To the Colchester Cultural Quarter! [stop it] …on Sunday afternoon for a relaxed, late luncheon at the old Colchester Waiting Room Bus Station. Two decades ago and I would have been gobbing a King Sized Mars Bar, necked down with some cheapo Sainsbury’s Bitter in the very same space as I waited to dodge my bus fare.

I’m pleased to report that beetroot soup and apple juice on Sunday afternoon had an equally uplifting jouissance that *some* may experience from a King Sized Mars Bar.

Charlie Stocker is the man behind the conversion of the old Colchester Waiting Room into a fine dining experience.

That’s not strictly true - the Creative Co-op has transformed the DEAD space, and then worked with others in the community to offer a *shhh* pop-up place in which to experiment with their talents.

Charlie reached the quarterfinals of Masterchef: The Professionals in 2012, and has twice been a Runner Up in the Essex Young Chef of the Year awards. Professional recognition doesn’t automatically give you a West End Michelin restaurant in which to operate out of.

Which is no bad thing.

Given the choice between getting scrubbed up for the farce of a FOOD session and feeling as though I was dressed for a funeral, compared with a slightly less informal approach to enjoying a meal in the limping Cultural Quarter, I know which one I would rather choose.

The Waiting Room is an incredibly relaxed space. There is some decorum of respectability - it probably would have been frowned upon if I had turned up with my King Sized Mars Bar and cheapo Sainsbury’s Bitter as a DIY starter.

But the spacious dining tables, benches and the BRILLIANT natural illumination coming in from the sizable old glass windows lends to a feeling of a laid back approach whilst… waiting for your food.

Sorry to disappoint, but there’s not a lot of scope to play around with the waiting gag. Service was incredibly prompt and polite. An informal online booking was made 48 hours beforehand, and then upon arrival we were given a handshake and asked to choose where we would like to be seated.

“Which view offers the best Cultural Quarter window watching viewpoint?”

Oh.

I see.

Soon the empty space came alive. It was as though a secret society [ha] of foodie types had all pre-arranged to descend upon the old Waiting Room at a given time.

Or maybe they were waiting for a non-existent bus?

Early fears that the rush of 30-40 foodie types might present a challenge for the One Man Chef were soon put aside. Pear and apple juice were ordered, soon followed by a speedy serving of beetroot soup and cod fishcake as starters.

The beetroot soup was a glorious rouge colour, whilst the fishcake was packaged up in a sphere, not too dissimilar to a scotch egg. A hint of lemon teased out a sharp flavour. I felt comfortable knowing that I would rather have the cod fish cake repeating on me, rather than the ‘richness’ of the rouge beetroot soup.

But this wasn’t a place for bus stop bottom humour. Charlie (and the Creative Coop) have put in place an incredibly family friendly eating and drinking experience. A young family had the freedom for their charming little ankle-biters to explore the art exhibitions, and to roll around on the floor in-between courses.

I was a little jealous, to be honest.

The stuffiness of your Michelin experience would frown on such a relaxed approach to enjoying food. We all find different ways of ENJOYING our eating experience, and if that involves art appreciation combined with some good-natured floor rolling fun, then bring it on.

The open approach to food preparation was fantastic. You can see Charlie prepare each dish from behind the counter where milky cups of tea were once served. There’s no smoke and mirrors approach to the preparation.

“That looks like a beef meatloaf and a roast leg of chicken dish being put together. Ah, I think it’s got our name on it…”

And so it had.

The chicken leg was crisp and rich to explore as I revealed layer after layer of meat. The roasties were equally piping hot and crisp; even the brussels somehow managed to remain palatable with an almost crunching-like technique achieved.

“They will work well with the beetroot soup”

…I observed.

Greed got the better of our eyes. Two courses were certainly sufficient for that Sunday afternoon post-meal slump. The peanut butter cheesecake and a buckthorn doughnut tempted us just a little too far.

Don’t mind if we do.

This is only the first week that Charlie’s fine dining experience has been in operation at the old Waiting Room. We were very politely warned to expect some possible early operational issues.

Prompt service, hot food and plenty of conversation - it felt like we were dining at a well-established restaurant, albeit one that is placed in the dumping ground of a disused bus station.

FOOD as the great kick-starter for the AWOL culture?

It might just possibly work.

For transparency:

A three-course meal for two, including two soft drinks clocked in at £41. There was no rush to vacate the space. It’s not as if you’ve got a bus to catch.

As well as the regular Fish Fridays and Sunday luncheons, Charlie is also planning a Food and Wine Evening, and Valentine and Mother’s Day specials (separately, phew.)

All aboard.

Foodie luncheon snap @stbotolphs_ pic.twitter.com/Bja0Pl3pFj

— Jason_Cobb (@Jason_Cobb) January 19, 2014