Penn Central turns the tables on diners – now the waiter asks you for the bill

6:30am Wednesday 1st July 2009

By Maria Court

THE Canopy restaurant at Penn Central has had a recent facelift. Its has new furniture, a new menu and a new chef.

It has also introduced a new concept on Wednesday and Thursday nights called Antiprice where you pay what you believe the meal is worth, and at the end of the evening, the waiter asks YOU for the bill.

Dine on another night and you’ll see that the a la carte menus are very reasonably priced at this restaurant conveniently situated between Bournemouth and Poole. On a recent visit, appetisers started at just £4.50 for soup of the day with crusty homemade bread, while you can expect to pay around £10.50 for a main course of slow roasted belly of pork over whole grain mash with braised Savoy cabbage.

After placing our order I was very envious when I saw the breaded fillets of lemon sole (£14.50), served with pea puree, hand cut fries and a caper mayonnaise arriving at another table, but with perfect timing we were distracted by an amuse bouche of a beautifully-cooked scallop on pea puree, topped with the most delicious crisp and salty pancetta arriving at ours.

As I starter I chose the tian of freshly picked white crab (£8.25), which came with a soft boiled egg, garlic croutons and asparagus spears. This was a lovely fresh and summery starter.

My friend chose the Waldorf salad (£5.95) of broken walnuts, roquefort cheese and coxes apples in a light crème fraiche dressing with salad leaves.

All the tastes and textures were a real treat, although she said would have liked a little more apple to temper the blue cheese.

To follow I chose the slow roasted vine tomato and butternut squash risotto (£11.25), cooked perfectly al dente and topped with rocket and a beautiful reggiano cheese crisp.

My friend went for the pan fried fillets of local sea bream (£12.50), which just fell apart with the merest touch of a fork, while the skin was beautifully crisp. The fish was accompanied by a summer salsa and sweet potato puree and was a light but very satisfying meal.

Indeed, we both wondered if we could find room for dessert, and had opted to share a baked chocolate ganache with sugar coated strawberries and fresh cream (£6.95).

On the recommendation of our waiter, however, we had the cheesecake of the day (£4.50) which tonight was raspberry and white chocolate, served in a generous slice with a home-made look and taste.

But then the Penn Central is very much about quality – from the huge chandelier hanging from the ice-white rafters, to the warm homemade bread rolls, the choice of cocktails and the welcome.

If you’re looking for a more informal option, how about a meal in the popular downstairs bar with its new menu of freshly prepared meals? If it's just a snack you want, how about going continental with a choice of 30 tapas dishes? Or if you’re not doing anything at the weekend, why not treat yourself to a choice of breakfasts (don’t they always taste better when someone else makes it?)

• The Penn Central, Penn Hill Avenue, Poole, BH14 9NA; 01202 710888