Saturday, February 27, 2010, 09:30

It would be an understatement to say my sister is a fussy eater. But by the end of our evening at Entropy she had tasted ox heart, stilton soufflé, pig cheeks and more than lived to tell the tale.

In fact to quote her directly, "maybe I should try a bit more when I go out if it tastes like that". So there you go, not only is this restaurant probably the best place to go for dinner in Leicester at the moment, it can also exterminate food phobias.

I was with Emma (my bridesmaid-to-be) and boyfriend Richard to celebrate buying a wedding dress for our summer nuptials. It is, therefore, fair to say we were in a good mood to start with, a feeling that just got better the more we filled our stomachs.

The restaurant and bar areas have a young, hip feel. The "hipness" of the place is personified by the square steel sink in the toilets, which is shared by men and women and separated only by a wall reaching the taps. The atmosphere in the dining room was great with lots of men taking their girlfriends out for a slap-up meal and Entropy's bustling open kitchen in the background adding to the buzz.

I kicked things off with grilled ox heart, red chard and chilli oil – which was fantastic. It was tender and rich and a joy to eat. Emma said her leek and Cropwell Bishop stilton soufflé was light and yummy. Richard's deep-ried old spot cheeks were only a smidge too greasy but the gribiche (cold egg sauce) was a silky-sharp accompaniment to the dish. 

For mains, I sneaked some of Richard's wild mushroom-stuffed pheasant and it was bloomin' delicious. Even Emma said so.

We all loved my Northfield farm pork and herb sausages and Richard said they were the best bangers he'd ever tasted.

A high accolade indeed from Leicestershire's self-proclaimed sausage sandwich king. The cabbage and bacon with Emma's roast chicken was crispy and not at all limp. We've since tried to create the combination at home without success, testament to the chef's genius and not our incompetence, I hope.

Desserts were again of a high standard, with Richard's brown bread parfait with Armagnac prunes a perfect example of combining sweetness with a grown-up edge.

The meal cost £70 for two people: three courses each and a bottle of wine. Emma's food was free because we have a Gourmet Society Membership card.

Chef Tom Cockerill and his wife, Cassandra, have done a great job with Entropy, creating a non-stuffy culinary experience in the heart of Leicester's West End.

Long may their reign continue.

Info

Entropy, Hinckley Road, Leicester. Phone 0116 225 9650

Rating: 5/5

The Good Food Guide

Regeneration may have a little way to go in the neighbourhood, but Tom and Cassandra Cockerill’s bar and restaurant is smart enough. The interior – two shops knocked into one – looks both rustic and modern with lots of pale wood, a colour scheme of chocolate and neutrals and views into the kitchen. A timely formula of all-day opening, flexible menus and a laid-back ambience delivers a daily changing repertoire that displays commendable seasonal focus. The food is nearly always interesting, prices pretty fair, and extras like homemade sourdough bread show quality from the off. Deep-fried Gloucester Old Spot cheeks with sauce gribiche, and moules marinière have impressed, as have salt-and-pepper squid, and rare hanger steak with green peppercorn sauce. In its way, the breakfast menu (served all day) is as much ‘out of this world’ as desserts like hot chocolate fondant with pistachio, rose geranium and a lychee and melon sorbet. Service is ‘second to none’, wines by the glass start at £3.75.

Which? Reviews No advertising, no bias, no hidden agenda

Entropy - The best place to eat

Entropy was recently voted by the Good Food Guide’s readers as the Midlands’ best restaurant and I can see why.

Chef-owner Tom Cockerill has an impressive pedigree; he apprenticed at Hambleton Hall with Sean Hope as his sous-chef and perfected his skills in some of the best restaurants around the world including the Fat Duck in Bray, The Vineyard at Stockcross, Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham and recently Per Se and Gordon Ramsay’s in New York.

Inside Entropy, there is an informal atmosphere. The menu is rustic with classic bistro fare on offer. Tom announces, “We are not ambitious in the fine dining sense” - I disagree as the menu is extensive, yet unpretentious, and includes delicacies such as whole crab, grilled ox heart and Cropwell Bishop Stilton and leek soufflé.  All the food is locally and carefully sourced with meat from Northfield Farm and Tom makes his own breads, ice cream and stocks.

