Boxwood Cafe

[CalumC]

Anyone been recently? Got a rezzie on saturday lunch, rather looking forward to it.

[tony h]

was good when it opened - but last few lunches were fairly lame

gordon-by-the-numbers kind of place

suggest you go to Capital just around the corner - costs about the same if not less for lunch (& they do lunch on saturday) - but frankly its a world apart and well worth looking foward to

Edited August 26, 2008 by tony h (log)

[sunbeam]

was good when it opened - but last few lunches were fairly lame

gordon-by-the-numbers kind of place

suggest you go to Capital just around the corner - costs about the same if not less for lunch (& they do lunch on saturday) - but frankly its a world apart and well worth looking foward to

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I second that, Boxwood seemed underpowered when I went. Its Eric Chavot at Capital as I recall isnt it? Pricey but worth it

S

[tony h]

I second that, Boxwood seemed underpowered when I went. Its Eric Chavot at Capital as I recall isnt it? Pricey  but worth it

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Chavot - yes

Lunch not pricey - £30 or there abouts. dinner more expensive but wine is ridiculous

[Jon Tseng]

+1 for lunch at the capital

Interesting - didn't know the Boxwood had re-opened (actually did it close for refurb? I thought it did).

If you do still go the veal and foie gras burger is a signature. It's actually a bit underpowered for my taste (foie gras and veal both fairly smooth bland fatty meats - you know what I mean - needs something more robust to give it a kick).

J

[nikkib]

no it hasn't closed yet, not sure when that is pencilled in.

[CalumC]

Thanks for the capital recs, might give it a go sometime, but i think we'll keep the boxwood for this weekend, the two look completely different. The capital might be a parents visit, miss CalumC didnt like the look of capital.

Cheers all, ill take a few photos for the food porn needy

[sunbeam]

I second that, Boxwood seemed underpowered when I went. Its Eric Chavot at Capital as I recall isnt it? Pricey  but worth it

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Chavot - yes

Lunch not pricey - £30 or there abouts. dinner more expensive but wine is ridiculous

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Lunch at all the big names is nearly always a good deal, you do have to watch the wine clawback tho!

S

[PhilD]

I second that, Boxwood seemed underpowered when I went. Its Eric Chavot at Capital as I recall isnt it? Pricey  but worth it

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Chavot - yes

Lunch not pricey - £30 or there abouts. dinner more expensive but wine is ridiculous

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Lunch at all the big names is nearly always a good deal, you do have to watch the wine clawback tho!

S

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....and coffee clawback. £5 a head at Claridges.

[howardlong]

I second that, Boxwood seemed underpowered when I went. Its Eric Chavot at Capital as I recall isnt it? Pricey  but worth it

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Chavot - yes

Lunch not pricey - £30 or there abouts. dinner more expensive but wine is ridiculous

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True, although I thought it rather more than coincidence that after many months of Cloudy Bay SB priced at £75 it went down to a far more sensible £45 directly after I mentioned it here on egullet a few months ago.

Comparing the Boxwood and the Capital is a little like comparing a mass produced aspiring salesman's BMW 3 series to a hand built Bentley. Both are entirely adequate for the job in their own way, but the Capital is on an entirely different level.

Cheers, Howard

[dipardoo]

well i love the capital too but that doesn't stop me being partial to a bit of boxwood. i went some time last grouse season and was v impressed. love the room, love the service, thought it was ace. i went late at night, mind - i really can't imagine the room working quite so well at lunch but look forward to hearing the verdict.

[nikkib]

i think the room is lovely at lunch, the lighting is really good - somehow you don't notice that you are in a near windowless basement. Really buzzy atmosphere with a good mix of suits and knightsbrige ladies who lunch.

[Gary Marshall]

Comparing the Boxwood and the Capital is a little like comparing a mass produced aspiring salesman's BMW 3 series to a hand built Bentley. Both are entirely adequate for the job in their own way, but the Capital is on an entirely different level.

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Not been to the capital but i can see where you're coming from, capital is 2* isn't it?

I always thought the boxwood was ramsay's take on the ivy more brasserie menu than his usual output, it may well have evolved in the 5 years have passed since my visit!

[Jon Tseng]

Not been to the capital but i can see where you're coming from, capital is 2* isn't it?

I always thought the boxwood was ramsay's take on the ivy more brasserie menu than his usual output, it may well have evolved in the 5 years have passed since my visit!

