Restaurant Tom Aikens

[Duncan]

I think Judy volunteered me to write up our visit to Tom Aikens, so here goes. To keep life simple for myself, I'm going to rely heavily on quoting. For wine we had a bottle of Chablis which lasted us until the cheese course after which we relied on the wine waiter to supply us with appropriate glasses.

The champagne trolley is a great idea (great for the restaurant too, I'm sure it does their profit margins no harm). From a selection of three we chose the pink champagne so had the fun of watching the wine waiter open the bottle and pour a small sample glass. He also had an impressive technique pouring the glasses sufficiently slowly that he could do each glass in a single pour without the bubbles going over the top.

Starter was a small cup of potato froth/foam with cubes of potato at the bottom with the slither of crisped potato protruding from the foam.  An instant wow – such simplicity and clarify of tastes and with a very very long finish.  I could easily have had a pint of the stuff.

We had the same amuse, described as a potato soup, but actually some sort of foam, and topped with truffle. Excellent.

First course – thinly sliced scallops cooked by marinated sitting on top of tomato slices and deeply intensified tomato salsa.  On top was a jelly of basil & tomato – when tasted there was a quick explosion of basil flavours with subsided to leave an intense tomato flavour  - quite wonderful.  We couldn’t taste the scallops – overpowered by the marinated – but it didn’t matter really as the rest of the dish was so good.

Yes, my notes say I'm not convinced that the scallop contributes much, but taken as a tomato dish it was very nice.

Second was foie gras and carrot salad.  I’m sure it had a better name but I don’t recall.  First impressions was that this was the most stunning plate of food I’ve had in a very long while.  A symphony of orange and green and yellow.  The carrots were supplied in a variety of ways – foam, ribbon sliced, boiled (but in an interesting way), jelly and a few more – the green was hibiscus-like leaves dotted around the plate simply but beautifully arranged. Then there will things like intensely flavours prunes to give the dish balance.  And lots and lot of different t white & yellow sauces which had been painted onto the plate – one was mango purée with ginger; another vanilla (I think) mayonnaise.  Here and there were dash of aged balsamic.  In the middle, slightly, hidden, was a small piece of foie gras – ballotineed and covered with crumbs (bread or ginger cake – not sure).  The FG really wasn’t needed – but it was pretty good.  Over all – bloody amazing – this I could have eaten & eaten.

The foie gras may not have been essential in this riot of colour, but it wasn't superfluous the way that the scallop was. We both thought it was a very nice way to present it, with the breadcrumbs providing a nice contrast on the texture, and the balance of sweet and acidic flavours from the rest of the dish went well with the foie gras.

Third was carpaccio of sea bass with fennel shavings (cooked & raw) with slight pernod sauce – very refreshing.  Again, didn’t want this dish to end.

I thought my sea bass was too salty, but only if I picked some out to eat on its own. The combination with the fennel in assorted forms worked well.

Fourth – boudain of chicken with seriously good cream stock with lots of peas and broad beans.  Fab.

Cheese course – we were asked what kind we liked & they chose a selection of some pretty good cheeses to match our taste.  Usually not my favourite course – but this was pretty good.

Cheese can often be difficult. If the cheese board is sufficiently complex (and this one was) it can be hard to know how to choose, so I think encouraging you to specify in general terms what you like is a good thing. On the wine waiter's suggestion we left the choice of wine to him, so he had a look at our cheeses and returned with a mystery bottle of something sweet and red which he eventually revealed to be Pineau des Charentes made from Cabernet Sauvignon.

The two desserts were less interesting and formulaic in that they are based on the chocolate cylinders filled with foam.  The first was a series of coffee and caramel flavours – the second was lemon 7 different ways.  I’m sure these must have taken ages to perfect but they left me quite cold and unengaged.  The lemon one, in particular, was just too strong at times.

The post meal goodies have been very well described elsewhere on this thread.

