The Grain Store

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• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses:
   £10 (set lunch)
   £29 (evening meal)
• House wine: £14.80 per bottle

• Hitlisted
• High point: Confident treatment of local ingredients
• Low point: Industrial staircase gives no clue to what lies above
• Food served: Mon-Thu noon-2pm, 6-10pm; Fri noon-2pm, 6-11pm; Sat noon-3pm, 6-11pm; Sun noon-3pm, 6-10pm
• Private dining: 10/12
• Open since: 1991
• Also offers: Childrens portions, Childrens high chairs

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops.

This review is from the 2007 edition.

The magical quality of Victoria Street is increased when you see it through the elegant arched windows of the Grain Store. Why the street's builders thought that the upstairs storerooms would need windows of such distinction is a nice question, but they remain to add to the charm of both the road and the restaurant. Tables fitting neatly into the stone alcoves, arches and rooms that make up the restaurant seem to speak of trysts and maybe plots being made here. The menu is short, bold and changing, and you won't miss the season for venison, woodcock or snipe if you dine here regularly. The equally tempting inclusive dinner menu is £19 for two courses, some of which are inspiring enough to snatch even if you dine à la carte. The menu layout almost urges you to start with seafood, and poached lobster with leek and beetroot jus is a good, sweet beginning. Moving confidently on, game begins to figure highly. Saddle and confit of hare with celeriac purée, gin and juniper is just as successful, the creamy purée being particularly memorable. The Grain Store has been here a while, but everything on the plates feels up-to-date, fresh and intriguing.