Restaurant Tom Aikens

[Paul de Gruchy]

Robyn,

Yes - I live outside the UK but when I go to London I eat here. The food is always interesting and intelligent and frequently utterly memorable. It is never misconceived or perfunctory. The room is a lovely space and I have never had problems with the service. I've only been to Gordon Ramsay's RHR operation once and felt that TA was a better experience, though others will disagree. I recommended this restaurant to my inlaws and they too love it. Go without hesitation.

[MobyP]

Tom Aikens has been running a series in the Sunday Telegraph but I haven't been able to find a link - does anyone know where I should look?

[Jonathan Day]

I ask in all seriousness - is this a place worth dining at?

I don't think this question can ever be answered in the abstract: it depends entirely on what you like.

Aikens and Ramsay both care a lot about finding good ingredients and cooking them well. But Aikens's food has a wildness complexity that Ramsay's doesn't. The dishes at Gordon Ramsay have a simplicity and purity about them that is very appealling. Those at Aikens have a wild complexity (think of a style a bit baroque, a bit Dr Seuss) -- this-and-that-and-the-other-thing, all together -- that is also appealling, because in general his combinations work. But it is very different, and if your palate is tuned to the simple and classical you could experience something of a grinding of mental gears when you sit down at Tom Aikens's place.

Personally, I would go to both. But as I said above, it depends entirely on what you like.

[robyn]

I ask in all seriousness - is this a place worth dining at?

I don't think this question can ever be answered in the abstract: it depends entirely on what you like.

Actually - I like lots of different things. And I don't get to London that often. So - when I get there - I really like to do - and perhaps overdo - things . When you only get to London once every 5-10 years - frequently this year's best restaurants aren't there next time around. So you have to enjoy them while they exist. I already have a reservation at Gordon Ramsay - and I think the one month window for the dates I would like at Tom Aikens will open tomorrow or Tuesday - have to check my calendar.

Anyway - I was just concerned about having an unpleasant experience (perhaps some messages here have overemphasized how the Mrs. behaved on an occasion or two). Perhaps my concerns were unjustified. I hope it isn't the proverbial "impossible dinner reservation". Robyn

[circeplum]

So - I ask in all seriousness - is this a place worth dining at?

yes.

x

[Andy Lynes]

Tom Aikens is worth dining at if you are interested in the London restaurant scene per se and want to know what all the fuss is about. There is a lot of technical ability in the kitchen and that is made apparent on the plate, sometimes to the detriment of the main ingredients. Service, whilst mostly efficient, is not at the level of most other establishments with similarly ambitious cooking in London and lacks warmth and personality.

[Scott]

I like the part where NO ONE ever complains, I think that's because Mrs Aikens bought her hearing aid from Brilliant Industries...

In my short experience, she is certainly not the sort of person you'd want to pick a fight with.

As an example, during the meal last Monday, I had to take a short call from the better half who I'd taken into hospital that morning for an op under general anaesthetic (hence why I was unusually had an opportunity for lunch). My phone was on vibrate, and when it rang I immediately walked outside as I usually do to take the call rather than subject the other diners to my phone call.

Missus Aikens was not overly amused and was rather blunt about telling me that my sea bass was ready and what should they do with it. I don't know what the fuss was about - it was a cold course anyway. I hate to say it but I ended up finding myself apologising to her.

I don't think she knows how to deal with things tactfully. Not the sort of lady I'd contemplate messing with at all.

Cheers, Howard

Howard,

given the wine you ordered, and their likely profit from that, she should have been holding the phone for you!!

[MobyP]

I have never had anything less than superb service at Aikens. Some of the plates appeal to me more than others, but I thought the full on dinner experience with amuse etc was really exceptional. I wouldn't hesitate to recomend.

[Andy Lynes]

Moby, glad you've only experienced great service. Here's one example of why I was not 100% thrilled with it:

Me to the sommelier: "I'd like some help with choosing some wine"

Sommelier: "I do not understand"

Me: "Um, I'd like some assistance with the wines?"

Sommelier looks helplessly at collegue across the room.

