After the exchange on that thread Simon invited me to eat at the restaurant. I’ll disclose right now that I didn’t pay full price for this meal and I hesitated over accepting the invitation because of this but a quick look at the train times made me realise that I could be in Limpsfield in 20 minutes from East Croydon station and a short £3 taxi ride from there, after that it felt rude not to accept and with a little negotiation Simon agreed to cook us an 8 course tasting menu while those around us tucked into roast dinner. All the dishes were taken from the a la carte menu and had matching wines.
Our journey from East Croydon was effortless, unfortunately when we got to Oxted the taxi rank was empty “you hardly see any on a Sunday” advised the stationmaster and the newsagent. The taxi office was closed and a call to the local minicab firm told me that she only had two cars working and they were both miles away. There is no bus service on a Sunday. Fortunately, after prowling around for 20 minutes or so, working out what we were going to do, a taxi did turn up and helped us on our merry way, he wouldn’t be working when we finished though but we decided to worry about that later. On a more positive note the taxi ride was short – short enough that you could probably walk it in fifteen minutes or so.
A glass of champagne in the more modern bistro to start before the main event. The main room is a serious looking place courtesy of its wood panelling which reminded me of Hibiscus but on a larger scale.
An ameuse of bouillabaisse soup was outstanding. Powerful and silky smooth, strong with red mullet – this was wonderful, I’m advised that it is also served as a sauce alongside the Halibut on the a la carte, I would happily eaten a bowl of this with a plate of crusty bread.
Seared Scallop, pain d’epices crumble, poached pear, celery, spiced red wine reduction. This was the dish that jumped of the page on the original thread due to its £17 price tag as a starter. The dish worked very well indeed. The reduction suitably spicy with cinnamon the predominant flavour, the pear having been poached in the wine and thin slices of celery. The celery didn’t produce such a peppery element as I would have expected, the scallop was the principle of the dish, lightly browned on the outside, barely cooked through. I would have preferred the pear to not be quite as soft as it was but overall this was a really good, well balanced dish, one of the best scallop dishes I have tried in a long time. This was paired with a 2006 Original Unwooded Chenin Blanc, Raats Family which went well with the spiced elements of the sauce and the sweetness of the scallop. (It should be noted at this point that my wine expertise is limited)
Ham Hock and Foie Gras Terrine, Apple Jelly, beetroot syrup. This could have been very good if it wasn’t for the seasoning, sea salt was sprinkled on top but the hock was salty enough without requiring the extra seasoning. Aside form that the apple jelly worked very well, as did the beetroot syrup. Alongside this we had a 2001 Bodegas Lan Rioja Crianza, that was light and easy drinking, it could perhaps have been a little bolder against the hock but was pleasant enough.
Macaroni of Pork, Roasted Langoustine, Langoustine Bisque, Seaweed Tartare. This just sounds wrong but is so right. The smell of Langoustine dominated before tasting, and it tasted like the sea. A lovely rustic sort of dish that exhibited elegance as well. It really was all thrown together in a little copper saucepan but the combination of small pieces of pork, Langoustine, a slightly creamy bisque and small macaroni. Sensational. That it doesn’t fly off the menu doesn’t surprise me, perhaps it needs renaming? A great dish, well recommended. Alongside we had a Marie Demets Rose Champagne Brut. Probably the best match of the meal, it was soft and fruity, the dish could have probably taken something a little more robust but this was great.
Wild seabass, ceps, bone marrow, Serrano ham, new Meuniere sauce, Coriander. The Jury’s out on this dish (I still lapped it up though) The Seabass was good and well cooked (seabass being one of the worst offenders if you overcook it IMO). The ceps added little for me, presumably South African, they lacked in proper cep flavour, the Bone marrow was mixed through the base with the New Meuniere sauce (I forgot to ask what was new about it) and unadvertised croutons. A couple of sprigs of Coriander on top. I didn’t notice the Serrano ham in the dish but if it wasn’t there it should remain deleted. Overall the buttery sauce and marrow dominated flavourwise, the sauce perhaps needing a little more acidity to lift the dish and the coriander was unnecessary. The croutons were an element to far. Not a bad dish but probably the it needs work, It all tasted a little one dimensional. A 2005 West Brook Pinot Noir accompanied, kept light deliberately with a Foie Gras dish coming up.
Roasted Foie Gras, Pistachio Nuts, Griottine Cherries, yogurt. Hmmmm….I’m not sure about this. For me it could work but needs some adjustments, a thicker, richer yoghurt, perhaps with touch of acidity and a little more salt. The cherries worked well as you would expect. Not sure on the quality of the Foie either. Having said all this, Rachel enjoyed the fact the dish was relatively light and almost palette cleansing ,though I’m not sure that this is the point of foie. 2002 Domaine Noble, Loupiac. This was not too sweet and had a lot of minerality and honey with sulphur developing towards the end (do I sound like wine buff yet?)
Red wine Marinated Balmoral Estate venison, Clonakilty Black Pudding, Chorizo, apple puree. This was lovely, thin slices of venison cooked rare with a slice of black pudding and pieces of chorizo through the dish. The sauce was well balanced with mint and tarragon (I think). The apple puree worked fine but the initial taste was of lemon, nothing major but something to be careful of. I would lose the chorizo, it works OK but probably doesn’t do anything to improve the dish. The venison is good enough on its own, I often find chorizo can lift a dish (especially a poor one) but it is often too powerful for the other flavours and suddenly become the main element. The wine was a 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Andes Peaks from Chile.
Rump of Cornish Lamb, Root vegetables, puy lentils, Raspberry Vinegar. Very classic, similarly presented to the venison. Decent quality lamb, lovely sauce port based, with a slight sweetness from the raspberry vinegar. Nothing overly complicated here, solid, decent cooking resulting in a very good dish. 2001 Amarone La Marega, La Salette, Veneto. This almost had a fortified edge to it, 14 or 15% alcohol which was well hidden, smooth with lots of dark fruit and a hint of chocolate, great length (I think I could get into this wine descriptive stuff). It worked well with the Raspberry vinegar.
A pre Dessert of Rhubarb Compote and ginger cream was next stem ginger (?) utilised for the cream and topped with the now obligatory popping candy.
Valrhona Hot Chocolate Fondant, Salted caramel, Caramel foam. Not being one for chocolate desserts I wolfed this down over a couple of glorious minutes. I think others might think that the salted caramel was too salty but for me it worked fantastically. Chocolate Fondant is Chocolate fondant, a good example but they rarely stand out on their own IMO. The Caramel foam was another great element, slight toffee flavour but beautifully light. 1928 Solera Maury, Maury always seems to work well with chocolate and this one did the trick, coffee and chocolate sprung to mind.
Overall a very good meal. The Scallop and Macaroni were, for me, possible 2* dishes, I’m undecided by the seabass and Foie though, not that they were bad dishes but they didn’t excite me in the same. The Venison/Lamb and fondant were solid Michelin pleasing dishes and I have little doubt that Alexander’s can win a star in the (near) future. I believe that the venison dish was an addition to the normal tasting menu. Perhaps in the interests of balance one of the Foie Gras dishes should be removed from the degustation
The debate will continue with regard to the price. My personal opinion would be that the tasting menu should be knocked back to 5 dishes (plus ameuse) and the price lowered to £50. The Scallop dish was fantastic but without having tasted it I would still hesitate to order it, the lamb and Venison dishes, while very good are possibly overpriced on the ALC (£22 and £25 respectively). I hope the prices on the website don’t put people of visiting because the cooking here is very good indeed and I will return.
