Dine fine this festive season with Cleaver & Wake's indulgent Christmas menus

Cleaver & Wake’s festive lunch menu showcases a seasonal array of comforting winter flavours, with dishes including the roast parsnip & chestnut soup, a hearty wild game and smoked bacon terrine served with a date and fig chutney and pickles, and a fresh pine-cured chalk steam trout.

Fans of a traditional Christmas lunch will love the Norfolk bronze turkey, which is also available as part of the festive Sunday lunch menu. The dish is delicately rolled, poached and cooked using a low temperature, long-time French method, ‘sous vide’, in a roast turkey butter to keep it succulent, and served alongside a pork and goose stuffing with bread sauce.

Other mains include the Creedy carver duck confit served with creamed parsnips, savoy cabbage and green peppercorns, as well as the vegetarian option of Jerusalem artichoke, spinach and cheese pithivier.

For the evening, a roast duck scrumpet is added to the starters, alongside a venison, pheasant and smoked bacon terrine. Mains include a luxurious roast breast of guinea fowl, served with pork and goose stuffing, parsnips and tarragon sauce, as well as lean, tender venison haunch with creamed savoy cabbage Grelot onions and bitter chocolate sauce.

Clive Dixon, head development chef at Cleaver & Wake said:

“Every menu we create is made with the ethos of taking the best seasonal ingredients and presenting them in a way that maximises the flavours, and there’s no better time of year for this to shine than at Christmas. This year, we’ve taken some popular dishes, but have presented them in a way that people might not have experienced before with lots of creative and exciting pairings. It’s the first time we’ve added turkey to our menu, and guests can be assured that it will be an incredibly succulent dish, using every part of the bird to perfection – even down to the herby roast turkey butter that it’s cooked in.

“Another of our festive stars of the show this year is a venison haunch – which is a delicious steak-like cut, and we use the ‘seam butchery’ technique to give the most tender results. A beautiful venison ragu served with egg pappardelle is also new to our lunch menu. The ragu is made from the rest of the venison which we braise with a red wine jus, to create a rich, irresistible dish.”

During a season known for the all-important trimmings, guests can choose from a sumptuous selection of sides, such as the Gran Reserva gorgonzola with spiced pear, winter leaves and candied walnuts, as well as red cabbage braised in Pedro Ximenez sherry. Festive favourite, Brussels sprouts, are also available on both the lunch and evening menus, served with smoked bacon and chestnuts.

Clive added:

“For something lighter guests can still enjoy our fresh day boat fish from our much-loved fresh fish counter, as well as a number of vegetarian options such as our earthy marinated wood roasted beetroot starter. Doing so might leave room for dessert, which is also well catered for in our menus, whether you’re a fan of sweet tonka bean panna cotta, rich Valrhona chocolate tart or our warm Christmas pudding tart – served with brandy ice cream, of course.”

Cleaver & Wake’s festive lunch menu is priced at £42 for two courses and £50 for three. The evening menu is priced at two courses for £57.50 or three courses for £65, while the festive Sunday lunch menu is priced at two courses for £45 and three courses for £53.

Learn more and view the full menus at www.cleaverandwake.com/christmas.