"Unconventional is the word that springs to mind here, although really and truly the Pembertons' dinner party with paying guests is a logical thing to do if you want to cook professionally but enjoy person-to-person interaction with a different set of people every night and...can then treat your venture as a personal business without having to worry about all the overheads and costs involved, such as having staff. Tina in her American diner gear at the Teppan grill was holding a lively conversation with her diners while expertly combining worldwide flavours and Mike was sprinkling amusing anecdotes as a sort of extra condiment to make for a dining experience like no other. We chose a very reasonably priced Ayala rosé fizz as the ideal liquid accompaniment for the different types of spice used in the dishes and took some of the very good bread in anticipation of a need to be sure not to waste any of what promised to be moreish sauces. Starting with king scallops is always a good idea, and the sesame coating provided an excellent addition to the five-spice flavour matched by the surprising samphire and bean shoot combination in the stir-fry, lovely asparagus and the sweet and sour lime, coriander and ginger vinaigrette backed up with sesame oil and tamari soy. Needless to say, the bread served its purpose. Another good idea was to serve a kind of entremets in the form of a spinach and sweet potato soup with a cream topping adding a touch of extra sweetness to counter the delightful cumin background. For us it is always a pleasure to be able to have something served that we are unlikely to eat at home, so in this case we thought it an extremely good idea that the main course was swordfish, one of our favourites in the fish stakes, which often proves very difficult to find in Britain, properly fresh. The fish was superb, tender with the true taste of freshness, the flavour pointed up by the Cajun spice and a combination of aubergines, roasted peppers, olive and caper marmalade, orzo and pine nuts for the crunch, and we found our palates assailed by a whole brigade of taste sensations. We had the choice of two desserts and shared them. One was rich dark chocolate torte with good strong vanilla ice cream and raspberries, and the other a lovely, light, flourless Moroccan-style almond and orange cake with yummy port-roasted plums, and it was indeed only fair to share. Our verdict was that, in the right hands, an unconventional approach is no barrier to high-class cuisine."
