This city centre restaurant is run by Forster Community College which gifts all its profits back to the college and is a great addition
to the City Park.
I went for the fish and chips with minted mushy peas
which was very reasonably priced at £6.95.
The fish had great big chunks, was incredibly tasty. However, we were back on the skin on/skin off issue and
whilst I can see that it might be tricky for a fish with such big chunks to
hold together for deep frying for me it doesn’t work in terms of flavour as I
can’t eat it. The batter the fish came in was light and a little too oily but
was a good, no-nonsense traditional batter.
The chips were like your mam used to make them. Hand cut, with the odd
tiny bit of skin on them, they were reasonably cooked but I would have given
them a couple more minutes in the fryer to crisp up some more but they did have
a lovely light floury flavour. They came as a side dish as yet again Forster’s
had decided to move away from the traditional circular plate. This time it was
a plate with a deep well in its middle which I’ve found out is called a deep plate – which is interesting. It worked OK for the fish and peas but less well when you
added the chips and hence the need for these to be in a side dish. The outside edge
of the well did make for a very handy circular mini-table to rest the squeezed
lemon and inedible skin on but it would have looked better on a more ‘normal’
plate.
A beautiful puree of minted peas contributed enormously to the enjoyment
of the meal with a subtly to the flavours which worked really well with the
fish. The tartare was lemon zesty and really well balanced, the lemon was a
fine size and the only problem was the vinegar. It came in a jug and needed
tremendous dexterity to pour just the right amount on the chips without
drowning them completely.
To drink, I had an unremarkable bottle of Saltaire Blonde which wasn’t
helped by being too cold followed by a stunning glass of Soldiers Block Shiraz.
Forster’s is a great example to other towns and cities of what colleges
that have hospitality related courses can do to add to the culinary offering of
a centre. The staff, many of whom are students at the college, clearly
understand what high quality customer service is and delivered a quietly
efficient experience even though they were rushed off their feet. A real
pleasure to have visited.