Me to another member of staff: "We don't know what wine to have with our meal"

Member of staff: "So your having the foir gras, the bass, the langoustine and the veal. Maybe you would like wines by the glass?"

Me:"Yes, that sounds like a good idea"

Member of staff disappears. No futher consultation is offered on style, grape varieties or, most importantly, price. Very nice wines are enjoyed by me and my companion and are explained as they are brought to the table. Cue bill much larger than we expected. Not the sort of experience I expect from a one star with ambitions to be a three star.

[robyn]

Moby, glad you've only experienced great service. Here's one example of why I was not 100% thrilled with it:

Me to the sommelier: "I'd like some help with choosing some wine"

Sommelier: "I do not understand"

Me: "Um, I'd like some assistance with the wines?"

Sommelier looks helplessly at collegue across the room.

Me to another member of staff: "We don't know what wine to have with our meal"

Member of staff: "So your having the foir gras, the bass, the langoustine and the veal. Maybe you would like wines by the glass?"

Me:"Yes, that sounds like a good idea"

Member of staff disappears. No futher consultation is offered on style, grape varieties or, most importantly, price. Very nice wines are enjoyed by me and my companion and are explained as they are brought to the table. Cue bill much larger than we expected.  Not the sort of experience I expect from a one star with ambitions to be a three star.

If you don't mind my asking - what did you pay for the wine pairings? There are more and more restaurants here in the US doing wine pairings. And at all except perhaps a handful of the highest end restaurants in the entire country - you wouldn't normally expect to pay more than about $50-65 per person. The biggest bargain we had lately was a 3 glass wine pairing of nice (not extraordinary) wines at a seafood chain restaurant (Legal Seafoods - it is a *very* good higher end chain) for $12 per person. It's hard to beat that . Robyn

[Scott]

Moby, glad you've only experienced great service. Here's one example of why I was not 100% thrilled with it:

Me to the sommelier: "I'd like some help with choosing some wine"

Sommelier: "I do not understand"

Me: "Um, I'd like some assistance with the wines?"

Sommelier looks helplessly at collegue across the room.

Me to another member of staff: "We don't know what wine to have with our meal"

Member of staff: "So your having the foir gras, the bass, the langoustine and the veal. Maybe you would like wines by the glass?"

Me:"Yes, that sounds like a good idea"

Member of staff disappears. No futher consultation is offered on style, grape varieties or, most importantly, price. Very nice wines are enjoyed by me and my companion and are explained as they are brought to the table. Cue bill much larger than we expected. Not the sort of experience I expect from a one star with ambitions to be a three star.

Andy,

did they at least explain what it was, and why it goes with the dish when they presented each glass?

[howardlong]

Moby, glad you've only experienced great service. Here's one example of why I was not 100% thrilled with it:

Me to the sommelier: "I'd like some help with choosing some wine"

Sommelier: "I do not understand"

Me: "Um, I'd like some assistance with the wines?"

Sommelier looks helplessly at collegue across the room.

Me to another member of staff: "We don't know what wine to have with our meal"

Member of staff: "So your having the foir gras, the bass, the langoustine and the veal. Maybe you would like wines by the glass?"

Me:"Yes, that sounds like a good idea"

Member of staff disappears. No futher consultation is offered on style, grape varieties or, most importantly, price. Very nice wines are enjoyed by me and my companion and are explained as they are brought to the table. Cue bill much larger than we expected. Not the sort of experience I expect from a one star with ambitions to be a three star.

This is interesting. On my visit, the guy who turned up with the Champagne trolley was not good. Not knowing their normal Champagne selections, I asked if they had a blanc de blancs by the glass and it went over his head. They had Billecart NV and Bolly 96 from memory, but he spoke extremely rapidly and his pronounciation was awful, so I misunderstood what he had said, and he knew it. Rather than repeating more slowly what he'd said he lost his patience with me. Perhaps a trait he'd picked up from Mrs A!

Luckily I didn't have to deal with this chap again. The sommeilier I dealt with for the rest of the meal was helpful, although I kept with my own selection. He was pretty chatty too which I like when I dine on my own.

