| Ambiance: |  (3 / 5) |
| Service: | (3.5 / 5) |
| Value for money: | (3 / 5) |
| Toilet: | (3 / 5) |
Being from Salisbury and taking in the fact that I absolutely love eating out, you’d have thought I would have at least frequented the ‘best restaurant’ (according to Trip Advisor) in the city at least once. But no, other than a work Christmas meal seven years ago, I haven’t had the opportunity to go. However, I’d heard a lot of great reviews so Alex’s trip to Salisbury proved the ideal time to pay Charter another visit
Our table was booked for 8.30 and for a Friday night, it wasn’t overly busy. We were given a choice of two tables to sit at and opted for one towards the back of the restaurant. We were presented with our menus and asked for a jug of tap water and a bottle of Gavi (an Italian white). Despite the wine list being pretty varied, the food menu had limited options, but for someone as indecisive as me, it was probably for the best. For our starters, we decided to share the pork belly, with scallop and black pudding. For our mains, we went for the John Dory with fennel and fillet steak, with a horseradish potato cake.
Pork Belly, Scallop & Black Pudding
We were presented with a complimentary Charter-made bread roll and freshly whipped butter, but being a dough guru (half joking), I found the dough a little heavy and sweet. Our starter arrived shortly after and we were impressed to note that the kitchen had divided our one starter onto two plates, meaning we both had something separate to enjoy, rather than fight off one plate. As I’m not the biggest fan of offal and blood, I was slightly scared about the black pudding but mentally decided to man up and at least try and enjoy it. They, being the ‘experts’ say that if you eat something you dislike enough (eleven times maybe), that you’ll end up liking it. Anyway it turned out, I didn’t mind the black pudding at all – perhaps because it was diluted down with mashed potato, and then deep fried, meaning the end result was definitely bearable! Alex wasn’t the most enamoured with it due to the lack of ‘black pudding’ taste but still ate his, as well as mine. The scallop was very well cooked but the perfectly cooked, soft pork belly won star of the show.
Beef Fillet & Horseradish Potato Cake
John Dory
Our main courses looked equally impressive. My fillet steak was enormous, as was the horseradish potato cake which accompanied it. I was also served a portion of side vegetables, comprising of carrots, beans and small potatoes. The John Dory also looked incredibly tasty, and proved to deliver on taste too. Given I’d been craving steak for well over a month, and I was eating it at the best restaurant in Salisbury, I’d honestly hoped for better. Whilst the potato cake was good, and the vegetables nicely buttered, the steak just didn’t seem to have any taste. Despite being absolutely perfectly cooked (I was worried as usually Medium Rare results more in ‘medium’), there didn’t seem to be much seasoning and I knew I wasn’t happy as I palmed off more than half of it to Alex. Ah well, at least I got a lot of the delicious John Dory in return!
Danny’s Dessert Plate
We decided to share Danny’s Dessert Plate, which is actually something I’d never usually opt for but it sounded more appealing than the individual puddings on offer. Presented minutes later, it did look very impressive. There were four mini puddings to choose from, including a crème brulee, raspberry ripple ice cream, panacotta and a millionaire shortbread cheesecake. Alex and I had mixed feelings over our favourites, however, we were in agreement over the dessert being very good and we would recommend it.
We left Charter with me still feeling slightly peckish, and STILL craving steak, meaning I went home and devoured my daily calorie intake of chocolate. However, it was a nice evening, with great wine. It’s just a shame the food wasn’t as great as I’d hoped, given the restaurant’s reputation.
Recommendation
I’d recommend Charter for dinner, however, unless you like to eat the same thing every time you go, I wouldn’t recommend frequenting it regularly as the menu doesn’t seem to change that much.
Extra Information:
Address: 6/7 Ox Row, The Market Place, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 1EU
Phone: 01722 333 118
Website: http://www.charter1227.co.uk/
NTK: Don’t insult the chef – like the majority of chefs, he’s very proud of his food.
