GIVE YOUR RATING OUT OF TEN
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THERE are times when you eat to live, grabbing food on the go and wolfing it back as a means to an end.

But this wasn't one of them - this was all about living to eat.

Our visit to the Magic Mushroom was an exercise in luxuriating in the pleasures of the palate.

And luxuriate we did over a leisurely three hour feast in a relaxing a unhurried atmosphere that left our outer gourmets sated and our inner gluttons silenced.

The tastebud tickling began in earnest with our starters- I opted for the asparagus and goat's cheese salad which was tasty while my boyfriend was more adventurous with his choice of pigeon breast on a cauliflower puree and while not really to my taste was nonetheless well presented.

Our appetites wetted appropriately it was time to move on to the main courses.

I plumped for the lamb fillet on a bed of puy lentils topped with deep fried shallot rings. It was lean, moist and perfectly pink - everything spring lamb should be and its sweetness was complimented exactly with the slight saltiness of the lentils and their accompanying wine reduction.

The filet of beef on a bed of creamed spinach with stilton my boyfriend had selected was also delicious and packed with flavour.

In fact the veal jus was so flavoursome the temptation to lift the plate and lick it clean was not an easy one to resist.

By now our stomachs had started to murmur the suggestion of fullness but in the interests of research we felt it only right to investigate the dessert menu.

It proved a wise if ambitious decision. The magical word chocolate made my decision an easy one and while hot chocolate fondant pudding is not unusual these days to addition of kiwi sorbet lifted it from run of the mill.

But the sticky toffee apple pudding that arrived on the otherside of the table was gorgeous - illiciting serious pudding envy and a battle of spoons.

The Magic Mushroom offers food to be truly savoured and while a tad on the pricey side, as venue for a special evening it would be hard to beat.

What we had:

Asapargus salad £6.95

Pigeon Breast on cauliflower puree £5.95

Roasted rump of lamb with puy lentil and deep friend shallots rings £19.95

Fillet of Beef on creamed spinach and stilton £21.50

Hot chocolate fondant with kiwi sorbet £6.95

Sticky Toffee Apple Pudding with Jack Daniels Anglaise £6.95

Total £68,25

Our verdict out of five

Service *****

Decor ***

Atmosphere ****

Food *****

The Magic Mushroom Barleylands Road Billericay 01268 289963

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