Wines: whites by the glass for first 2 courses then a red Michel Gros for the rest – very good but I don’t recall specifics.  Muscat dessert wine was also good but couldn’t hold its own against the lemon

I thought the desserts were very good, although the chocolate cylinders are a bit peculiar. We let the wine waiter have free reign again. He gave us half glasses of Banyuls for the hazlenut and coffee cake, and Muscat de St. Jean de Minervois for the lemon dessert. I don't know if this was the same Muscat, but I thought it held up well. Perhaps the lemon balance has been adjusted.

I feel that the nibbles supplied with the coffee are just a little bit over the top, just when you think you are into the home straight they bring along those madeleines...

Service was good throughout, I'm sure they know the procedure for the tasting menu off by heart, but at times they seemed to be communicating telepathically. The only bit that seemed to throw one of them slightly was at then end when a waiter first took a bill to the table next to ours where the man declined it saying 'its my birthday', and then came to our table where I had pleasure in saying 'mine too'. I think he may have felt ganged up on.

[Gavin Convery]

Ok, I am off to TA in a couple of weeks after a lot of false starts trying to get in there.

Thought I 'd have a quick look at the wine list on their website for a bit of advance browsing.

Bloody Hell, it's expensive!!! Looks like about 4 or if you're lucky 3 times the cost in the offy.

Anyone else felt it's a bit overpriced?

[Scott]

Ok, I am off to TA in a couple of weeks after a lot of false starts trying to get in there.

Thought I 'd have a quick look at the wine list on their website for a bit of advance browsing.

Bloody Hell, it's expensive!!! Looks like about 4 or if you're lucky 3 times the cost in the offy.

Anyone else felt it's a bit overpriced?

utterly diabolical.

worst of all, I don't think it's that well chosen.

they have a 1990 courcel Pommard 'Les Rugiens' for £175.

not only is this very expensive, but I have a case in my cellar, and it's not very good.

Camuzet 01 bourgogne rouge for £40 *shakes finger* naughty.

anything of lower value only comes from SW france.

I think they could try harder.

though they are not as bad as nahm, who should hide their face in shame - 1990 Mosswood cabernet £465. I bought some in australia recently (where theirs came from no doubt) for £30.

[Gavin Convery]

Scott, got any recommendations from what they do have??

[Scott]

Scott, got any recommendations from what they do have??

sure,

what sort of thing/style do you normally like?

[Scott]

Gav,

just had another look, and it's enough to make strike it off my list. If I can't find something I want to drink, at a price I'd be prepared to pay, then they've not tried very hard.

For this reason I'd make a couple of recommendations at the lower end of the spectrum, because I see no value in 'upsizing' as it were.

whites:

2001 Gruner Veltliner Hardegg £32

spicy, full wine, with some sweetness and an earthy edge that matches truffle very well. not miles dissimilar to a fatter spicier riesling. good acidity.

2002 Mt Horrocks Watervale Riesling £32

full aromatic new world style, cleansing acidity, underneath pungent lime flavours. If you like oz riesling, this has weight, and is still finely balanced.

Red:

2001 Perregrine Central Otago Pinot Noir £39

a nice mid weight kiwi pinot. strawberry & cherry scented perfume, not an overly complex style, but it has some roundness in the mid palate, with further black cherry and cinnamon.

2000

St Nicholas de Bourgueil fondis £28

not familiar with producer, but style should suit. Mid weight cabernet franc wine, usually a little leathery, meaty, chewy style. can expect good bright acidity, and enough flavour to complement meat & cheese courses.

don't know if that helps, but if it does - great.

[Gavin Convery]

Scott,

Thanks for that - I was actually looking at the austrian and german wines as perhaps a source for value. Only problem is that I think that Gruner Veltliner can be bought at Noel Young for about £6.99, so yet again a horrendous markup. On the other hand the Rielsing Smaragd Achleiten Prager is about £25 marked up to £70. Then again the Kalkofen Deidesheim Riesling Spatelese Basserman-Jordan is about £21 in the shops for the 2001, so allowing for 2000 being not such a good year that seems relative value.

But don't you find it ridiculous that there is such inconsistency in their markups and that you have to spend so much effort trying to get some value out of their list?

Gav.

