The Courtyard, Wokingham

The Courtyard, Wokingham, occupies the old town hall building in the market place - a stunning red brick affair that nods to the traditional industry of nearby Reading. The reason we chose this place to dine was because of our love affair with Dolce Vita, its sister - not so much an Italian, but a Mediterranean restaurant in the Kings Walk, Reading. Dolce Vita is well established in Reading - as a family, we have eaten there many times over the last 15 years or so (possibly longer), and every time we have a superlative eating experience. It is not Michelin standard but it is not your local cheesy bistro with carafes of vino plonk on the table. It is light, airy, spacious and welcoming. Front of House lady is one of the warmest hosts I have come across in a local restaurant - she is just lovely. She always remembers my (now teenage) daughter whenever we dine there, and I choose to believe she keeps a mental record of our lives (even though a blonde, blue-eyed 15 year old could conceivably have once been a blonde, blue-eyed toddler, I choose to imagine that Front Of House lady remembers just how special she was). I have had birthdays, engagements, remembrance dinners, even first dates (for which there seems to be an unspoken rule, and they are wonderfully discreet. I am sure if I was partial to affairs, it would be a perfect place to take my quarry).

So much so, I could only imagine that The Courtyard would offer the same ambiance and hospitality when I attended with my mother a few days ago. Alas, I fear that if ones expectations are so high, then you can only be disappointed. And, probably unfairly, I was.

Front of House lady cannot teleport, as was obvious when we arrived, to be pleasantly but brusquely ushered to the table, just outside the kitchen, which is my favourite spot. Sadly it is not my mothers - at one point it looked like we might get moved however I could not face shuffling through the narrow walkways to another table, so sat down assertively. You see, the place is the most awkward shape, and as is the habit of eateries these days, they have crammed in as many tables as possible. The restaurant itself is continentalised by a smattering of tables just outside the door, and inside is an homage to modern day austerity - all blond wood and minimal soft furnishings. Clanky. But contemporary. My dislike of clankiness is a subjective thing, I realise.

So to the food. I ordered a plate of antipasti, mother order kofta. I recently ate at Fifteen in Watergate Bay and ordered anitpasti there. Maybe it is unreasonable to expect the same kind of thing, but surely antipasti is antipasti? What I got was a plate with slices and chippings of salamis and parma hams (I rather liked the fact that not one slice was perfect - it looked like it had just been sliced off the salami by hand, not carved wafer thin in a factory, which is a GOOD thing), with a tussle of leaves, a punchy dressing, a couple of slices of mozzarella (pleasant but nothing special).

And then the weirdness.

Scattered over the meats were strings of deep-fried calamari. It was good calamari - nice and soft and not remotely rubbery, but was it correct to use it as a sort of garnish over the meats? I was not so sure it was. It all became, all of a sudden, a greasy Italian surf and turf. The dips that accompanied were equally strange. Aioli, maybe, or perhaps a red pepper dip - maybe hummus? No. What accompanied it was the same yoghurt sauce that accompanied my mothers lamb kofta, and a smear of what, just by looking at the vivid pinkness of it, I instantly knew was taramasalata. None of the elements in themselves was bad - even the bread was fresh and tasty (though the somewhat anglicised baguette could conceivably have been replaced with foccacia or ciabatta for a touch more authenticity. Given they offer pizza, I cannot imagine it would be too hard to offer foccacia). Yet it felt a bit like someone putting a plate of deep fried scampi and garnishing it with a slice of battered cod. It doesn't matter how good each element is, they have to work together. It lacked any acidity too, and would have been offset nicely by a peperonata.
So far, so indifferent.

Mains were better - a very nice piece of slow-roasted pork (no crackling though), on a bed of red cabbage, with plum sauce and poatoes dauphinoise. The meat melted and was not overly fatty, though this did seem to be because the fat had rendered into the sauce and promptly split it - the layer of grease was not appetising. It was either this or the fact someone had drizzled olive oil over what is already a greasy meal to begin with. You can see from the photo the puddles of fat in the sauce.

The potato was...fine. Mother loved it. I, on the other hand, like my potato dauphinoise to taste like someone might have crushed an actual garlic clove into actual cream with a grating of actual nutmeg as an accent. However, it was all a tiny bit bland. Just a bit too nursery-school. The red cabbage, on the other hand was well executed, delicately spiced, nicely acidic without being harsh and cut through the richness of the potato and pork wonderfully. The plum sauce was tasty and deep and managed to pull off a tangy sweetness with a strong savoury note that hit the back of the palate.

So to dessert. I do think you have to try really hard to screw up dessert. Most places these days are well versed in brownie, lemon tart, posh ice creams, a crumble - the usual suspects. I was pleased to see a cherry cheesecake on the menu. I love cherrys - and as the season is on its way out, I leapt upon the chance to savour them. Silly me. It might be churlish to say it was cherry pie filling, but thats what it tasted like. With a somewhat random drizzle of blackcurrant coulis (which I can guarantee was out of a bottle). The cheesecake itself was not the ubiquitous american baked affair, nor was it a gelatine-set one (which I have to say is my favourite type of cheesecake - you can keep your new york baked. Nowhere near enough acid for my liking, and far too cloying). No, it was one of those ones that I call 'Sainsburys advert' cheesecakes, popularised in the 1990s. The ones where you mix whipping cream and mascarpone and then leave it to set. Nothing wrong with these as long as the balance is right. But the balance was not, in this case, at all right. The 'cheese' was 2 inches thick and had no acidity to it whatsoever. I know some people would be very happy with that, and that this is probably just my personal issue, given the odd popularity of American cheesecake which is similarly non-acidic. But it did not hit the spot. The biscuit, I hate to say, was also a bit stale.

And so after coffee, we left. Inside me, a little spark went out. I had so wanted The Courtyard to be everything that Dolce Vita was. Mother said she really liked it. I am sure she did. I am sure alot of people will have left, having spent £45 a head (as we did - one glass of wine, one diet coke and one bottle of S. Pellegrino), and in order to fend of the cognitive dissonance at having parted with £45 a head for what is only a little bit above average, will tell themselves it was wonderful. In fairness, it isn't dreadful. Nothing got sent back (which is more than can be said for another recent trip I had to Jamies Italian in Reading), and everything was well cooked. It just lacked a certain je ne sais quoi that Dolce Vita seems to have in buckets. Effortlessly. Would I eat there again? Given the choice available in Wokingham, probably. I will eat there again, if only to give it another chance. It is fine. No really. Fine. In the same way a giftbag from the Boots 3 for 2 range is fine as a Christmas present. Nothing wrong with it and not bad quality. Just not quite special enough. It seems Dolce Vita will for now remain the more sophisticated, elegant and welcoming of the siblings.