Macy’s Brasserie, Navenby

Navenby is home to a brasserie that is a coffee and lunch venue by day and transforms to an intimate dining room at night

Felicity Macy is very modest when talking about her skills as a chef but so enthusiastic about the type of cuisine she loves to cook and how it is served throughout the day at her eponymously named brasserie in Navenby. Felicity has managed to pull off a difficult feat in creating a restaurant that is a friendly and inviting space for breakfast, serves coffee and light bites throughout the day and with the addition of white linen tablecloths, candlelight and an à la carte menu is perfect for an intimate dinner in the evening. The French country style interior is as mellow as the stone exterior of the Brasserie and there is a pretty, open air terrace to the rear for al fresco dining.

Definitely too chilly for braving eating outside on the evening we visited, we settled into a sofa and chair to enjoy a drink and browse through the menu. We finally both chose from the Winter Dinner Menu but there were choices on the blackboard which looked equally appetising. Felicity came over to welcome us and we asked what she recommended. I was delighted when she confirmed dishes that we had already been considering. My companion chose fresh mussels in a parsley, white wine and garlic cream sauce while I opted for scallops on a puree of cauliflower with crispy pancetta. We were shown to our table on the upper level of the room and were served with some delicious, warm bread, made on the premises, to accompany our starters.

My scallops were perfectly cooked. The creamy cauliflower puree was a subtle companion and the pancetta added a crispy depth of flavour. My fellow diner was served a steaming dish of plump, meaty mussels and tucked in, praising both their freshness and the delicious sauce.

Other starters on the menu were a soup of the day, crab pâté with Melba toast and salad leaves, pear, Roquefort and walnut salad, twice baked Roquefort soufflé with salad leaves and half a dozen oysters served with shallot vinegar, lemon and Tabasco sauce.

For our main courses I had chosen fillet of halibut with a tarragon beurre blanc while my companion chose fillet of venison wrapped in pancetta with a red wine juniper sauce. There was a choice of four types of potato but we settled on gratin for halibut and handcut chips to accompany the venison. A dish of piping hot, fresh vegetables was served alongside. My halibut was delicate, creamy and a delight. The venison, I was told, was full of flavour and tender. Everything we had eaten was cooked to perfection. Other dishes we could have tried included roasted butternut squash with seeds and nuts with an aubergine emulsion, Macy’s beef, black pudding and Stilton burger with red onion marmalade, spicy tomato salsa and salad, baby chicken with pak choy and a sweet and sour sauce, Gressingham duck breast with orange sauce or a Lincolnshire sirloin steak with baked field mushrooms.

We had been having a long overdue catch up on news while we had been eating but we both paused to agree that we had really enjoyed our meal so far and the glasses of house wine, white for me and red for my companion, were of a very good quality and could be bought by the bottle off the wine list. Refreshing too, that you could still opt for a small glass of wine rather than the medium or large that some establishments insist on serving.

For our desserts we opted for a chocolate crème brulee for my companion and a rhubarb cheesecake served with rhubarb compote for myself. Needless to say, they were both delicious and they rounded off, with a cappuccino, a very relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable meal.

Felicity and her very capable staff had really looked after us well and made it seem so effortless but this is a hard working team who are providing Navenby and the wider vicinity with a restaurant that serves as a breakfast rendez vous, handy business lunch location and light bite café as well as a fine dining experience. Monthly live jazz or blues evenings with three course meal are very popular and there are special themed gourmet nights including wine and tapas.

Whatever time of day you visit Macy’s it is bound to leave you wanting to experience more of their fine cuisine, as it did us.

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