The Jobber’s Rest, Upminster: Soufflés and Seafood

High expectations can be dangerous. This isn’t meant to be a dramatic introduction to a restaurant review but knowing that the Jobber's Rest was part of Raymond Blanc's White Brasserie collection of gastropubs, expectations naturally raised. I imagined a fancy hybrid of his celebrated Oxfordshire Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons manor-house-cum-cookery-school and an Essex country inn. When I saw a very unfancy, slightly unloved pub garden in the online photos, I was a bit deflated.

White Brasserie buys up existing pubs adding French brasserie menus.  So, in all 20 you’ll find classic French soufflés alongside classic British pub dishes. The Jobber’s Rest was the first Essex venue to open in a semi-rural location on the edge of Upminster, lined with 1930s suburban homes. 

I’d invited my friend Zena to meet me for lunch there, planning a walk in the appealing-named swathe of Thames Chase Forest that runs close to the pub, but the ever-changing weather and an ability to talk for a long time meant we were still at our window table as evening diners sat down. The view of the garden wasn’t particularly alluring, but to give the game away, the staff and food pulled it back. 

Surrounded by sage green woodwork – pleasing but seen before in umpteen pubs - we ordered the Malabar fish curry and mezze. We liked the portion size – not ungenerous, but not OTT. Zena's good-looking dish, with a joyous orange sauce and chunks of well-cooked, moist cod, was made even lovelier, framed by a sweet scattering of toasted coconut curls. One plump, pink prawn balanced on top. I couldn’t order it (although I dipped my spoon in the lovely sauce) – blame a Saturday night in watching Seaspiracy on Netflix - so Moroccan mezze it was, a plate busy with meat-free tapas, from lengths of olive-green globe artichokes to earthy falafel patties with smooth coconut cream, a smear of houmous (I can’t get excited about any chickpea paste), juicy scarlet pomegranate seeds and warm, soft flatbreads.

The mains were good - we loved them both equally - but the real stars of the show were the soufflés. The summer Champagne & Soufflé menu pairs them as a dessert with a glass of Lanson alongside the savoury cheese version. I've never been fussed about what I considered a 70s dinner party staple, other than watching poor budding chefs on Masterchef crumble as they open the oven door to remove sinking bowls of the eggy mixture. But these were beauties. Some things become unappealing when too big, such as record-breaking raspberries or giant green beans. Not these puffed up, cloud-like puddings. 

One was pistachio, fluffy and a deep mint-green inside with a crunchy, sugar-sprinkled golden top. Joining it was a tiny pot of perfectly unsweet chocolate chip ice cream. The other was mellow apricot, almond and amaretto, with an egg-cup-sized amount of sweet apricot coulis and another with a soft scoop of vanilla ice cream. The egg and cream combination was dreamy to eat, I can't describe it any other way. Plunging our spoons into the warm mixture recreated the joy of licking the bowl lined with your mum’s cake mix.

So, we sat there for a few more hours, talking, watching the rain clouds dash our hopes of a walk (but not really minding that much) and shouting over the benign-but-lairy group of women high on day-drinking and catching up. Staff checked we were ok regularly without implying we should be on our way. Judged on looks alone, it wouldn't stand out, but for memorable food from around the globe, this Essex pub scores a ten.

*Soufflé and Champagne menu £15, served Monday to Saturday, 2 pm-5 pm, The Jobbers Rest