Scottf

Nope. Not in London.

Ravioil of Lobster, Cauliflower puree and Lobster Cognac sauce Slow Roast Pork Belly, Creamed Savoy Cabbage, Foie Gras and Caramalised apple puree Hot Chocolate Fondant, Tahitian Vanilla Ice cream

Rhodes In The Square or City Rhodes?

Savoy website has updated price to £40 for 3 courses.

You are quite correct. Well done darling

As Sam and I were uninvited to the above shindig we made it to Savoy Grill under our own steam on Friday night. Following Simon’s tip off we found the very discreet entrance to the restaurant ok. My first impression was that the room was too dark, but that gradually wore off through the evening. The décor was great, one of best dining rooms I’ve been in. We were escorted to a large booth diagonally opposite the entrance, and were very pleased with our view of the room and the size of the table. Canapés of Cod brandade with brown shrimp , hummus and croutons followed. The Cod and shrimp concoction was extremely flavoursome. An amuse of Celeriac veloute with truffle oil was next up and also very intensely flavoured. We drank a glass of the house white at this point but can’t remember details. Choosing was very difficult as much on the menu appealed but I settled on King prawn tortellini with lime and chervil, white asparagus and a celery emulsion followed by Canon of Dorset lamb, fondant potato, baby artichokes, cherry tomatoes and black olives with lamb jus. The tortellinis were good; lots of filling though couldn’t detect the lime. Minor discretion was the Celery emulsion was actually Celeriac as served as the amuse minus the truffle oil. That aside, when does a veloute become an emulsion? The lamb dish was not unlike many I’ve had/seen served numerous times before but it was beautifully cooked and presented, with an array of bright colours. A real summer dish. Sam’s starter was a Foie gras remoulade with a potato and spring onion salad, presented at room temperature allowing the flavour to come through. Sam had said all week that she fancied beef and though the Chateaubriand on the menu is for two there was a single portion on the tasting menu and they were happy to accommodate Sam’s request. When it arrived the waiter joked about the size of the portion, as it was extremely large. Thankfully it was meltingly tender thus it was much lighter to eat than it could’ve been, and with some help from yours truly an empty plate went back to the kitchen. Accompanying Pommes cocotte, spinach and morels were also good. With our mains we drank a 2000 Crozes Hermitage Alain Graillot, which showed harsh tannins for the first few sips but gradually opened into a blackberry and oak fest, perfectly suiting the beef. We both felt dessert was a letdown after what had gone before. All desserts were from the trolley and though what we had, trifle and chocolate and raspberry something, were ok it seemed almost like an afterthought. I think it’s a pander to the traditional brigade, but if you’re going to update the first 2 courses to a modern cuisine why leave desserts stuck in a time warp? Service was extremely slick and friendly without; the napkin test was passed before Sam had managed to leave the table! At £35 this reincarnation of The Savoy Grill must be the best value meal in Central London right now and I heartily recommend it.

Don't EVER consider giving up the day job.

Just to add, amuse was a Horseradish soup with Celeriac and Duck cubes - Tasty. Also there's a 7 course (+coffee) menu for £49.50 of items from the a la carte. There's also a fine selection of individual breads - white, brown, ciabatta, olive, rosemary and bacon & onion if memory serves correctly. Was also offered all night long.

Agreed. Didn't get anything last night that you couldn't get a similar version of at Foliage, Pied a Terre, The Capital etc. Funnily speaking to his wife Laura last night, they've been travelling France and Spain extensively eating 3* cuisine. From the gist of her remarks thet appeared to favour restaurants with a unique approach particularly El Bulli and Veryat. Perhaps a more unique approach may come once he's had time to settle in.

I quite liked the dining room; it was bright, airy and well lit. Must make me 80’s man. I’m off to grow a wedge and practice my backspins and windmills. Anyone got any lino going spare? Extras, yes, and plenty of them. Canapés of Beetroot puree, jelly and foam in a shot glass, Salt Cod Brandade sandwiched between filo pastry, spoons of Foie gras parfait set with onion jelly and shards of bacon, Red Mullet again set in jelly but this time an intense Provencal, Foie gras set under a poached Quail’s egg and Skate goujons. All quite exquisite. Pre dessert of Vanilla cream with Strawberry syrup and ice made a refreshing change and the amount of petite fours presented for two was amazing. A rack of assorted tuiles, a box of chocolates, a bowl of assorted Madeleine’s and two small glasses of a Butterscotch cream and a Prune cream. Contrary to Gary’s view (you just don’t get it do you Gary ) we preferred the starters to the mains. Sam had the Langoustines and Belly Pork as detailed above. Beautifully presented with Truffle ravioli atop each stack. I had Scallops with Grapes and Pernod. The scallops were perfectly cooked and the sweet nature of the sauce suited them fine. Mains, the Pork Head and Veal came as assiette's of the animal in question. Sam’s Veal had a piece of sliced loin that lacked flavour, braised shin and belly which were much more like it and some very tasty Sweetbread. I found the Pork Head slightly disappointing especially as it’s an Aiken speciality. The menu stated Cheek, Trotter, Belly and Tongue, but on looks and taste apart from the obvious slice of trotter the rest was very similar, in fact I think it was all Cheek apart from a small piece of Tongue. Not the variety I was expecting, thus not a patch on the Foliage version. Desserts were good, a Raspberry Sable with Italian Meringue for me, and Cherry Compote with Chocolate Marquise for Sam. With all this we drank a 2000 Chablis 1er Denis Race at £34, which was very suitable for our food. Gary mentioned that Coffee is included in the price, which I’m guessing is a perk whilst the restaurant is still bedding down. The meal lasted 3.5 hours which for us was slightly too long. The waits between courses were just on the wrong side of comfortable for us, but in saying that if they’d whipped us in and out in 1.5 hrs I’d be the first on here complaining. It has Michelin stars written all over it, obvious comparisons at this stage would be Foliage and Pied a Terre. For last night I’d say 1+. The restaurant can only improve on last night however and I guess the 2005 guide will have the restaurant with 2*’s. There’s tremendous potential here and as long as the prices don’t climb too dramatically over the coming months I’d like to think we’d definitely go back to see how they’re progressing.

