Pumpkin Ravioli

A favourite spot I frequent in London is the Drayton Court Hotel in Ealing. It’s been my go-to for years now. Compared to central London, it’s much easier on the wallet, and the Elizabeth Line makes getting downtown a snap. West Ealing Station, just a short walk away, offers trains that zip you into central London in under 20 minutes.

They have an ever changing menu and they have a specials menu. One of the specials was a roasted pumpkin & sage ravioli with maple roasted prince pumpkin, herb pesto, creme fraiche & toasted seeds.

This vegetarian dish sounded interesting, so I had it for dinner.

Pumpkin Ravioli

It wasn’t the most appetising looking dish I have had at Drayton Court. I think a swirl of creme fraiche would have enhanced this dish. The menu description said creme fraiche, but I am not sure if either it was missed off, or mixed in with the pesto.

The ravioli was cooked well, too easy to overcook filled pasta, but this was still al dente. I liked the deep fried sage which added flavour and texture to the dish, as did the toasted pumpkin seeds. I enjoyed the chunks of maple roasted prince pumpkin which were quite tasty. Overall it was an interesting dish, not sure I would order it again though.

Gluten Free Chicken Strips

This was an attempt to create crispy buttermilk chicken strips.

I took some skinless chicken thigh meat and cut it into chunky strips.

I then coated them in, well I wanted to use buttermlik, but I didn’t have any buttermilk, so I used some crème fraîche. The mix was then left for thirty minutes.

The chicken strips were then coated in a seasoned gluten free flour and deep fried.

Overall, thought they were tasty, I didn’t quite get the effect I was trying to achieve. I think next time I should actually use buttermilk.