill was £86 included a tip. Less than 1/3 of what it would be in Singapore as the restaurant is an expensive one in town. I know Singapore is very expensive so probably not a fair comparison but it’s good for us as everything seems inexpensive at the moment. I think, though, it was less expensive than in Japan, too, for a similar type of a restaurant.

暗いので携帯では上手く撮れませんが、Arundel の夜の写真です。