GASTRONOMY REVIEW: The Kitchen And Bar - The Octagon Theatre, Bolton.

Prior to our visit to the theatre this evening, my companion and I decided to try the Octagon's own kitchen since they were advertising a Festive Menu which whet both of our appetities. Despite there being a choice of only two starters and three main courses, we both were very much looking forward to tucking in to our respective choices.

Both the deep-fried brie with cranberry sauce and seafood platter (smoked salmon roulade, prawns, and mackerel pate) starters were excellent and nicely presented. The same can also be said of the two main courses on offer. My companion had the traditional roast dinner of turkey, pigs-in-blankets, and vegetables, whilst I went for baked salmon. The lemon brioche crust was not to my taste, but that was easily resolved by simply not eating it! The cooking of the meats and vegetables however was spot on. All too often these days, restaurants will serve everything 'al dente', believing it to be "how it should be done".. it's a very wrong assumpton, and in all honesty, I do not relish crunching through hard vegetables whilst enjoying succulent and tender meat; and so bravo to the Octagon here, as all the vegetables presented this evening were cooked to perfection... not too much that they mushed, but certainly not undercooked either.

Our only real negative criticism of this evening's dining would be the temperature at which our food was served. The style of plate / crockery used didn't help in this regard, nor did the fact they the plates were also cold. The temperature of all our food was a very dissappointingly luke warm / tepid at best.

I had an apple crumble for dessert, and although it was quite tasty, again, the temperture was in the minuses!

Good quality food, presented quite stylishly, tasty, and moreish; but when food is supposed to be hot, it should be served hot, and sadly points must be lost for this.

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 23.11.22