[Matthew Grant]

We finally visited Tom Aikens on Saturday night, I wanted to love it but we both came away very disappointed. It's no exaggeration to say that each dish was so complicated that I can't accurately remember what we ate but I'll give it my best shot.

We started with "Truffle" and "Langoustine". The Truffle dish had a buttery potato that overtook the dish completely, I think the dish also contained a ravioli of chicken wings with truffle and in a separate dish truffle with a chickens egg. The "Langoustine" really was a single roast langoustine an contained (amongst other things) confit tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, basil mousse, Sauternes jelly, chervil jelly I think) covering a Ravioli containing Langoustine meat amongst something else.

"Suckling Pig" was a miniature pork cutlet which could have been cooked slightly less, a Lasagne of pork belly, a breaded skewer of Squid stuffed with pork and chicken Mousse which was under seasoned and left the Squid too tough. There was also slices of trotter stuffed with apple.

"Monkfish" was, now where do I start. 3 or 4 pieces of Monkfish, dusted in something which had made the outside of the monkfish very dry although the meat in the middle was perfectly cooked. There was a smear of pepper sauce, there was a pepper crisp, tomatoes, Aubergine (cleverly baked, split down the middle and repositioned to look like a pear) there was a horrible buttery sauce in the middle of the plate, several macaroni covered in cheese and a whole host of other ingredients strewn around the rest of the plate. Rachel said she felt silly eating it "It looks like I'm a little child who's been playing with my food!" It really was looking like a road accident and there were a ridiculous amount of components to the dish. The buttery sauce in the middle was overpowering in the extreme. I tasted as much of the dish as I could but everything that had been in contact with the yellowy sauce was completely overpowered by it.

Dessert of "Lemon" was a rice pudding which I found a little heavy, Lemon flavoured meringue straws, a lemon froth surrounding a lemon sorbet and I'm sure there was some more lemon in there somewhere. Overall not a bad dish but by this time I was tired of eating and if it hadn't been a set price I wouldn't have ordered a dessert. Rachel's final dish has completely slipped my mind but looked a like a Martian landscape and was largely unappreciated.

It should be mentioned at this stage that neither of us had completely finished any of our dishes (Rachel's main went virtually untouched), at no point during our meal were we asked if everything was OK and no comment was passed on the dishes that were left. Overall a massive disappointment. The style of cooking meant that everything was exceptionally busy and balance was not achieved, in fact the dishes had so many components that I Imagine that a balance would be impossible to achieve. It seems like Tom Aikens has a massive food arsenal to use, only trouble is he's tried to put it all on one plate.

Edited August 16, 2004 by Matthew Grant (log)

[Marlyn4k]

Very well said Matthew, I found the Tom Aikens experience very similar to yours, you put it more eloquently.

[tony h]

We finally visited Tom Aikens on Saturday night,

I didn't think he opened on Saturday's - deligheted to hear he does now

Sorry you didn't like the food - I was utterly stunned (except desserts - he's trying something & it isn't working)

[Matthew Grant]

Whoops! That was Friday night not Saturday!

[Gavin Convery]

Have to agree with Matthew...there were some stunningly plated courses, but the innovation on the presentation didn't translate to the taste experience which was confused and dominated by sweet flavours in a lot of the dishes. Funnily enough though, I quite liked the lemon dessert which became quite subtle as you tasted different variations on the lemon theme.

[robyn]

The style of cooking meant that everything was exceptionally busy and balance was not achieved, in fact the dishes had so many components that I  Imagine that a balance would be impossible to achieve. It seems like Tom Aikens has a massive food arsenal to use, only trouble is he's tried to put it all on one plate.

I've read many people (perhaps not you) proclaim the virtues of restaurants that serve 30 course meals. Meals where the chef is determined to show you just about everything that he knows how to cook in a single meal. No one seems to dump on restaurants for serving these food marathons.

I wonder why Tom Aikens comes in for scorn when - instead of serving a 30 course meal - he serves a 4 course meal where each course consists of "riffs" on a basic theme. Isn't quite like jazz - because I'm sure there's little last minute improvisation involved. But it's reminiscent of it.

