Basil would fit right in (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Basil would fit right in

3:10pm Thursday 19th January 2012 in Eating Out Reviews

Martha’s Bar and Grill, Madison Hotel, Oxford Road, Stratton St Margaret, Swindon, SN3 4TL.

Tel: 01793 831333.

Open daily from noon to 3pm and 6pm to 10pm.

An early Monday night meal has STEPHEN WEBB smiling... but for all the wrong reasons

FRIDAY the 13th had come and gone, but it seemed to have lingered a bit at Martha’s on Monday evening.

There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with our food, or our evening out – it just seemed to be one of those nights.

It was disappointing that my wife’s mussels had to be returned to be replaced, but it was distressing to hear other diners at other tables sending their food back and complaining audibly. Clearly something wasn’t right in the kitchen.

An early evening sitting on a chilly Monday was never going to generate much atmosphere in any restaurant, but we were greeted warmly and shown our table by a smiling waitress, who then brought us bread rolls while we perused the menu.

There was a good and tempting choice, even after we were told in true Fawlty Towers fashion: “Er, duck’s off.” Although that didn’t affect the duck spring roll with spring onion, cucumber, chilli and hoi sin plum sauce (£5.95), which I chose for my starter. It was light and tasty.

My wife enjoyed her whitebait (£5.25) – “nice and crispy” – which came as a decent sized pile, and with lemon, parsley and chilli aioli, which gave it a “zing”.

There was a varied selection of main courses and I was still dithering over linguine con polpette or sea bass when the time came to order. I chose the former (£9.95) and it was presented as a modest helping of well prepared pasta. The tomato sauce had a good flavour and there were three freshly made, spicy meatballs. It turned out to be quite a filling dish – not the best Italian meal I have had, but not bad.

After a new plate of moules mariniere (£10.95) returned to our table – by which time I’d almost finished my main course – my wife duly tucked in. “It’s not like what you would expect to be served in France,” she said. The sauce – made with cream, garlic and possibly a splash of white wine – was thick and creamy and the dish was accompanied by some chunky chips which were well cooked (I know, because I tried some).

On to dessert and I chose New York vanilla baked cheesecake with chantilly cream and strawberries (£4.95), which is a very grand description for something that didn’t take up a lot of room on the plate. But, even with strawberries being conspicuous by their absence, it tasted nice and had a good texture.

There was a similar reaction to the creme brulee (£4.95) opposite. “Thick and comforting” was one description she gave to a pud that was a little underwhelming.

The food at Martha’s is unspectacular, but, niggles aside, tastes good and is satisfying. The restaurant is attractive and the service was good.

What we didn’t expect for our visit was a “cabaret” – towards the end of our meal, raised voices in the kitchen brought back to mind a certain Mr Fawlty. At least that ensured we left with smiles on our faces.