Fixed-price menus

Restaurants and pubs are wise to the fact that, during a recession, diners want value for money as much as great food. Here are some choice places with a fixed-price menu edited by amber dalton

If broadway has the feel of a Cotswolds museum town – honey-hued buildings in well-kept streets largely peopled by visitors – then russell’s is its museum café, catering for all, from those craving a cuppa after an exhaustive visit, to those for whom the sights are a mere prelude to food. our fellow lunchtime diners certainly looked more ‘tourist’ than ‘gourmist’. Similarly under-dressed tables and friendly staff added to the informal atmosphere, though made the à la carte (alC) prices harder to justify.

It’s no secret that restaurateurs hope a fixed-price (FP) menu will get the punters in, but the alC will get their vote. Which is pretty much what happened to us; wooed by a more inviting alC menu, but still tempted by the £15 FP, les and I agreed to share duties. at £11, my starter was just the thing to send one scurrying for the refuge of the FP. but the indulgent price was matched by the dish: new season asparagus with serrano ham, a perfectly fried duck egg and romesco sauce (manchego shavings were an ingredient too far, adding little). les’s cream of watercress and rocket soup with horseradish cream was good, and not unpleasantly acid, but it looked meagre.

main courses were far closer-run; they looked almost identical for one thing. this is where the FP came into its own – my grilled whiting with green veg and a lemon and dill hollandaise was cooked and presented with as much care as les’s £19 lemon sole with purple sprouting broccoli, pea purée and a sorrel and almond butter – he just got pricier ingredients and more recipe sophistication. les’s £5.75 chocolate and hazelnut panna cotta was too rubbery to be truly great, while I was more than happy with my FP choice – a creamy rice pudding with apricot compote. I’d certainly send friends here for the FP. Whether they’d stick to it or not is another matter. Liz Edwards 16/20 £17.95