New Petrus

[LizzyWizzy]

Evening all,

Visited the new petrus last week, what a beautiful restaurant,

Well worth a visit, very nice reading menu, a great deal at £55 , no supplements for now, lunch is £25, there not turning tables at the moment

Canapes, Polenta chips with tomato sauce, nice enough, lacking seasoning

Bread was a little poor, a couple of bought in sour doughs, a little dry, brown was better than the white

Amuse, roast onion lyonnaise veloute, very tasty, very Gordon 2001, served in a beautiful little dish with a removable lid, I would not want to be reponsible for putting them on in a busy kitchen

Starters all simple, very crispy sweetbreads, cooked really well, langoustines with water cress veloute, to much soup which over powered the small langoustine

Pigeon with sweetcorn exceptional,

Main courses, Pork and black pudding the highlight, simply served with creamed cabbage, Best end of lamb, shoulder and carrot, nice enough, puree could have been better, Beef nicely cooked served with braised shin, nice sides of boulangere and carrots cooked in lots of butter

Desserts, Chocolate sphere with warm chocolate sauce poured over the top to melt, highlight was roasted fennel brulee, again all very simply presented

St Simeone cheese in great condition, oat cakes poor, beetroot under seasoned

Chocolate almonds and 72% chocolate to finish, again served in a nice vehical

Overall, very enjoyable evening, service was fantastic made to feel really comfortable in the restaurant, efficient, professional but not stuffy, food was good, sure it will improve with time and confidence, I think we were told 14 chefs in the kitchen, not quite sure what they were all doing!

[Toufas]

that was for lunch?

also, how it compares with the old petrus (in other words, do we go there or we go at marcus' place?)

[LizzyWizzy]

Sorry that was for dinner

Went to the old Petrus about 2 and a bit years ago, whole experience if i had to go again next week i would probably go new petrus, food is a bit more simple than Marcus, obviously very Gordon, in fact you could spot it a mile off,would like to go back to Marcus to see how his food has evolved since he has been on his own, in fact i will soon

[david goodfellow]

I'm quite surprised that this thread is so quiet.

Has anybody else been recently?

[david goodfellow]

Well, I have been meaning to try this out since it opened but getting a table at a time that suited has been a problem. This is not entirely due to us not living in London and our not so frequent visits, more to the online booking system of Gordon Ramsay restaurants.

Let me explain.

A few months ago I tried to book a table, on a weekend, at Murano, online, but the computer kept saying NO. Repeatedly I tried different dates (even during weekdays) then eventually well and truly peed off I phoned them direct and guess what? Yes indeed, success.

Here we go again, tried online, same old rubbish, phoned them.

"Hi, there, any chance of a cancellation for this Saturday for lunch, two people"

"Cancellation?"

"Yes, your online reservations will not accept a booking, so I assume your fully booked"

"What time would you like to dine"

"One thirty would be great"

"No problem at all sir, can I take the name please".

And guess what? the place was half empty, (or half full depending on your outlook). Little wonder the business is losing money.

I like this area very much, not far from the hustle and bustle of the main drag with Harrods, Harvey Nicks et al, but a million miles away in terms of ambiance. It is also very convenient to park, especially after one thirty on a Saturday, and it is free. We bagged a space right outside the restaurant, whoopee.

We like the room very much, simply because everything revolves around the central climate controlled wine cellar. It looks like there are no bad tables.

Mr Ramsay is annoyed with Google maps as when you pump "Petrus" in the search, it comes back with The Berkeley as its main location when clearly it no longer exists at that location.

We were eager to try the lunch menu at the bargain price of £25 assuming that the three courses would be laden with extra freebie bits and bobs, we were not disappointed in that direction.

The amuse was the same (I think) velute that Lizzy Wizzy had, a creamy roasted onion offering, which on reflection was ok-ish.

Bread was again "ok-ish"

First of the starters was PRESSED RABBIT and FOIE GRAS mosaic with CARROT chutney and HAZELNUT salad. This was not my choice and I can not remember trying it, but no complains from across the table so it must have been "very nice"

My starter was, ROAST CURRIED POLLOCK fillet, with braised LENTILS, and CAULIFLOWER soup. This dish appealled to me as I enjoy lightly curried ingredients and have a soft spot for cauliflower, however it would not set the world on fire, but it was tasty none the less.

