Harry’s Bistro, Haven Road, Canford Cliffs, Poole (From Bournemouth Echo)

Harry’s Bistro, Haven Road, Canford Cliffs, Poole

4:12pm Monday 28th January 2008 in

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WALKING into Harry's Bistro on Haven Road, in the elegant little village of Canford Cliffs, a suburb of Poole, the new owners' style is immediately noticeable.

I had been into the Bistro when it was named Henry's but it has been under new management for nearly a year now. The entrance and bar area is quite narrow, opening out at the back into a larger square room and an alcove for a more intimate meal, so the new light décor with light oak tables gives a spacious open appearance.

Tim, the manager and one of three owners, (the other two, Andrew and Georgina, live in London) is welcoming and friendly and as well as diners travelling some distance, he also has a regular clientele of locals calling in for breakfast, lunch or a drink in the evening on the way home after a hard day at work.

The bar is well stocked and the menu is separated into breakfast, 10 am to 3 pm, lunch 12 noon to 3 pm and the evening meal. The breakfast and lunch menus are interchangeable with the usual breakfast fare, full breakfast with two rashers of bacon, two sausages, two fried eggs, mushrooms, beans, tomato and toast at £5.95, to beans on toast at £2.75.

The lunch menu ranges from £3.95 for chef's home-made soup of the day with crusty bread to £6.95 for chef's home made burger, served in a toasted bun with salad and chips.

We went to Harry's for an evening meal and had a quiet evening enjoying the ambience. We also had Tim's sole attention after the early evening rush and learned that he has had many years experience in the restaurant industry having worked in the Carribbean on cruise liners and in Mexico.

The evening menu looked very enticing starting at £4.50 for chef's soup of the day - freshly prepared with toasted croutons and crusty bread and includes delicacies such as crispy lamp with a sweet chilli dip and fresh local mussels in a cream and white wine sauce with a hint of garlic, served with chunks of crusty bread.

It was difficult to choose our main meal from the comprehensive selection on offer. Most tastes seem to be catered for with duck, steaks, chicken breast, veal, lamb hank, salmon fillet, tuna steak, calves liver, Thai curry, steak and ale pie, all served with a selection of seasonal vegetables and new potatoes, unless otherwise mentioned. Tim also caters for vegetarians and those with dietary problems.

We chose the fresh grilled duck breast at £12.95, cooked to our liking, and served with a tasty Morello cherry sauce with separately presented potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. I chose my favourite South East Australian red wine and my friend a Pinot Grigio to accompany the meal.

The dessert menu looked equally appetising for those who have room after such a delicious meal. Sadly we knew that we wouldn't.