An overnight trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon for a little culture for me and my sis, Toni. After a lovely day of sightseeing, bus tours, stopping at pubs for a bit of local fayre, we needed to make a decision for dinner.
Our first choice was The Dirty Duck. We had heard this was “the place to go” – so we believed them. Them being the tourist crowd. We wandered around the large restaurant hoping someone would notice and seat us. Sadly, in the end we seated ourselves and tried our best to get someone’s attention to get some menus. What we got was a group of people who walked over to us and said “don’t do it!” We asked… “don’t do what?” “Don’t eat the food, its terrible, awful infact!” They then showed us some horrible photos of food. We got up and walked out. It was fine as no-one had even come over to us. The Opposition was recommended by the people leaving.
We checked out the menu for The Opposition before going in. A little pricey but we were in a tourist town, so were ready for it to be a little higher in price than most. The place was friendly, welcoming and really oh so charming. The décor was dark wood with a cozy cottage feel. Lots of little nooks and crannies to sit in if you were on a date in this lovely little Bistro. The main dining room seats about 30 people at the most. We were seated close to the open brick wall and an open fireplace area that had some unusual ornaments of a sewing machine, a modern lamp and a basket of wire balls.
We settled in and ordered a bottle of Chenin Blanc – which seems to be the drink of choice on this vacation for some reason. For our appetizers we ordered the Duo of Home-made Chicken Liver Pate and Course Country Terrine. My sister has never had pate before and was pleasantly surprised by it. She really enjoyed the flavor and texture of both. The Pate was smooth, creamy and very tasty and the Country Terrine was mealy and a little crunchy. On small toast points with a little hot English mustard it was a really nice starter to share.
For my main I decided on one of the specials of Lamb Provencal with Saffron Mashed Potatoes. Toni went with the Grilled Breast of Cajun Style Chicken with Salsa and of course Chips.
My lamb was amazing. Tender chunks of meat that just shredded and broke off in your mouth with a wonderful tomato sauce. The mashed potato, a nice change from chips on this trip, was creamy with a lovely hint of Saffron. All in all, I was very happy with my choice and completely cleaned my plate!
Toni was equally as happy with her chicken dish, which was quite spicy and had a delicious side of chopped mixed peppers salsa to compliment the flavor and calm the spice.
Our evening ended with finishing our wine and enjoying the people watching in this adorable little bistro.
A very nice choice if you are visiting Stratford-Upon-Avon. They also have two other restaurants on the same street (Sheep Street), Lamb and Vintners, both of which get nice praise from locals and tourists alike.