Just been discussing the very same with Sam. Will let you know in the morning

Simon’s done a fine job of echoing my sentiments on the early part of the meal. Canapés and the Amuse were excellent. I found the choice of bread - white, brown and tomato slightly limited and also found it to be quite dry. Ordering was extremely difficult as every dish sounded enticing. We discussed throughout the evening whether ordering two rich, meaty dishes was a mistake especially as the accompanying items tended to be the same or similar. Consensus of opinion was that it probably was, but then you don’t eat at GR every night. I was an orderer of the Roasted Tranche of Foie Gras and though immaculately pink throughout it had taken on too much of a liver texture for my taste, not the gooey centre and Foie flavour I prefer. Accompanying Endive chutney and Sauternes sauce were outstanding companions, though on checking the menu later the listed Potato Galette was missing. I chose the John Dory for main. Three roasted fillets atop some braised Cos lettuce, new season Asparagus, roasted baby Onions and a sensational Smoked Haddock veloute poured around. One of those dishes that had so many levels of sophistication and flavours, a real winner for me. Pre dessert Panna Cotta also had the table umming and aahing though I think the rum was unnecessary as the Panna Cotta was so good. Sam and I ordered the Assiette of desserts and this was a little portion of all the puds. From the top a Crème Brulee with Prunes macerated in Armagnac, a Chocolate Fondant with Milk Mousse (mousse excellent and quite different), Orange parfait, two individual Tart Tatin with Cinnamon ice cream, Pineapple and Mango ravioli, and two individual Coffee soufflés. I think that speaks for itself. The chocolaty extras were almost sugar overkill, but overall possibly my finest meal and if I was scoring – 9/10. Service was very professional throughout, at one time we thought they were going to fail the napkin test but the sommelier came through with half mast colours, and portion sizes were very reasonable for a restaurant of this nature, something we all commented on. I think £65 for the a la carte is outstanding value, especially when compared to the price of other restaurants in London and Europe and I certainly won’t be waiting three years until I return the next time.

Do you like venison Martin Actually a very enjoyable write up given extra emphasis as Sam and I (with some pals) are booked for dinner on the 28th for Sam's 30th and our second wedding anniversary I also believe £65 is pretty good compared to other 3 stars throughout Europe.

I gathered his role at Savoy Grill was to be on a consultancy basis only, and that Petrus is definitely moving to The Berkeley.

You must've been pretty much in line with Zola's free kick. I only get the crumbs, your West Ham's, Boro's and the like

Tom Were you taken to the game or did you go on your own?

Why would you get stabbed in Euston?

Have you been to Lola's since the chef change Simon?

And I'm sure you won't let that point pass them by

That seems very expensive. You can eat in most of London's starred restaurants for that (or less) if you're careful with the wine.

Is that a big beer If you were a larger drinker you'd know exactly what Andy is talking about

Well I'm still going Macrosan, so I'll see you there

Went to Thackeray's just before Christmas. Quite good, could tell they were going all out for a michelin star, good linen and inventive crockery, pre-starter and dessert. Food presentation was good, though I think I'm getting fed up with all this 3 or 4 seperate items on one plate. Almost like eating 3 different meals as highlighted by the starter I had of Baked Tourte of Romney Marsh Lamb, Boudin Blanc, sauce mousseline. All well prepared components, which a lot of effort must have gone in to, but didn't really eat as well together. Wine service was poor, had to continuously ask for refills as the bottle was placed on the other side of another table. Also emailed a query regarding their wine by the glass policy the next day which has gone unanswered. Felt it was good to have a high quality restaurant close by which persuaded us we didn't always need to travel in to London for this style of food, well until they couldn't be bothered to answer my email. We discussed at the time whether it was worthy of a star or not and went for the "maybe next year" if things improved by a point or so. However Michelin have awarded Thackeray's its first star in the 2003 guide as highlighted on the website. http://www.thackerays-restaurant.co.uk/. Joins a very small list of restaurants with stars in Kent.

It is but not for much longer

It is only the Picasso Room that has a star though. The downstairs room doesn't. I also believe that both rooms have different chefs/kitchen staff, two restaurants in one building really.