Stovell’s | Chobham (UK)
Good reviews online, but tonights performance was downright disappointing.
Badly prepared street food wasn’t a good representation of Mexico to me!
Based in a lovely 16th Century Tudor farmhouse in Chobham (UK), Stovell’s was opened by Fernando & Kristy Stovell in 2012. When entering, you’ll find a traditional “mind-your-head” pub-bar to the right, with rough-hewn beams and an open fireplace. We wanted to sample Stovell’s own, locally distilled Artisan Gin, but unfortunately they were out! So we had a Gin Mare instead.
The dining room is bright with white walls, white linen on the tables and even the carpet is almost white. But the ceiling is so low in there, that it still feels a bit claustrophobic.
Chef patron Fernando Stovell is born and raised in Mexico. His mother being from Farnham and his dad from Mexico city may explain Stovell’s cuisine of contemporary European with Mexican accents. After studying international relations at University Fernando went to London in 1997 (unbeknownst to his family) and enrolled at a catering course at Westminster College to follow his passion for cooking. This is where he met his future wife Kirsty, who also has a chef’ background. Together they worked at then two Michelin-starred Capital Hotel in London and later at private members Wellington Club and nightclub The Cuckoo Club where they were joint head chefs.
Head Chef Kyle Robinson joined Stovell’s right from the opening, having worked alongside Chef Fernando Stovell before. Kyle previously worked at Follage and as chef de partie at Sonny’s Kitchen, Odettes and Marcus Wareing’ The Gilbert Scott in London.
Stovell’s is open for lunch on Thurday to Sunday and for dinner on Tuesday to Saturday. A la carte is offered as a 5-course menu (at £48). They also offer a Set Lunch Menu: 2 courses at £24 (£26 on Sundays) and 3 courses at £28 (£32 on Sundays). And finally a 12-course Taste of Mexico menu (at £75).
We had dinner on Friday two weeks ago and had the Taste of Mexico menu.
As an amuse, a little bowl with creamy soup of leek and sweet corn, a hint of poblano (a mild chili pepper originating in the state of Puebla, Mexico) and a cheese foam. Nice taste and flavoursome comfort.
The first course was a selection of street snacks. Empanadas with prawns with a little bottle of spicy jalapeño sauce. Corn tortilla chips with an artichoke dip. Unfortunately half the tortilla chips were undercooked, which left them greasy and chewy. Best ones were macarons of mole and goat cheese. Lovely texture and taste with a bit of heat and sweetness.
Next was a blini with beef brisket. Nice but tiny. Under the lid was the next course.
Mole de olla is a Mexican traditional soup. Unfortunately this wasn’t a good version of it. The beef broth lacked flavour and was bland and watery. The different vegetable pieces sitting in it didn’t make it a dish to be honest. Disappointing.
The next 3 courses on the menu were served on the same plate. A taco filled with cod, chipotle meco and white cabbage. Quite a peppery aftertaste of the chipotle. A tostada with ayocote (runner bean) puree, cheese and some salad and tomato. And a rather flavourless empanada with requesón cheese, huitlacoche fungus and courgette flower. Didn’t taste the cheese and quite bland. Certainly compared to the other two parts on the plate.
Crab in tempura batter with pickled shallots. Pumpkin and serrano sauce with a peppery kick again. The sauce was the best thing on the plate. The tempura was soggy when it contained crab and other bits were just crunchy tempura. Still feels we are just getting street food. And not the best so far.
White mole with peanut and banana, giving nice texture and flavour. Ribbons of carrots in three colours adding crunch and working well with the mole. Different and best thing after the amuse bouche.
A butterflied sea bass, gratinated under the grill with a pepper mix on top of fresh chipotle and two other varieties, herbs, bayleaf and some mayo to keep it moist. Served with a lovely pineapple salsa, bringing freshness together with the grilled limes.
The quail was nicely cooked. Beans with a bit of citrus. Pea puree and some rose petals. With the dish came a leaflet telling the story of “Como aqua para Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel. A love story where the love was transmitted through food in a dish of quail with rose petals. Don’t think this dish did the love story justice. Nice quail, but that was about it.
Next was a palette cleanser. Ice lolly with weird taste of tamarind and citrus. The ice lolly was too cold, so rock hard with ice crystals on the outside. It just stuck to your lips. A grainy texture as well. Unpleasant to eat.
A piece of manchego cheese with some quince jelly and a nut raison toast. Can’t place this as a taste of Mexico!
A very sweet multicoloured nougat merengue ball. When smashed with a spoon, it revealed two cut up chocolate bonbons. Raspberry coulis and a very sharp passion fruit sauce. Mezcall ice cream was delicious. Some space dust popping candy to add to the fun.
Buñuelo de Viento, a dessert pastry originally from France, where they were known as pets-de-nonne (Nun’s farts). With an unrefined Mexican sugar called Piloncillo. It’s supposed to be a light, airy dessert pastry, but this was a cold, soggy, tasteless slap. Uneatable I’m afraid.
Waiting staff are quite timid. They didn’t react when we left things on the plate and they were hard to hear when explaining the dishes. The very loud modern music didn’t help! Had to ask to turn the music down, which didn’t really happen. The music was more suitable for a bar or nightclub than a restaurant for that matter. Both the staff and music didn’t contribute to the right atmosphere.
But the biggest problem was the food. Stovell’s gets good reviews online. They even got 4 rosettes in the AA Guide a couple of years. until this year when they went from 4 to 3 rosettes. Which still puts them on the same level as L’Ortolan, The Glasshouse * and Artichoke * to name a few. But tonights performance was nowhere near that level and downright disappointing.
Most of this menu was more badly prepared street food and wasn’t a good representation of Mexico to me! Some of the grilled meat dishes served on the other table looked a lot better compared to what we got. I regretted to have chosen the Taste of Mexico menu as this was just money and an evening wasted. Not feeling motivated yet to go back and give it another try to be honest.
