London fine dining

[circeplum]

oh yes, and second andy's rec for roka.

[brokentelephone]

thanks for all the suggestions.. shoudl keep me occupied for a while to come!

[rjs1]

There is only one person to answer this question......

.....circeplum

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maze - whatever you think about ramsay, atherton can really, really cook - definitely amongst the best in town. and the ramsay name draws the slebs.

also jun tanaka at pearl. seriously underrated and def high end. the bar does some first class cocktails and is rather severely beautiful.

otherwise there's the wallet-hammering blue bar/petrus or foliage/mandarin bar combos...

x

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Maze - great, great food, but surely the decor is about as uncool as it gets?

Pearl - the sommelier told me at the end of January that the ceiling had fallen in after Christmas and that it would take until March to repair it and re-open. Anyone know if it's trading again yet?

Foliage itself isn't at all wallet-hammering at lunchtime - in fact the lunch and matching wine deal is really rather good value. Don't know about the bar - too smoke-filled to linger.

[Jon Tseng]

Yes I hear Pearl's up and rolling again.

Now Pearl - lovely food to be sure but does a restaurant in a cavernous ***** hotel plunked right in the in the middle of Lawyerland really count as "trendy"????

J

[circeplum]

Yes I hear Pearl's up and rolling again.

Now Pearl - lovely food to be sure but does a restaurant in a cavernous ***** hotel plunked right in the in the middle of Lawyerland really count as "trendy"???? 

J

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well, last time i was there (couple of weeks ago) i ended up doing impromptu sort-of-karaoke with piano and bunch of terribly glamorous dutch types. sadly, they didn't know any country and western...

and if that's not 'trendy', i don't know what is

[Conor]

If you're in town at Roka, which i agree is always excellent, head on to Whitfield street and go to Crazy Bear. I haven't eaten but the bar is good with good cocktails and loads of champagne. I seem to remember Circeplum liking it and as she has proved on this post she is achingly cool.

Although last time i was there Crazy Bear did not have a piano or any Dutch people, but, hey, maybe they are trying to be different.

[Gareth]

otherwise there's the wallet-hammering blue bar/petrus or foliage/mandarin bar combos...

Anyone else got particular bar/restaurant combinations that are favourites ?

A personal couple are the:

Claridges/Maze "Bargain Combo"

or the staturday special:

Wife@John Lewis followed by Match (Margaret St) and quick cab to Locatelli "Happy Meal"

Gareth

[joesan]

Gareth - that's very funny. Made me laugh out loud.

[Helenandchips]

I went to Maze the other day expecting the moon on a stick. It was good - but not £450 for four people galactic. We had the 7-course taster menu and the 5-courser, both of which had moments of glory (the fois gras and quail, and beef cheek were, as Michael Winner would say, almost historic) but neither were consistently great. A beetroot course was particularly bland and the peanut butter and jam pud got the thumbs down from 3 of our table.

But my main problem with the place wasn't the food, but the joylessness of the joint. Perhaps it's the upmarket travellodge decor, but it all felt a little staid. Where was the fun? The passion? The theatre? And what on earth they think they're doing charging a tenner for cider and black is anyone's guess (it were reet nice though).

[joesan]

You ordered a Cider and Blackcurrant - in Maze! Now that's hip...

[Helenandchips]

I'm a classy bird

[Bapi]

You ordered a Cider and Blackcurrant - in Maze! Now that's hip...

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My type of gal. Nice one Helen.

[Tim Hayward]

otherwise there's the wallet-hammering blue bar/petrus or foliage/mandarin bar combos...

Anyone else got particular bar/restaurant combinations that are favourites ?

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St John's -> Vic's Bar -> Oblivion

On one night after this particular combination I (apparently) fell asleep in the doorway of the St John's Ambulance HQ and, on being woken, had to be physically dissuaded from banging on the door demanding aspirin

[Suzi Edwards]

And what on earth they think they're doing charging a tenner for cider and black is anyone's guess (it were reet nice though).

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I feel the need to misquote Dr Johnson. It may be expensive but you are suprised to find it done at all...

[Scott]

I went to Maze the other day expecting the moon on a stick. It was good - but not £450 for four people galactic. We had the 7-course taster menu and the 5-courser, both of which had moments of glory (the fois gras and quail, and beef cheek were, as Michael Winner would say, almost historic) but neither were consistently great. A beetroot course was particularly bland and the peanut butter and jam pud got the thumbs down from 3 of our table.

But my main problem with the place wasn't the food, but the joylessness of the joint. Perhaps it's the upmarket travellodge decor, but it all felt a little staid. Where was the fun? The passion? The theatre? And what on earth they think they're doing charging a tenner for cider and black is anyone's guess (it were reet nice though).

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4 of us ordered the menu, and lots of vino. regrettably our bill was considerably higher still, and we agreed very similarly with your impressions.

I didn't get it. Some of the dishes were great,some weren't. who cares.

what I couldn't work out, was where or what is the underlying construct behind the menu? It just struck me as small servings of normal haute dishes. what's the point of that?

Honey I shrunk the degustation menu!

I was hoping/expecting to see a better constructed, more thought out cuisine. it seemed a bit gimmicky, and a sideshow without a point. some of the dishes very good, clear flavoures and interesting and well balanced textures. but we left feeling there wasn't anything more to know.

