Bohemia Restaurant

Shaun Rankin is a Yorkshireman who has made Jersey his home, and the 'nine-by-five-mile kitchen garden' of an island (as he puts it) provides just about all the produce he needs to turn out his style of cutting edge, technically dexterous, rather thrilling contemporary cooking. Shaun's food may be fashionably up-to-the-minute, with some exciting flavour combinations along the way, but at its core is an appreciation of classical values, and all those wonderful Jersey ingredients. The Club Hotel is the go-to place in town if you're after a bit of contemporary cool, and the Bohemia Bar with its soundtrack of contemporary jazz is the place to sip on a cocktail or a glass of champagne. The restaurant has a sheen that meets 21st-century fine-dining expectations: high quality finishes in neutral, natural shades, rich leather chairs, tables dressed to impress, and a service team on top form. It impresses from the off with canapés in the bar before moving into the restaurant. Luxury ingredients are not shy and pepper the menu with reassuring regularity, not least in a first course foie gras and lobster dish, which sees roast foie gras served up with poached Jersey lobster, the former as good a piece as you'll find anywhere, rich, intense and melting in the mouth. A mango and mint chutney and mango sorbet do the work of balancing all this luscious richness to a tee. Another meat-seafood combo sees slow-cooked belly and glazed cheek of pork partnered with two perfect langoustines, ably supported by sweet potato and orange purée. In Shaun's hands the humble carrot cake is deconstructed and emerges as a dessert of considerable finesse, or from his appearance on the BBC's Great British Menu, there's treacle tart with Jersey clotted ice cream. There's a very good value set lunch menu that can take you from French onion soup with ham hock beignets and vacherin mont d'or, via glazed 'coq au vin' with bayleaf purée to rhubarb crumble soufflé with custard ice cream, plus tasting and market menus to suit your pocket. The wine list shows the same attention to detail as everything else.