I wanted something light so opted for the delicious fig, proscuitto, buffalo mozzarella and watercress salad with balsamic dressing. Mum had the rather unusual and hugely appetising mussels cooked in organic dry cider with smoked pancetta and celery with sourdough bread. We were also given a whole loaf of warm sourdough bread and mixed olives with home made bread sticks to nibble on – perfect! Tom would not let us escape without trying some deserts although we had had sufficient so we tasted the Duck egg crème Brule with pistachio and almond biscotti and the Dark chocolate mousse with white chocolate, rosemary and sea salt thins. I would never usually choose mousse but oh my word  it was out of this world and the salt on the thins brought out the flavour of the dark chocolate and I like to think myself of something of a connoisseur of crème brule and this got full marks.

I can’t wait to take the family for Sunday brunch (full English, American pancakes, Eggs Benedict) and cosy up on the comfortable looking sofas – box of toys at the ready for Luc –truly they have thought of everything! And the prices are great – really competitive.

In a nutshell:
Chef: Tom Cokerill
Typical Price for 2: £50 for 2 courses including wine
Best selling dish would probably be the herb marinated Aberdeen angus hangar steak, could call that a signature dish although I hate that term! Marinated in extra virging olive oil, garlic thyme & rosemary
Special features: Bespoke catering and event planning, cookery lessons and demonstrations
Contact details: 42 Hinkley Road, Leicester, LE3 0RB. Tel: 0116 2259650 www.entropylife.com

Rutland Living website

The Guardian, Saturday 18 July 2009, Tony Naylor 

Entropy, Leicester

By Linda Steelyard

One of the best breakfasts in the country can be found in Leicester, according to the Observer.

The newspaper named Entropy among the runners-up in the breakfast category of its food awards. There were no other venues in Leicestershire in the list, and only three across the Midlands.

It’s only, ooh, a stone’s throw from my house if I didn’t throw like a little girl. It seemed rude not to go.

The Observer’s summary read: “Generous portions, particularly if you order the breakfast platter.” TIN.adverts.adWriteDC('article-detail-impact-tile', '452x118');

Well, we were hungry, but even Meal Buddy (MB) and I couldn’t scoff four breakfasts (which is what the platter is), so we chose the scaled-down version – one full English, one veggie, plus cranberry and grapefruit juices.

My veggie breakfast comprised scrambled egg, two hash browns, two thin discs of fried bread (couldn’t work out what they were at first), a grilled tomato, a Portobello mushroom, two sausages and two slices of toast.

It all looked great, everything was fresh and hot and the plate was full.

But this breakfast had a lot to live up to, and it wasn’t perfect. The veggie sausages, I think, were Linda McCartney, which, as any non-meatie will tell you, are tricky little blighters to cook.

They love drying up into tough sticks, and, unfortunately, that had happened.

Other minor gripes were down to my preferences – not Entropy’s fault, of course, but here they are anyway:

The eggs were too sloppy. I’d rather have mushrooms sauteed in butter than a Portobello cooked we didn’t know how, but not in a way which brought out its flavour.

I like a bit of baked bean action.

Breakfast providers of the world – what is the point of ready-made hash browns (as these apparently were)? What’s wrong with a couple of slices of fried potato?

The full English comprised two sausages, two small rashers of bacon, scrambled egg, two discs of fried bread, a grilled tomato, a Portobello mushroom and two slices of toast.

The sausages were “meaty and nicely seasoned”, said MB, but the bacon “thinly cut”. He’d hoped for something more substantial.

He thought the scrambled egg was tasty and would’ve liked more. The mushroom was a “pleasant surprise to begin with” but he was disappointed by its lack of flavour.

There was enough food to satisfy my sparrowesque appetite but MB, despite eating all of his plus my tomato, one of my sausages and some of my toast, was hungry an hour later.

“I want a man’s breakfast for seven quid,” he said. “In fact, I want two.”

Entropy is a lovely place to start the day but, to abuse a phrase from The Apprentice, the search for Leicestershire’s best breakfast continues.