Game Season at the Jugged Hare

It’s one of the questions that I’ve never asked before in a restaurant. I’ve enquired about many different taste experiences, but tonight is the first night that I will be asking:  ‘How is the squirrel this evening?’

Why I was asking that is simple. Coming to the game season at the Jugged Hare, I could have taken things safe, gone for the grouse, partridge, hare or even teal. But when I saw the availability of braised squirrel, I couldn’t help but let my curiosity get the better of me.

I enquired about how they are caught and killed, as the possibility of free range squirrel seemed to be too outrageous. It transpired that they are caught in humane traps with enough food to last them 24 hours. They are then quickly dispatched by breaking their necks.

Once I had established that they are not scrapped off the road, lightly seasoned and then served up, I was content to go ahead. How does squirrel taste, I hear you ask? The unavoidable cliché is that it tastes a lot like chicken, but it does. It has that soft texture without the burst of succulence that you can get from the feathered fowl. It was, though, exceedingly well prepared, braised overnight and combined well with sautéed mushrooms and a chestnut jus.

There are many more options on the game season menu, such as the traditional venison and partridge, but it’s great to see the restaurant has a bit of confidence in its dinners to try something a little unorthodox.

I had started with Cornish sprats with tartar sauce, which were very light and plentiful. The dessert of brown bread ice cream was one of those desserts which got me thinking that if I chose it, I was actually being good because brown bread contains fibre and riboflavins, all of which must be included in the ice cream. There is no way that these elements could be removed from transitioning from loaf to scoop. It’s a consideration that I’ve refused to consider any other kind of resolution to and I cannot be swayed by any kind of scientific enquiry as to the issue.

There is an ever changing line up to the menu with different kinds of game appearing each night. If you find anything more curious to eat than squirrel, I take my hat off to you.

The Jugged Hare
49 Chiswell Street
Barbican
EC1Y 4SA

Tel: 020 7614 0134