Spring meeting of the 'Old Radfordians'

04-Mar-09 - As I have mentioned in earlier posts, my old boss Mike Hapgood and I have a kind of 'luncheon club' once every three months or so (which he has now dubbed the 'Old Radfordians'), when we talk about life, the universe, and the good old times when BBC Southern Counties Radio was the fourth-biggest BBC local radio station in the UK. He was coming from Southampton and I was coming from Worthing so we decided to meet in the Chichester area, and a quick browse through the Good Food Guide came up with Cassons in Tangmere. It's got an 'AR' in the GFG which means it's been recommended but doesn't yet have a full rating, so it seemed worth a try. It's on the A27 dual carriageway which is dead easy to access from the east but rather less so from the west, as Mike had to go onward to the next roundabout and come back. Mind you, it was better for him going home, of course.

Anyway, the restaurant is in a lovely old Sussex cottage (with bags of car parking), family run and with a spectacular inglenook fireplace (albeit let down a bit by a crappy 1970s electric convection heater in front of it), and the welcome is warm, friendly, and efficient. According to their website, husband 'Cass' Casson is the FOH man and his wife Viv is the chef. There's no mention of the name of the waitress who served us but I have to say that she was astonishingly, if not to say impossibly pretty. The tables are well-spaced for privacy and comfort, and the place seemed to be doing good business for a country restaurant on a Wednesday lunchtime. Interestingly, we were the only men in the room and, even though we're both (just!) over 60 we were probably amongst the youngest: Cassons is obviously popular with 'ladies who lunch'.

There's a set lunch at £17.00 for two courses or £21.00 for three but, of course, we messed it about a bit by sharing a dessert (Mike couldn't resist the apple and blackberry crumble and I have to admit that it was superb), and they charged us by the dish, which worked out exactly right (I checked). I had a starter of smoked salmon and salmon mousse on a bed of, er, leeky things which was absolutely delicious. I'd started with a glass of 2006 Sauvignon Blanc Prestige Domaine Vigné-Louriac which was very pleasant if a little lightweight. With the salmon I tried the 2007 Soave RST Alpha Zeta which was rather better: more weight and ripeness and a good counter to the fish.

I hummed and hahed over the main courses quite a bit. The chef seems to have a penchant for what I'd describe as 'fancy' cooking: quite a lot of lemon, cider, honey, caramelised apples and vegetables and all that sort of thing which, if you've read previous posts, you will know is something I always feel gets in the way of the real taste of the ingredients. I ordered the croustade of venison casserole, red cabbage, parsnip purée, beans and game jus and it was, indeed, splendid: the filo pastry on the venison was spectacularly good, and the vegetables were beautifully done except for the red cabbage which was caramelised. Now, I have nothing against red cabbage, caramelised or otherwise, but it's the old 'sweet and savoury on the same plate' which I find hard to like (see posts passim). With this I had a glass of 2005 Rioja Palacio de Beltus which was very pleasant if undistinguished. I haven't visited the bodega - indeed, I've never heard of it, and it seems to share its name with a bodega in the DO Ribera del Guadiana, but no matter. Wines by the glass are £4.75 and £5.75 for a 175ml and 250 ml glass respectively.

This is Mike's Report:

Minutes of the meeting of the Old Radfordians:

MATTERS ARISING
The quarterly celebratory lunch was held in Cassons in the presence of two fans of the president. Cassons was a very nice, easy place, sort of blending upmarket and slightly modern with the parochial. While it was welcoming, the décor pleasant, and service was efficient, fast and not intrusive, Cassons is definitely not a cool place. (Old Radfordians, who have to be over 60 to be eligible, provided the young crazy entertainment apart from a nice looking middle aged lady with her mother, but Amy, Lily, Paris and Mark Ronson - where were they? Mercifully, there was no music and the atmosphere in the restaurant was relaxed and chatty).

Food was very like the place. It felt like someone who knew what to do had taken trouble to present it well. The starter I had - Roquefort and walnuts with some sort of sticky juice on them accompanied a cornet thing with Roquefort in it. Jolly nice, but not subtle - sort of like a nice bit of Stilton with honey.

Main course was ravioli on a slightly vinegary bed of leeks, and surrounded by mushrooms. Again - looked very nice, jolly eatable. Not subtle. Pudding very good. Coffee not bad for England. Chocolate very nice.

Worth £21 a head? Yes. Would I go back? Might do, but not with Paris or Victoria.

Mike had his regulation one glass, in this case the 2006 Chilean Merlot Rio Claro, which he pronounced to be of good character. Actual final cost was £60 including the wines, but excellent value for money.

The 'two fans' mentioned above were two ladies at a nearby table, one of whom called me over on my way to the Gents to ask if I was John Radford. Having confessed that this was so, she said "we do miss you on the radio. In fact, I don't listen any more except to Paul Miller." "Everybody loves him" I replied, as I made my final approach to the urinals, although not before I'd pointed Mike out as the man who was in charge when we was fab. When I returned, he had drawn up his chair to their table and was engaged in conversation. He returned to our table muttering about 'listener loyalty' and how people still remember, three years after the 'Robert Mugabe' years (my phrase, not his) began at the radio station, how things used to be.

So, an excellent lunch, and we shall most certainly be back. If only I could figure out who Amy, Lily, Paris, Mark Ronson and Victoria are. Perhaps I shall never know.

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