Foliage

[ithinknot]

Talking of Foliage. When we went there last we ordered a bottle of  the Cuilleron 1998 Condrieu. What can I say?

I looked away for a moment and the waiter removed my glass which contained the last few mls that I had been savouring.

The maitre d overheard me jokingly complaining to my companions that this had happened and seamlessly brought us another bottle!! What a result!!

[Andy Lynes]

I am serioulsy thinking about going to Foliage for my birthday lunch, which is not until January, but I like to plan these things in advance. I got a menu faxed over which sounds terrific, and everyone I have talked to said that they really enjoyed themselves.

Is it as good as The Square for instance, or are there other places you would go back to over and above Foliage. I'm a bit worried about the room , as it looks a little corridor like in the upper level. I would be disappointed not to get a window table on the lower level, and I guess these are sort after.

(Edited by Andy Lynes at 12:02 pm on Nov. 14, 2001)

[ithinknot]

I think that Foliage would be an excellent choice for your birthday lunch especially if you are thinking of a party of 4 or 6.

It's a serious restuarant. Very serious in terms of its food, but the atmosphere is on the friendly and informal side of formal and therefore ideal for a birthday meal.

I would not feel comfortable in taking say a group of 6 or 8 (which is the maximum) to GR for a birthday, which might get a bit noisy.

The other thing I like is the comfort factor. The tables for four are large, but not too large, the chairs and banquettes very, very comfortable. So you can just relax and get into the meal with out any feeling of being cramped. I value that very highly.

Book well ahead and ask for a table in the lower room, confirm that you have that table a day or so in advance or by fax.

If you are into wine, then you'll know that Foliage has one of the finest lists in the UK. Try the Condrieu,  a half bottle is £38 and you will be tasting a little bit of heaven.

I love Foliage. I recently recommended it to some extremely discriminating Parisian friends and they loved it too.

I preferred to The Square.

[Simon Majumdar]

I can second the recommendation of Foiliage.

I have been there twice and on each time the food has been revelatory.

The wine list is exquisite ( they gave me the great discovery of the year - a Qupe Syrah from Santa Barbara - a truly astonishingly good wine ) and the service is exemplary.

If they have anything on the menu containing sweetbreads, I urge you to try it as they have a deft touch.

I would rate it above The Square.

S

[Andy Lynes]

I think that just about seals it then. Unless Charlie Trotter miraculously opens before the end of January, Foliage it shall be.  

I'll e mail Trotter's restaurant to see if they have any news. And whatever happened to Pierre Gagnaire's London venture? It's all gone quiet over there.

[Scottf]

Andy

I know I've mentioned this before but I'd certainly consider The Capital before Foliage.  Don't get me wrong I enjoyed my lunch at Foliage but I think The Capital definitely has the edge.

Firstly you get more choice.  5 per course at The Capital as opposed to 3 at Foliage (unless this has changed since my visit approx. 6 months ago).

Portions are healthier which may just be a greed thing but if I really enjoy something I want lots of it.  I like to walk out of a 3 course lunch full.  I have at The Capital now 3 times I didn't at Foliage.

I find the staff at The Capital more professional but also more approachable.

Added extras.  Pre starter at The Capital.  Coffee and petit fours are included in price.

Definitely consider it!

[Andy Lynes]

I really liked Chavot's food when I had it at Interlude, and have heard very good things about the Capital. The only thing that worries me is eating in a half full room. I have heard that he is having trouboe attracting the punters.

The sample menu I got from Foliage had about 5 choices per course for lunch, with a couple of £5 supplements fopr shellfish and sea bass.

[Scottf]

Glad to hear Foliage is offering more choice for lunch.  May go back myself if that's the case.

Twice I've been to The Capital on Saturday lunchtime and the dining room has been full.  The Monday I think I wrote about before only had 1 other table.  Does mean you get extremely well looked after though and the waiting staff are happy to share a conversation.