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I think it started off as his version of the grammercy tavern, but after a year or so time out started sticking it into the hotels and haute cuisine section, which felt about right.

[CalumC]

Well it was great to put it short, certainly not the best meal ever, but impressive cooking and good flavours. We didnt have the set lunch, on the day it didnt look anywhere near as nice as the sample off the website. I had the foie gras parfait (my first proper venture into foie) and then the Neck and saddle of lamb with girolle and bean cassoulet, miss CalumC had the risotto of italian summer squash and courgette flowers. Ill do a properish writeup in the new few days with photos, moving up to uni in the next week so its getting busy.

Cheers all

[CalumC]

Well I took my time. I cant remember a great deal now, but ill do my best.

My starter was this Foie Gras Parfait with Tea jelly and smoked duck, which was a small dice amongst the jelly. The parfait had a great texture and rich flavour, with the jelly gave a little interest.

To be honest, the duck was a bit lost, it may have just been a smoky flavour in the background. Brioche was lovely and buttery, complimented the parfait perfectly.

As i said, miss CC didnt have a starter, not a big eater, but her main was the italian risotto of summer squash and courgette flowers. This was a great risotto, incredibly rich and with a nice layer of cheese, couldn't work out what kind, but certainly not parmesan, and looked as if it had been grilled for a moment to melt it. She said the flavour bursted in the mouth which was probably a combination of good seasoning and a good stock. The flowers were however pretty useless, limp and tasteless. They weren't even that attractice, the risotto has the unfortunate appearance of vomit. But oh well.

I considered the foie burger as suggested, but had already picked the parfait, and 2 foie dishes would have made me look like more of a round lump than otherwise. I had the Neck and saddle of lamb with girolle and bean cassoulet, and it was pretty awesome. The saddle was a little below medium rare as you can see in the picture (this is how i was told it would come, and sounded best to me). Fortunately i like my meat quite rare so i wasnt too bothered. The lamb was very tender and juicy, which was nice against the braised neck, 4-5 hours the waiter told me. This fell apart as you would expect, and had the deep meaty flavour that braising/stewing brings.

The accompanying cassoulet (of sorts) was also very nice, if a little cheesy, but the soft beans and shrooms were very nice. In hindsight, i should have gotten the vegetables, it needed something a bit more watery to clean my mouth now and then but nevermind, i would have struggled even more than i did if i had got them.

We opted not to go for dessert, nothing exactly jumped out, and we'd just been to Lartisan Du Chocolat so we were already sorted really.

Superb chocolates as usual, ive had the salted caramels before now, but i think i preferred the artisan range. Particularly the mint, absolutely gorgeous.

A few closing thoughts. We felt it was fairly reasonably priced for a london restaurant, but were pushed towards the a la carte as the lunch menu didnt really sound great. I intend to revisit to do the a la carte justice from start to finish, probably with the parents (thought already planning trips to Anthonys now that im in leeds, and hopefully purnells at some point. I imagine we will return in another season, i think i prefer restaurants in winter/spring, personal thing for those seasons i guess.

Went to the twombly exhibition on the same day at the Tate, excellent stuff, I recommend seeing his other works if you can.

[adey73]

Calum shouldn't you be subsisting on Findus pancakes and last nights kebabs that you slept on?!

Although the chocs at Du Chocolat are very quality and those liquid salt caramels are brilliant, I found the staff in the shop pointless, when I went a couple of times a few years ago, they couldn't answer any of my questions about the product. Has it improved?

[CalumC]

Calum shouldn't you be subsisting on Findus pancakes and last nights kebabs that you slept on?!

Although the chocs at Du Chocolat are very quality and those liquid salt caramels are brilliant, I found the staff in the shop pointless, when I went a couple of times a few years ago, they couldn't answer any of my questions about the product. Has it improved?

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Haha, who said I wasn't. Just had a rather satisfying cooked breakfast. Kebabs have been involved along the way. I'm trying to cook decent stuff as much as i can, but its only freshers week, so im a bit tired and resorted to noodles and beans & sausages. I've not met anyone so far with a great deal of interest in food but nevermind.

The woman who served us was fairly competent, she knew which chocolates were what, some of them weren't labelled, so if that was down to her then i suppose that might be deemed a bit silly, but as she knew what it was I wasnt too bothered. I cant say I would be too bothered after eating the chocolates, they were great.