We took an extra main dish in the form of a fish course which was, PAN FRIED SEA TROUT with SWEETCORN, wild MUSHROOMS, and SORREL sauce, (£15). Again this was simple and pretty straight forward cooking, letting the ingredients speak for themselves.

Next up was, BOILED BEEF CHEEK with root VEGETABLES and CARDAMON consomme. Good piece of tasty beef in a tasty broth, however it was ever so simple and lacked any whoomph. Perhaps as it was a hot day the dish was conceived to be on the lighter side.

Pre dessert were some dinky little ice cream cones

A very refreshing MARINATED PINEAPPLE with COCONUT pannacotta, LIME and CHILLI syrup was my dessert choice, and very nice indeed it was too, just the right balance, it slipped down a treat.

Next dessert was again the same as Lizzy Wizzy had, CHOCOLATE SPHERE with MILK ICE CREAM and HONEYCOMB. From memory the hot choclate sauce was poured over the sphere quite theatrically, and MRS G wolfed it down without offering me a taste, so I pressumed that she enjoyed it immensely.

On reflection I regret not trying Lizzy,s recommend of ROASTED FENNEL CREME BRULEE, with ALPHONSO MANGO.

Still, perhaps next time.

Thinking back I could swear that all the desserts from a choice of six were from the carte, which is a big thumbs up to put it onto the super value lunch option.

Next up, and a bit of a surprise

Finally we were presented with the 72% chocolates the very same ones that Lizzy had on her A La Carte meal

This lunch turned out to be a bit of a marathon, and quite an enjoyable one. The ladies in front of us and the table for six (or was it eight) to our (my) left were very happy bunnies and so they should be, as value for money this lunch has to occupy the top spot currently in London if not in the whole of the UK.

We were offered a view of the kitchen, no special treatment here, as others followed us dowm to the basement where we chatted to a very unassuming and genuinely nice Mark Askew (Executive chef).

Head chef Sean Burbridge explained to me the pricing policy of the chefs table which has a splendid view of the kitchen and I,m sure it was mentioned you eat till you are sated which would suit a glutton like moi.

Service as you may expect was very good and not as stuffy as could be expected at this level.

Food was actually quite simple, perhaps too simple for some tastes, but for us this has to be our very best way to spend a Saturday afternoon, simple or not.

Our bill with an entry level bottle of red, tap water and an extra main and service charge came to a touch over £100.

Money well spent for the location and what was a very (if not excellent) value for money meal.

[Harters]

Dunno if their online system has changed but I had problems a year or so back, trying to get book at the Devonshire (now closed, I think). Then you would make your request and there was a promise that you'd get a confirmation back from a "real person". In theory. Nowt happened - so I sent them an email basically saying "If you don't want my money, then fuck you". Apologetic phone call ensued.

[Man]

We had a late lunch here in late December. The only bad things I can find to say about this place concern (1) the truly appalling coffee and (2) live ironing performed during service...If you don't believe it, and I myself find it hard to believe it...

When we found only one table left at 2.30 on the booking system we knowingly smiled thinking, on the basis of the comments above, that we could easily find a better time on the phone. But no, the room was full to bursting point, and we just squeezed in for that last table. They were under severe pressure; they brought a wrong order but they remedied with generosity.

Foodwise, we found the the dishes here sometimes complex, but always clean and coolly logical, flavours orderly working as a team and not against each other. (looking at the comments by David above: with a set lunch I guess it is unavoidable, for cost reasons, to have simpler dishes).

Everything was good at more or less the same level. This loin of Highland venison with braised shin, carrot purée and juniper sauce is representative of the style:

I can see that that some people can find the style here a bit 'clinical'. For us, they were just 'clean', and we were blown away by the harmony of it all. If you look for challenge stay away, but if you are content with pleasure and fine execution, you should be fine! Three courses a la carte (in fact of course quite a bit more), using top class produce, at £65 seemed a fair price for what we had, including ironing art.

[Man]

PS: I guess everybody here knows that Mark Askew is no longer at Petrus, but just in case anybody was as tardy as me...