[macrosan]

This is where I finished, on  eGullet advice, for my 'special' business lunch. Did it come up to scratch ? Were you guys right ? See next week's exciting....

Nahhh, let's get it over with. It was spot on :)

Finding the restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel is confusing, and the room is tucked away unprepossessingly in a corner of the building through a somewhat off-putting bar. I had a drink in the bar while waiting for my guest, and he joined me for a drink when he arrived. The service in the bar was poor, and I was fearing the worst for the restaurant :(

When we walked through to the restaurant, we were warmly greeted by the maitre d', a very French young man, very pleasant. We had a good table on the upper level, with a view of Hyde Park, not at all cramped.

The service, provided by the maitre d' and a young waiter and waitress was impeccable throughout our stay. They left us alone when we were in conversation, poured wine and water at exactly the right moments, checked that all was well at the right moments, and were unobtrusive throughout.

We started with a freebie of smoked salmon and mushroom canapes. They were pleasant, but I have never been able to get excited about either the concept or execution of amuses bouches ... ah well.

My starter was a trio of foie gras - one fine glazed puree, one coarse blob (can't think of a better word :) ) and one fried, with a small pyramid of twisted leeks. I was amused when the waiter suggested the sequence in which I should eat the four items :) but I dutifully followed his instructions and was delighted with the dish. My guest had a lobster ravioli which he found exceptional.

Main was roast pheasant (in place of the menu'd Bresse pigeon) with mashed potato and a vol au vent of (I think) spinach, and cabbage with bacon pieces. This last item annoyed me, as it wasn't described on the menu and I don't eat bacon. OK, I just left it, but that was the one jarring note throughout the meal. The rest of the dish was superb. The pheasant was not overcooked, succulent and tender, well flavoured. The vol au vent was specially good. My guest had roast lamb (I didn't notice the trimmings) and I didn't need to ask how he enjoyed it --- I've NEVER seen a plate cleared so completely, it hardly needed washing afterwards :)

Puds were a blackcurrant sorbet with a mousse and choclate pieces for me and a fruit parfait for my guest. Fine, but unexceptional.

The wine was a St Julien Chateau Gloria 1985, selected after the longest discussion I've ever had with a sommelier :) (in this case the maitre d'). I asked for his advice, and he was so insistent on getting it right that he couldn't make up his mind, and kept asking us further questions. Finally he recommended this one, and it was superb at £81.

We finished with two different ports (again recommended by the maitre d'). Mine was very good, but maybe a little on the sweet side for my taste.

The total bill for 2 including service was £181. My guest pronounced it a memorable occasion, and I enjoyed every minute. We were last out of the place at 4.15 pm and I think they would have left us alone there for the night :)

Really excellent choice. I give Foliage an 8.3 out of 10, and I have to admit I rate Petrus fractionally ahead at 8.5. My highest score ever is 9 which was awarded to Babbo in NYC last year.

[stephen wall]

Has anyone tried John Burton Race lately?

[ithinknot]

macrosan

Sounds like you had a fab time. Now I want to go back and do it all again!

(Edited by ithinknot at 7:57 am on Jan. 25, 2002)

[Scottf]

Lunched at Foliage on Friday. Arrived bang on time for 1.30. The dining room was only 2/3rds full, and once I'd seen the menu I was amazed it wasn't chocker. The full evening set menu (8 choices per course) for 19.50 for 3 courses, or 25.50 incl. 2 glasses of wine.

I'll get my moan out of the way first. These prices don't include service or VAT, and if it says so on the menu, the print must be bloody small. It's the first time I've ever encountered a menu exclusive of VAT, so of course when I got the bill I challenged the price. Once explained fine, but why not price the menu with VAT included? I don't think they need to portray the menu so cheaply because even including VAT it's a bargain. It soured the end of our meal which was ridiculous as the food was first class.