After having all the courses of the tasting menu, it was going to be extremely difficult to select much at all that was going to work well with all the courses. As it turned out I didn't make a bad selection after all. The alternative was to try a couple of halves, but then your selection is of course far more limited.

A shame you were dealt with in the way you were, although sadly I'm not surprised. Perhap Mrs A should open a school of Patience, Diplomacy and Tact as she seems to be rubbing off quite well on her people.

Cheers, Howard

[Andy Lynes]

...but he spoke extremely rapidly and his pronounciation was awful, so I misunderstood what he had said

I had exactly the same problem with the man with the cheese cart. He had a very pronounced French accent and spoke extremely quickly, I couldn't understand a word he said and so I selected the cheeses that I recognised by sight.

[robyn]

...but he spoke extremely rapidly and his pronounciation was awful, so I misunderstood what he had said

I had exactly the same problem with the man with the cheese cart. He had a very pronounced French accent and spoke extremely quickly, I couldn't understand a word he said and so I selected the cheeses that I recognised by sight.

Was the native language of all the servers French - or did some speak other language(s) (I will have my husband - "Mr. Language" - brush up on his French this month)? No need for us to brush up on our Spanish.

By the way - I made my dinner reservation today. I am looking forward to a wonderful meal. Robyn

[Paul de Gruchy]

I was surprised when watching the Aikens TV documentary that the wine waiter was Irish (as were most of the staff). Clearly it was the trying to disguise an irish accent by faking a French one that confused everyone. I've never had problems with the service but for some reason i always have to beg for the wine list, which always baffles me.

[Andy Lynes]

One sommelier and Aiken's head chef are Irish I believe. The majority of the front of house staff are Frenchmen some of whom don't even look old enough to be leagally able to serve alcohol.

[Gary Marshall]

if the irish sommelier you mentioned is gearoid devanny he worked in paris (whilst tom had his sabbattical) at pierre gagnaire, maybe he's just picked up the accent a bit?

a friend of mine even recalls the now legendary annie schwab putting on a faux french accent in their early days, unfortunately his wife knew her from her school days and rumbled it straight away

gary

[robyn]

One sommelier and Aiken's head chef are Irish I believe. The majority of the front of house staff are Frenchmen some of whom don't even look old enough to be leagally able to serve alcohol.

I'm not sure I can handle Irish English with a French accent. Irish English is hard enough for a yank (although the worst - at least for me - is Scottish English - I've traveled in Scotland and sometimes I could swear it's not the same language) .

On the other hand - I can handle young Frenchmen who don't look old enough to serve alcohol legally . Robyn

[MobyP]

The Irish sommelier (I've never met the other one) is apparently very well thought of, and I wouldn't be concerned.

[howardlong]

I was surprised when watching the Aikens TV documentary that the wine waiter was Irish (as were most of the staff). Clearly it was the trying to disguise an irish accent by faking a French one that confused everyone.

Now that figures. I was trying to place his accent. I thought he new his onions though.

Cheers, Howard

[JudyB]

A word of warning for anyone wanting to make a reservation at Tom Aikens - do NOT use the phone number from the website's info page.

I had printed off the "Info" page as it included both phone number and opening times, but when I rang the number it was for a private house.

I went to BT's online directory enquiries for the right number and found later that the main page of the website has the correct number.

I decided not to complicate things by trying to explain this when I made my reservation, so I had intended to send them an email about it. Unfortunately the website does not have an address for a webmaster and my guess of "webmaster" bounced. So if anyone does know of a suitable email address to tell them about it perhaps you could send me a PM.

Happily I have managed to make a reservation for Duncan's birthday, so we're looking forward to our visit in June.

Edited May 6, 2004 by JudyB (log)

[MobyP]

Judy,

either info@tomaikens.co.uk

or laura@tomaikens.co.uk

should get through. Let us know how the meal goes.

[clb]

Dinner last night at Tom Aikens was, overall, pretty disappointing though with at least one stunningly good dish.