Or perhaps the people who don't like what Aikens is doing wouldn't care for the 30 course marathons either....

Just a "food for thought" observation. Robyn

P.S. I'm prejudiced - I happened to like my meal at Tom Aiken a lot.

[Matthew Grant]

Just because Jazz Musicians can make a noise for 4 minutes doesn't mean that it is good Jazz.

[balex]

I had a very expensive and extremely disappointing meal at Tom Aikens last night.

There were some things that were very nice --we had some delicious wine for example, and the service was excellent -- I didn't get frisked for spoons on the way out.

Part of my objection to the evening might have been a general disenchantment with elaborate haute cuisine, but a lot of it was that some of the culinary ideas were in my view massively misguided. The execution was generally excellent, and there was some impressive technique on display, as well as some really beautiful presentations.

I had the £70 tasting menu, which seemed good value since the carte was £60. I won't give a detailed blow by blow account, but some of the low points were:

Dish number 2: roasted scallops. A large scallop, beautfully cooked and cut in two. The scallop itself was great but it came on a plate with -- an orange foam, carrots, pickled chicory, an overpowering sweet sauce, a pickled raisin. Discordant, overwhelming, completely pointless garnishes that trashed the beautiful scallop.

Dish number 4 or 5: squid pork belly and fish. This was a dish with some fritters of brandade, squid with some pork belly. This sounded like a great take on a trad chinese dish. The fritters were really well done -- the best fried food I have had outside of a Japanese restaurant (or a Belgian chip shop), and had that lovely lacey tempura crispness. There was also a bit of deep fried salami? Why? The overall effect was just of noise; the delicate flavous of some of the ingredients were mugged by the harshness of the others.

The guy can clearly cook -- but he doesn't seem to know how to compose a dish.

The only really impressive part of the meal was the visual. There were some truly harmonious presentations -- he has a way of smearing purees or thick sauces on the plates that is like impasto on a painting; and the colours are beautiful.

£450 for two with a couple of glasses of champagne, a very nice bottle of burgundy, and a half bottle of Hungarian Tokay.

[endless autumn]

Dish number 4 or 5: squid pork belly and fish. This was a dish with some fritters of brandade, squid with some pork belly. This sounded like a great take on a trad chinese dish. The fritters were really well done -- the best fried food I have had outside of a Japanese restaurant (or a Belgian chip shop), and had that lovely lacey tempura crispness. There was also a bit of deep fried salami? Why? The overall effect was just of noise; the delicate flavous of some of the ingredients were mugged by the harshness of the others.

I agree entirely about this dish: too much going on by far.

When I had it, it was also poorly cooked: heavy lumpen batter, completely inappropriate for the titchy wee squid inside. And deep-fried, battered, thinly-sliced chorizo: who could have thought it a good idea? The fish was separated into flakes to ensure it was served tepid; everything was precisely spaced around the plate.

As for the dessert, there were two themes: jelly and ice cream; and two base flavours: vanilla and orange. These were then combined in every mathematically possible variation into an undulating chessboard of jelly/ice cream squares, about one foot square. It was tiring to eat, not just because of the size but because of the almost imperceptible differences between each combination.

I usually crave elaboration when I eat out as it is something I cannot achieve at home; Mr Aikens just left me slightly confused, though.

[Andy Lynes]

Discordant, overwhelming, completely pointless garnishes that trashed the beautiful scallop.

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Yes, but if you hire a big brigade and keep them in the kitchen for 10 or more hours a day, you've got to keep them busy doing something haven't you.

[DDarwood]

Discordant, overwhelming, completely pointless garnishes that trashed the beautiful scallop.

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Yes, but if you hire a big brigade and keep them in the kitchen for 10 or more hours a day, you've got to keep them busy doing something haven't you.