Canapes arrived soon after being seated that interrupted our menu choosing and consisted of a tomato risotto beignet with mozzarella and pesto, a shot glass of pumpkin soup with a dash of pumpkin oil and a smoked salmon and cream cheese gateaux.

Sam started with the Foie Gras 3 ways. A terrine, a piece pan fried and one marinated in port. All were very tasty and extremely rich. The cylinder of leeks were slightly stringy though.

I had Mosaic of Wild Salmon, Red Mullet and Foie Gras. The richness of the foie worked exceptionally well with the freshness of the raw fish. A lovely potato, tomato, asparagus and bacon salad accompanied this.

My main was sensational. Assiette of Middlewhite pork. A loin (cooked med rare), a trotter stuffed with sweetbread and foie, a cabbage leaf stuffed with shredded belly and black pudding and some deep fried chitterling. Spinach, pomme puree, roasted apple and an apple and mustard chutney completed this feast. The stuffed cabbage was one of the most flavoursome things I've eaten all year.

Sam had Roast duckling breast, a type of confit leg - though I think it was salt roasted rather than confit in the traditional manner, puy lentils, crushed new potatoes and a foie gras pastry (can't remember the offical name )

This had a raspberry sauce which was presented with a waiter placing 3 raspberries across the bottom of Sam's plate and then pouring the sauce atop. All a bit of a palaver really, and it took too long to do as Sam's dinner was pretty cold by the time she finished.

The breast was pink and tender and though the leg was chewy it was extremely tasty. Sam didn't much like the lentils as whatever they'd been dressed in had a slight kick, but overall a well executed dish.

I'd noted a Pistachio souffle on the dessert menu previously so I didn't really need a second look, and Sam had Chocolate Fondant with Cherry icecream and some other chocolaty things. The Fondant was first class as you'd expect and the icecream was like velvet - beautiful. The souffle was good, (though not as flavoursome as one I had at Petrus once upon a time and which remains my dessert benchmark), and the accompanying chocolate and pistachio icecreams were also superb.

We finished with a pot of mint tea (£7 ), which we thought was included in the set menu price (again very unclear on the menu), and some gorgeous looking petit fours that I'll confess to not being able to eat. We asked for them to be boxed but were instead brought a box of chocolates from some gaff in Sloane Sq.

The wine by the glass option gives 3 choices for reds and whites and we had a Chilean Viognier and an Australian Shiraz. Total bill incl. service and VAT was £75.29 which is still tremendous value (though not as good as the £57 I thought I was getting out with ).

My fav restaurant in London at the moment is The Capital, and I'm reluctant to say lunch at Foliage was better, but there's really nothing in it and it's a great option to eat this class of food at such a price point.

[macrosan]

Nice write-up, Scott

When I had lunch at Foliage some months ago, they weren't doing the prix fixe menu, and the multiple foie gras dish had four foies That's what happens when you're paying though the nose It amised me that the waiter told us in which sequence I should eat the foies for best effect ... and he was right

My understanding is that it's a legal requirement that restaurants display their prices including VAT. Anyone know if that's true ? You're right to be annoyed about that issue.

Sounds as though Foliage is still worth a trip, so all I need to do now is to find a client to take there. Indeed, it would be nice just to find a client

[Simon Majumdar]

Indeed, it would be nice just to find a client 

I think at your age, you just have to assume that the life of a gigolo is just not for you Mac' babes.

Scott - nice review. I would be interested to see how the foie "three ways" differs from that at Lola's where HJ who was chef there now cooks. I remember it being sublime at foiliage. when I had it at Lola's last week it was bland and ordinary

S

[Miss J]

Scott - my attention has been caught by the pumpkin oil you mentioned being part of your amuse. Was that actually pumpkin-flavoured oil, or was it pumpkin seed oil?

[Scottf]

Sam started tucking into the pan fried piece as soon as her plate hit the table. Then the waiter advised her to eat them in a certain order

You need to be faster than that when Sam's got Foie on her plate

As for the issue of VAT, we discussed it yesterday and came to the same conclusion.