The room is smart but cold, an impression mitigated by the warmth of the staff (no sign of the fearsome Mrs A.). A glass of Billecart Salmon Rose NV with some pretty good amuses: first two spoons and a shotglass (beetroot/brandade; excellent pigeon/fig; and unimpressive salmon/avocado). Then an excellent cup of frothy horseradish and celeriac soup with melting foie gras in the bottom. I really enjoyed this.

Menus: we chose from the carte, at £55, rather than the £70 degustation, largely because the main on the carte was chicken and one of the puddings was coffee and walnut cake. Neither excited me much.

So – to start, foie gras for H and lobster salad, at a £10 supplement, for me.

The foie gras dish was really first class and the hit of the evening. Three slices sandwiched between ultra-thin, ultra-crisp pain d’epices, with a layer of, I think, fig jam on top of the foie. Just delicious. The huge plate had plenty of other excellent things to go with the main event: lightly pickled onions, interesting little salad leaves, violet petals, apple jelly, apple froth, tiny mushrooms. Beautifully presented.

The lobster, though, was not so hot. Four pieces of “grilled native lobster”, one of which was goodish, one of which was spongy and fibrous. Two “beignets” – in fact, lobster pieces deep-fried and put on a cocktail stick. The copious amounts of peas, pea shoots and pea and mint mousse were lovely and made me think that I might have been better off with the Chelsea lady option of the spring vegetable salad.

Main courses of wild sea trout for H and pig’s head for me. The sea trout was so disappointing. Palest of colours and of flavours. None of the rich pink colour and succulent texture we’re used to from Scotland. Pleasant but ultra-buttery sauce flavoured with dill and crab from the lettuce raviolo filled with crab and ginger which accompanied the trout. The pig’s head was OK: I liked the fibrous pig’s cheek and the deep-fried snippets of pig’s ear but – and I know I should have expected this – it was just overall far too rich and far too one-dimensional in taste, if not texture. Masses of peas again, which was a bit too much of a good thing.

I drank an enjoyable glass of Domaine de l’Hortus Pic St Loup with the pig’s head, as recommended by the charming and informative sommelier. I just glanced at the wine list, since I knew I couldn’t drink much, but it seemed extremely expensive.

Pre-dessert of a glass of lime foam, mousse and jelly (very good) was followed by the caramel plate for H and the lemon plate for me. The caramel was initially wonderful – it came in masses of different forms: tubes filled with mousse, dollops of jelly etc. – but rapidly became too much. An absolutely enormous and extraordinarily rich plate. My lemon plate was a bit more restrained but only one element (the sharp and wonderful lemon foam) really shone. The cold slice of lemon rice pudding was just too solid and the fairly good lemon mousse was spoiled, for me, by the white chocolate tube in which it was encased.

OK coffee with petits fours – fairly good chocolates, made in house; tuile sheets (sesame, pistachio, chocolate, passion fruit and a couple more); warm madeleines which we were far too full to eat (much appreciated by the children for breakfast this morning, though).

Overall cost £170. I don’t think we’ll be back, despite the foie gras and the excellent service.

clb

[Andy Lynes]

clb - I'm interested that you found the foie gras to be the highlight of your meal. I found it very disappointing when I had it at lunch recently. The dish I had was exactly as you describe, but with just two slices of foie gras. I thought the foie was overwhelmed by the plethora of other ingredients on the plate, especially the brittle sandwich of pain d'epice and the acidic apple mousse and jelly. Between them, the foie never stood a chance.

This seems to continue the trend of divergent expereinces/perceptions of this restaurant. A friend of mine, whom I was sure would dislike the food and the overall experience, found it to be "outstanding" with "faultless service". He is an exceptionally difficult man to please. Go, and in no small way, figure.

[howardlong]

clb - I'm interested that you found the foie gras to be the highlight of your meal. I found it very disappointing when I had it at lunch recently. The dish I had was exactly as you describe, but with just two slices of foie gras. I thought the foie was overwhelmed by the plethora of other ingredients on the plate, especially the brittle sandwich of pain d'epice and the acidic apple mousse and jelly. Between them, the foie never stood a chance.

I couldn't have put it better myself. Now if he'd gone to the effort of doing a caramelised, pan fried foie gras rather than the terrine I might have a different attitude.

Cheers, Howard