Bluerare Restaurant - a review

Last night we went out for a posh romantic meal, at our "local" restaurant, the Bluerare at Carleton, on the edge of Carlisle. It's not been open long, used to be called the Terracotta. We went there about a year ago and in that guise, it's menu was mostly Italian and it was trying to have a Mediterranean feel but it failed somewhat and felt more like a very large conservatory; bright, echoey and chaotic, with too many very small tables, although it did the biggest deepfried brie I'd ever seen!

During its transformation to Bluerare, there has been no major building work undertaken but the redecoration has been enough to improve the atmosphere to one of modern gastro restaurant, with blue being the main theme (unsurprisingly) larger table and very comfy chairs. Overall much more luxurious and romantic!

We had an early booking, so had the place to ourselves at first, but before we left it had filled up with larger groups and the atmosphere changed to have a bit more buzz, but still with a lot of class.

I had no starter but B ordered the salt & chilli monkfish. It came on a bed of rocket and carrot salad, and three large chunks of beautifully battered fish.

For the main, B had the lemon sole, which had been panfried in butter and came with a simple parsley sauce and new potatoes. The fish was moist and tasty, with a hint of crispiness on the edges.

I ordered the Cumberland Fillet Steak on black pudding mash, but asked for the Drambuie sauce to be made without mushrooms, which they were happy to do. When it arrived, it was so thick (about 2.5 inches) that it was almost round like a tennis ball! But inside, it was perfectly cooked. I had it well-done (despite the name of the restaurant), so there was no trace of pink but all moisture was still there, encased in a crust. Fantastic! I love a good bit of steak, and this was a good bit of steak. I take great pleasure in peeling the fibres apart like feathers, and this was very tender so fell apart - absolutely lush! The mash, sauce and veg accompaniments were equally gorgeous.

For dessert, I was drawn to the Cherry Creme Brulee, which was simply creme brulee with cherries in the bottom. Not sure it had been freshly torched though, as it was cold as if from the fridge. B had "Cinder Surprise" which was ice cream with Crunchie.

We would have had coffee but it was about this time that a few large parties came in and we lost priority in the pecking-order for the staff's attention, so after a while decided to leave and have a cuppa at home.

It was a bit expensive, but we felt like it was worth it, and we'll be going back you can count on that!

PS (added July 2008)
This is the most popular pages on my blog, attracting so far over 450 visitors, mostly sent here via a Google search. Just saying. I mean I reckon if only 10% of those people actually booked a meal spending say hmmm minimum £50 each, that works out at £2250. Hmmm. makes you think doesn't it. Dear Bluerare: maybe someone could send me round a plate of chips or something? That would be nice. Thanks.