VAT aside, everything on the menu tempted me, and I'm definitely going back. Another good point is it's open for lunch both weekend days too.

[Scottf]

Scott - my attention has been caught by the pumpkin oil you mentioned being part of your amuse. Was that actually pumpkin-flavoured oil, or was it pumpkin seed oil?

No idea I'm afraid, though I'd guess at Pumpkin flavoured.

[macrosan]

I think at your age, you just have to assume that the life of a gigolo is just not for you Mac' babes.

That is unkind, unfair, ageist, probably racist, certainly istist, and completely unacceptable on this site. Please keep your unwelcome opinions to yourself, Mr Majumdar, and let me know whether or not this means you're cancelling our commission arrangement.

[Miss J]

Pumpkin seed oil is really thick, toasty-flavoured, and kind of a greenish colour. It would look nice against an orange soup. Pumpkin-flavoured oil I've never run into, so I'm curious.

[Simon Majumdar]

I think at your age, you just have to assume that the life of a gigolo is just not for you Mac' babes.

That is unkind, unfair, ageist, probably racist, certainly istist, and completely unacceptable on this site. Please keep your unwelcome opinions to yourself, Mr Majumdar, and let me know whether or not this means you're cancelling our commission arrangement.

Well I will certainly miss the £1.75 I have made from your activities with the Denturfix crowd in the last two years, but if you feel so strongly that you have to hand in your arab strap.......

[Paul Bell]

Lunch at Foliage on Saturday was excellent, we can echo all the good things Scott and Sam had to say about it. Although quiet at the beginning the restaurant was full by about 1.30 which is not that common in London on a saturday and interesting in that Foliage never used to open for lunch at weekends. The price still does not include VAT although it does clearly state this on the menu.

The amuse was parfait of foie gras and chicken livers, smoked salmon millefeuile and lettuce soup (didn't realise you could get such depth of flavour from a lettuce).

starters we had warm poached lobster with crab fondue and tomato and white onion tarte tatin with warm goats cheese. The lobster was very enjoyable very light (i.e. small) but vibrant and fresh tasting, the tarte tatin was fantastic a very dense dish, the unctuous tarte tartine contrasting with the rich fresh goats cheese.

main course we both had the monkfish with parma ham and red wine risotto. The monkfish was perfectly cooked very enjoyable, the stand out part of this dish was the risotto, really deeply flavoured and served in a cylinder made out of leeks, clever and very good.

desserts were raspberry ice cream with gratined Lemon(?) chiboust and grilled oranges (quite light very good) and a combination of citrus things tart, sorbet etc which was also very good.

Overall this was excellent and we would also put it on a similar level to The Capital, the cooking seems to be lighter than that at the Capital with more clarity, a fresher taste if that is possible.

The quality of the cooking has not dropped since the change of chef and interstingly several of the items on the menu are the same. This suggests to me that the executive chef David Nicholls exerts quite a lot of control over the kitchen and possibly explains why Hywel Jones left.

Paul

[Simon Majumdar]

Nice posts Paul

The lettuce is much underrated. I had a superb dish on my last visit to paris where they had taken a simple dish of petit pois and bacon and folded in finely sliced lettuce. The sap ( ? ) from the lettuce added an extraordinary velvety texture to the dish.

I would imagine that in the soup, with a good stock as base, this would make a similar impact

S

[Scottf]

I had a superb dish on my last visit to paris where they had taken a simple dish of petit pois and bacon and folded in finely sliced lettuce.  The sap ( ? ) from the lettuce added an extraordinary velvety texture to the dish.

You're joking right?!

[Simon Majumdar]

Not at all

Why would you think that was a joke?

S

[AdamLawrence]

Not at all

Why would you think that was a joke?

Well, I dunno about Scott, but the thought that you had a dish you thought 'superb' in Paris - given your view of the place - amused me, too.

Adam