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Chances are you will be impressed

Ben Thomas plays his cards right and ends up with a meal to remember.

I HAVE been to Aspers a few times, either to an event or with friends to start the night and, occasionally, at the end of a night, but until recently had never really considered it as a restaurant.

My fiancée, Vickie, and I were greeted by a friendly member of the team who opened the door for us, an immediately positive first impression.

We made our way upstairs and met our waitress for the evening, Marianna, who greeted us with a smile and a warm welcome.

Ben Thomas plays his cards right and ends up with a meal to remember.

I HAVE been to Aspers a few times, either to an event or with friends to start the night and, occasionally, at the end of a night, but until recently had never really considered it as a restaurant.

My fiancée, Vickie, and I were greeted by a friendly member of the team who opened the door for us, an immediately positive first impression.

We made our way upstairs and met our waitress for the evening, Marianna, who greeted us with a smile and a warm welcome. Clary’s Restaurant is situated on the first floor at Aspers and has approximately 18 tables, closely positioned to the open kitchen, which I like, as you get to hear and see the chef and his team preparing the meals.

The restaurant creates its own relaxed atmosphere with neat window dressing and small candles on each table.

The menu selection was very good, better than I anticipated with nine starters to choose from, including fried goat’s cheese, chicken and pistachio terrine and creamed wild mushroom with poached hen’s egg. Vickie chose king prawns with chorizo sausages, which was served in a chilli, lime and coriander butter (£6.50) and was delicious. The flavours combined to leave a wonderful after taste. I chose the seared scallops (£9.25), which were beautifully presented on a bed of pea puree with two slices of glazed crispy bacon. The scallops were cooked to perfection, and despite being a scallops fan, I had never eaten them with pea puree so I was intrigued to see how they would taste. I was not disappointed, it was a great way to start our meal.

Vickie chose Clary’s Beef Wellington, fillet steak topped with mushroom duxelles, pate and Parma ham wrapped in pastry set on Diane sauce with vegetables and sauté potatoes (£22.95). Vickie said this was the best Beef Wellington she has ever had, which is a huge compliment (believe me). Vickie cut into the pastry and the fillet was cooked exactly how she wanted, and the pate was a delicate touch to tantalise the taste buds that little bit more.

I chose the 16oz T-Bone steak  (£26.95) with saute potatoes, mushroom and grilled tomato. The steak was a perfect cut, cooked medium and accompanied with peppercorn sauce. All of the steaks at Clary’s are matured for 24 days and are seasoned with a blend of black Szechaun peppercorns and coarse sea salt. This was a really enjoyable dish, which I highly recommend to steak lovers.

For those of you that know me you will be surprised to read that shortly after finishing my steak I did not think I could move onto dessert – but I am a team player and while Vickie let the team down by opting out of a dessert I chose a selection of luxury ice cream (£5.95) and with eight flavours to choose from. I went with mango, strawberry and vanilla. This was presented on a long dish with a scoop of each flavour delicately covered with strawberry sauce, dashed with sugar and partnered with a small bunch of berries and two fresh strawberries – a delightful way to end an excellent meal. Vickie was driving so I enjoyed a glass of Sauvignon Blanc from the wine list, which Marianna was happy to advise upon and recommend.

For those that like to end with coffee, Clary’s boast five speciality coffees including a Calypso, Irish, Brandy and Bailey’s but my favourite is the Caribbean Coffee (with Captain Morgan rum).

All in all, Clary’s offers something very special. An excellent choice of menu, superb service in a setting which is relaxed and quiet, tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the casino.

Clary’s is great for couples or a group and is in a location where you can make a night of it, or just have a meal and move on to somewhere else or head home. For those that like to enjoy a drink after their meal, the bar downstairs is a comfortable place to sit and relax with a drink and watch the world go by.

Aspers is a gem of a venue, and within there, Clary’s is a hidden gem of a restaurant.

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