It’s been tough for both restaurants and restaurant-goers over the past 2 years so it was a great joy to be able to review a real gem which opened in Banbury in late January.
3 Flavours Restaurant & Wine Bar has gained a loyal following since recently opening on North Bar serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is not surprising given the impressive pedigree and culinary experience of the management and staff and their policy of fusing flavours from the Mediterranean, Britain and Asia into their diverse offering.
Chanaka Fernando the Owner and Head Chef grew up in Sri Lanka and got involved in the family catering business at a very young age and later studied catering in Colombo and London.
He has a wealth of experience from his work in London over the past 20 years having worked under Gordon Ramsay for 6 years at the Savoy and other celebrity chefs including Marcus Wareing and Mark Hix.
He was until recently Executive Chef at the Budda-Bar in London and has used his vast experience to blend flavours together thereby creating unique recipes and building a brand. The team has been joined by other professionals including Vincenzo, a pastry expert from Sicily, Stephan from the Dorchester and Leo from the London Chop House.
Three of us recently called in for lunch to discover for ourselves the delights of this newest addition to the Banbury food scene.
Firstly we had appetisers of edamame beans, a basket of freshly baked bread and truffled beetroot tartar and each one was very satisfying and set us up for the meal to follow.
For our starters we opted for Pan Seared Scallops with cauliflower puree, samphire, garlic & chilli butter, Tempura Prawns served with dragon mayo and Burrata with Heritage Tomatoes with balsamic, green pesto and basil and of course Calamari with Lemon Mayo.
We perused the main courses for ages as there seemed to be so many delightful offerings such as lamb, beef, chicken, fish, lobster, duck, pasta and curries from which to choose.
After an eternity we settled on Short Ribs slow cooked for 24 hours with pomme puree and chilli teriyaki sauce, Herb Crusted Rump of Lamb with smoked aubergine puree, spinach and rosemary sauce and Monkfish & Tiger Prawn Curry with coconut, steamed rice and crispy shallots.
To accompany these dishes we chose Tender Stemmed Broccoli, Roast New Potatoes and Creamed Spinach.
When it came time for dessert we had to pause for a while to make room for it.
Finally, we chose Sticky toffee pudding with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream, Chocolate Mousse with Strawberry and Chocolate sauce, Chocolate Cookies Cheesecake with Raspberry and ginger biscoff crumbles, Mango Passion Mousse with exotic fruit salsa and coconut ice cream.
All of the food we experienced was of high quality and was sourced, where possible, from responsible local suppliers. Our order was cooked for us completely from fresh ingredients thereby maintaining nutrition and adding greatly to our enjoyment of it.
The décor is modern, the ingredients are fresh, the chefs are very experienced, the presentation is superb making this a seriously good eating experience.
Dining at 3Flavours Restaurant & Wine Bar is exciting, rewarding and not to be missed.
