Purslane Restaurant — Restaurant in Cheltenham

Truly an exquisite meal from start to finish, to celebrate the end of our honeymoon.

Service was fantastic, with staff skilfully providing background, insight and detail into each of the seven courses we enjoyed. The wine pairings complemented the individual plates to a T.

My personal favourite was the Cornish cod - delightfully autumnal and just warming enough to prelude the next course with a smooth ease into the depth and richness of the beef shin sirloin. We greatly savoured the fresh and light hues in our halibut starter as well. At the close of the meal, the ampersand buttermilk mousse took us on a culinary escape to a bright, sunny meadow.

In regards to the technicality of the meal, portion sizes were perfectly thought-through, and each course was a logical step through the next aromatic, layered experience of the palate. The venue was thoroughly COVID-secure, whilst not comprising the welcoming nature of the service team and comfortable atmosphere.

My partner and I agreed that the seven course offering and associated wine pairings from Purslane comprised the single best meal we've ever had.

(Photos demonstrate just a few of the...

We visited this restaurant on Thursday evening. Overall, the food quality was decent , not impressive, but not disappointing either. The menu choices were quite limited. We ordered the stone bass and the Cornish cod.

I want to share a reminder for anyone visiting: there was a fish bone about 3-4 cm long in the stone bass, and it injured my friend while eating. I immediately showed the bone to the staff, but they simply took it away quickly without offering any apology or even asking if my friend was okay. It felt as if nothing had happened.

I understand that stone bass naturally has bones, I would expect the chef to have the skills to remove them properly, or at the very least, for the staff to warn diners to be careful when serving the dish. When something like this does happen, the minimum I would expect is some concern for the customer’s safety and a simple apology.

We did not complain or act rudely at all. We just felt disappointed by the lack of empathy and professionalism in their response. I hope anyone visiting in the future will be careful while eating, and I also hope the restaurant will take diners’ safety and dining experience...

So having walk past the restaurant several timas. I finally made a booking. We arrived to a great welcome our coats where taken and where shown our table.

We both went with the tasting menu and I had the accompanying wine paired with each dish. The menu was explained and a copy left on the table should we want to check back.

The bread and spreads came first and a great start. Followed by a play on fish and chips and so on. This is a tasting menu and does change so have a look on their website to see what they have on offer.

I will leave some pictures so all the courses can be seen. The only point I would say that was not 100% in my mind was that the scallop could have been cooked better and the beef should have rested as to not leave all the blood on the plate.

Apart from the slight mistakes I'd say it was simply sublime. The wines where well thought out and the staff of the top shelf knowingly explaing all aspects and providing a great service.

A definite must if you like good food and...