[Scott]

And what on earth they think they're doing charging a tenner for cider and black is anyone's guess (it were reet nice though).

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I feel the need to misquote Dr Johnson. It may be expensive but you are suprised to find it done at all...

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you are of course right.

it's a surprise they'd do it. but why?

When did scene restaurants get such a hold on us, we expect to not get what we want?

[Pweaver1984]

Has Maze got a website? Was thinking of going early next month, does the menu change near enough daily?

[Punjuna]

My partner and I ate there last summer.

It started very well but fizzled out simply because you are basically constucting your own menu. Anybody can devise nice little portions, it is the way that the portions are brought together in harmony that matters. To make matters worse some of the options we chose on our "diy tasting menu were mediocre.

We left dubbing it the British Homestores of fine dining!

[Punjuna]

Sorry Maze that is! opps

[Jon Tseng]

Has Maze got a website? Was thinking of going early next month, does the menu change near enough daily?

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None yet but I hear all the Gordon Ramsay websites are due for a revamp sometime soon, so presumably Maze will get done then...

J

Edited March 15, 2006 by Jon Tseng (log)

[SBonner]

Helen and I enjoyed the hip Sketch last time we were in London.

Cheers,

Stephen

Vancouver

[olivier]

Hello,

I'm going to London at the end of June, and I plan on having one fine splurge dinner there.

From what I've gathered here and elsewhere, safe bets in that area seem to include restaurants like Ramsay at Hospital Road, Gavroche, Aikens, Hibiscus, The Square and maybe a few others.

However, it seems that there aren't as much reviews of UK restaurants as there are for NYC or Paris by example, so I'm not too sure about my choice yet.

And that's the purpose of my post: where do you think I should go?

I'm looking for a big splurge meal, with a "wow" factor (not necessarily because the food is innovative, I have no problem with eating outstanding ultra-classical cuisine), and possibly good wine pairings. Possibility to split dishes would be a plus (tasting menus are fine by me, but I like my free will).

Oh, and I don't really have a budget constraint.

Maybe I'm thinking too much, and any of the restaurants I've listed would fit the bill, you tell me!

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[danielcollins]

Hello Olivier,

Having eaten at none of the restaurants you listed I can't really comment, however I'll happily recommend a couple that you didn't mention!

My standard 'fine dining' (eurgh!) suggestion to people is Foliage, a restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental hotel. The food there is forward thinking but not at all outlandish (for that type of thing i would recommend Bacchus, though that's not a 'splurge' meal and possibly not what you're looking for) and I found the wines delicious, though I am by no means an authority! If you can get a table by the window overlooking Hyde Park (and the weather is kind to you!) then your 'wow factor' is more or less assured. Additionally, just over the road from there is another hotel, The Berkeley, home to Petrus (another restaurant you might want to look at, though again I have never had the pleasure) but most importantly also home to the Blue Bar, a really stunning place to drink really stunning cocktails, any meal in the area should definitely be followed by a trip there in my opinion.

Maze would be another one to take a look at, their tasting menu is just a long list of smallish plates that you pick and choose from, so ample opportunity to split some dishes, and more freedom than most tasting menus offer.

Best of luck, if I think of any other places I'll post again (hopefully with less brackets) and I'm sure plenty of my fellow Londoners will give you their thoughts. Be sure to let us all know how you get on!

Cheers,

Daniel

Edited May 29, 2008 by danielcollins (log)

[chefmatt]

sorry to sound like a bit of a sourpuss but i really don't think that there are any splurge or wow factor restaurants in london. I think the only restaurant in the country that offers this sort of service is The Fat Duck (but not one of my favourites). I just don't think we can do it like the French and americans, france you have Ducasse, Le Cinq, Ledoyen, Gagnaire etc, USA you have Thomas Keller, charlie trotter and daniel and in spain you have arzac, el bulli and others. i am not making any judgements about these restaurants other than they include long and interesting dining experiences, grand rooms and serious lets spend the whole evening here vibes.

i really think that london is about a different sort of eating, to appreciate it you need to spend a few nights at several restaurants, st john, river cafe, chez bruce, yuatcha, square, hibiscus, ramsay etc.

i have never eaten anywhere in britain that has delivered that mega blow out experience.

i suppose that your best bets are ramsay and fat duck but make sure you are not on a table turn.

matt

[Andy Lynes]

If you can get a table by the window overlooking Hyde Park (and the weather is kind to you!) then your 'wow factor' is more or less assured.

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The hotel are currently building an outdoor terrace restaurant so the view from Foliage is a bit industrial at the moment. Food is undeniably good however.

Had a really stunning meal at The Grill at the Dorchester recently, there's a chef who's at the top of his game. But that Scottish themed room - oh my God!

Tom Aikens is on top form at the moment - very classical stuff compared to his mental "30 things on a plate and strew micro greens every bloody where" phase. Really delicious food, strong, well balanced flavours, great presentation, excellent service and a nice buzz to the room. Also a must if you demand 15 substantial petit fours to finish your meal with.

I've heard an extremely positive report about Petrus from a chef who went recently - "three star food, best meal I've ever had".

Hibiscus is absolutely cracking and The Ledbury continues to get better and better. He does an excellent version the L'Aperge celeriac dish which is almost worth a visit by itself and the bacon brioche is simply the best bread in London full stop.

Edited May 30, 2008 by Andy Lynes (log)