My friends and I decided to have dinner here before heading to the bar - The Cloak. This is a lovely restaurant owned by Mary and her husband John (last name has Ben in it, hence the name of the restaurant- Marben). This place bills itself as a nod to British hospitality per their website.
We had a table at the back where you can see the chefs preparing the food so that was nice. I always enjoy open kitchens because it's so fascinating to me to watch people cook.
While we were hungry we weren't starving and the apps looked more interesting to us than the mains so we decided to order a few of the apps and share.
We had the oysters; fried cauliflower; trout and the aged beef carpaccio. Everything was fresh and delicious- the cauliflower was nice and crispy on the outside and perfect on the inside- not overlooked or mushy - these little bites were addictive:)
The trout was fresh and light - perfect when you don't want something heavy. The taste of the fish shone through the other ingredients (beers, horseradish etc) which was nice.
Service was friendly and everyone answered the questions we had with patience.
I'd definitely come back to see what their brunch is all about.