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What delights and amazes me about the Tom Aitken's dishes is how understated they are. Yes, they must be labour intensive, but I would suggest that each component contributes a significiant taste and/or texture which enhances the main ingredient. Consider for instance a set lunch starter - 25 October, 2004 - simply billed as "boudin of pheasant and lentils with truffle and Sauternes foam." This only begins to describe the finished product, which also included a madeira jelly topping the two rounds of boudin and foam, making them look look like giant toadstools. Around the plate were thin slices of smoked duck covering smearings of duck parfait, whilst the watercress and herb garnish added contrasting flavours and textures. The whole dish was visually stunning, brilliant in conception and, most importantly, delicious to eat, the essential earthiness of the boudin, fragance of the truffle and lightness of the foam being complemented by the other elements.

Haven't we forgotten the element of surprise when going out to eat?

Edited October 26, 2004 by DDarwood (log)

[Andy Lynes]

Haven't we forgotten the element of surprise when going out to eat?

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I'm not sure I see that there is any intrinsic value in suprise in this particular context. Its a diffrent matter of you are talking about the avant garde chefs, but Aikens is fundamentaly of the classical school. However, I'm all for brief menu descriptions that don't list every element of a dish and its always nice when your expectations exceeded.

[robyn]

Haven't we forgotten the element of surprise when going out to eat?

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I'm not sure I see that there is any intrinsic value in suprise in this particular context. Its a diffrent matter of you are talking about the avant garde chefs, but Aikens is fundamentaly of the classical school. However, I'm all for brief menu descriptions that don't list every element of a dish and its always nice when your expectations exceeded.

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I can't think of 2 people here who disagree more than you and me . But I'm curious - why do you define Aikens as being of the "classical school"? And what makes a chef avant garde? Why is it acceptable when the "avant garde" chefs do something - and not acceptable if Aikens does something? He's a young guy - too young to be pigeon-holed in my opinion (which you probably don't agree with ). Robyn

[Matthew Grant]

In my opinion the actual cooking seems to be following classical techniques, however this seems to be distorted by the inclusion of so many elements in each course and the presentation.

Like Andy I don't expect every detail to be listed in the menu but the overriding complaints on this board about this restaurant seem to be that dishes were "too busy". Reading the thread in its entirety again this is something that seems to have become more of a problem in the last few months. Do we think it is the summer menu that has changed things? Some of the winter dishes sound great and I'm slightly (only very slightly) tempted to return for lunch one day.

It is amazing how some restaurants divide opinion, this one manages to do so more than most

[tony h]

Matthew - ignore the ludites & lunkheads, it really is worth the trip. I lunched there last Friday and had a stellar meal (been too busy to write up). When the starters arrived we were left speechless. Me the duck and T the langoustines. Perfectly honed sense of colour and surface tension was clearly in evidence. The mains got a similar heart-miss-a-beat reaction - the foie gras lollipops that came with the partridge is worth the price of admission alone (FG wrapped in sheaths of potato whisps & deep fried). The sole came with an essay on the the uses of aubergine & kickass deep red wine sauce. Desserts still suck - but who cares about them.

Edited October 27, 2004 by blind lemon higgins (log)

[Andy Lynes]

Matthew - ignore the ludites & lunkheads

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Of course you meant to say "my fellow eGullet members who happen to disagree with my assessment of this particular restaurant but for whom I have the utmost respect."

What do you by mean by Aikens sense of "surface tension"? I'm not familiar with that term in a culinary context.

[Andy Lynes]

why do you define Aikens as being of the "classical school"?  And what makes a chef avant garde? 

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Aikens is of the classical school because, although his food is highly technical, its all based on established methods. The avant garde chefs are investigating and employing methods of preperation and presentation outside of the classical canon e.g. Ferran Adria, Grant Achatz and Heston Blumenthal.

[tony h]

Of course you meant to say "my fellow eGullet members who happen to disagree with my assessment of this particular restaurant but for whom I have the utmost respect." 

Oh no I didn't

What do you by mean by Aikens sense of "surface tension"? I'm not familiar with that term in a culinary context.

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surface tension - wanky art term relating to the (agreeable) arrangement/juxtaposition of paint/objects on a canvas/page etc. Some chef's are masters of simplicity - Aikens comes on like Pollock/Kandinsky/Matisse on speed