The Empire Room restaurant in Ramsgate’s award-winning Royal Harbour Hotel
is to open on Christmas Day for lunch and will be welcoming Christmas parties throughout December with a series of gastronomic delights. On Christmas Day, chef Craig Mather will serve a gourmet lunch, priced at £95.00 per person, when the club-like dining room will entertain up to 35 people. Craig intends that his special menus served during the festive period, will showcase dishes and generate support in the Taste of Kent Awards organised by Produced in Kent. Nominated for ‘Best Restaurant’, fans of his culinary talents, which were honed whilst training at the Michelin-starred Mallory Court in Leamington Spa, will be able to vote for the Empire Room online at www.tasteofkentawards.co.uk “Since taking over the kitchen at the Empire Room in July, it’s been a pleasure to see so many dinner guests from my days at Eddie Gilbert’s seafood restaurant in Ramsgate,” said Craig. After leaving Eddie Gilbert’s, where Craig won many national and local accolades, he joined East Kent College in Broadstairs, to nurture the next generation of culinary talent as chef-lecturer.
At the Empire Room on Christmas Eve there will be a 7-couse tasting menu for £65.00 per person, with proceedings beginning at 7.30pm. The Christmas Day feast begins in the bar at noon with a selection of canapés & Kent sparkling wine. Sit down is at 12.30 with a starter choice of Poached Salmon, King Prawn Cocktail, The Empire Marie Rose Sauce; Terrine of Smoked Duck & Chicken, Chicken Parfait, Pickled Vegetables; or Butternut Squash Soup, Goats Cheese Fritters, Sage. For mains there is Butter Roasted Bronze Turkey with “all the trimmings”; Eight Hour Slow Cooked Beef, Smoked Bacon, Roasted Onions, Mash & Buttered Winter Cabbage; Fillet of Local Wild Seabass with a Lobster, Mussel & Clam Sauce; or Roasted Vegetable, Lentil & Goats Cheese Pie. To follow there will Steamed Christmas Pudding & Brandy Sauce; White & Dark Chocolate Mousse, Clementine Sorbet, Caramelised Oranges; or a selection of 5 Kent Cheeses, Chutney, Rosemary Digestives. Lunch concludes with The Empire Chocolate Fudge, Warm Mince Pies, Coffee or Tea. Final drinks will be served at 15:00 for a 15:30 close, to ensure that staff are able to enjoy their own family Christmas! The Christmas Eve tasting menu comprises - Canapés & Kent Sparkling Wine;
Jerusalem Artichoke Soup, Sautéed Chanterelle Mushrooms; Terrine of Smoked Duck & Chicken, Chicken Parfait, Pickled Vegetables; Confit Salmon, Ramsgate Crab Sandwich, Crushed Avocado, Caviar; Roasted Loin & Stew of Kentish Venison, Butternut Squash, Sprout Tops, Port Wine Sauce; White & Dark Chocolate Mousse, Clementine Sorbet, Caramelised Oranges; The Empire Chocolate Fudge & Coffee. The Empire Room will also be open on New Year’s Eve, but closed on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Through December office parties can enjoy a menu of seasonal produce sourced locally which is likely to include dishes featured on the special Christmas menus. For New Year’s Eve there is also a 7-course tasting menu. at £65 a head, which will feature many of Craig’s favourite local ingredients including breast of pigeon, and Local Dover Sole, Kentish Venison
The restaurant will be closed on New Year’s Day and Monday 2nd January, as staff enjoy a well-earned.
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