The Crescent

[Scottf]

The Crescent is the restaurtant attached to The Montcalm Hotel at Marble Arch.  I arrived early with my wife so we decided to have a pre dinner drink in the lounge which was extremely comfortable.

The a la carte menu is fixed at £25 for 3 courses (£20 for 2), which includes 1/2 bottle wine per person.  We had the Chardonnay which was fine.

There is a good choice on the menu (9 starters, 10 mains and 8 desserts) and we chose Lobster bisque with lobster ravioli and Scallop and lobster in a chinese style sauce consisting a chinese ginger, spring onion and soy.  My wife loved her bisque and the ravioli was generous, filled with lobster and lobster mousse as well as 3 lobster tails around the bowl.  My starter was smaller than I expected but very tasty all the same.  I do enjoy chinese flavours with seafood.

If my memory serves me correctly other starters included foie gras terrine with broad bean and asparagus salad, game consumme with dumplings, mille feuille of crab and tomato with herbs and olive oil and a tuna and sweetcorn fishcake with a tomato salsa.

For mains I went for pot roasted Bresse pigeon with foie gras and truffle ravioli and fondant potato.  The pigeon was cooked beautifully tender, though I'd forgotten how fiddly it can be and I remembered why I swore not to order pigeon again the last time I ordered it!  

It was sat on spinach, with an intense port, stock and juices gravy/reduction.  There was also little cannon shaped carrots, courgettes and parsnips around the plate.

My wife had Scottish fillet of beef which was at least 10oz of tender meat cooked very rare, but unfortunatley she had exactly the same accompaniements as me though her gravy had a tomato essence to it.  That was a little disappointing, though I did enjoy finishing her steak!

Other mains included whole dover sole, fillet of sea bass with a sesame prawn crust, egg noodles and chinese veg stir fry, roast grouse, poached halibut with buttered lettuce and a braised lamb shank done Moroccan style I think.

Desserts were good.  I had chocolate souffle with white chocolate ice cream, my wife assiette of chocolate.  I think we counted 9 different chocolate concoctions!

Service was pleasant through out, though there wasn't much of a gap between starter and main, only around 5 mins, but that could be attributed to the fact the dining room wasn't particularly full at the time.  

We didn't sample coffee (£2.50 with petit fours) and the total bill came to £59.40 not including service, £50 for food and wine , £3 for half a lager and £6.40 for a vodka and tonic - £5.25 a shot of vodka!  I'm not tight by any means but isn't this a bit much or am I just out of touch with hotel bar prices?

Overall though an extremely worthwhile experience and excellent value for money.  We shall definitely return.    

[Andy Lynes]

I think I could forgive the price charged for spirit given the incrcedibly low cost of the food. If the food is good, that must be one of the best bargins in London. The food sounds ambitious, what would you compare it to, is it michelin 1 star standard do you think?

[Scottf]

Purely for food I'd say better than some one stars I've eaten at and a #### of a lot cheaper!  As I didn't sample the wine list I can't comment on that but I'd put it in the one star bracket.  

[Andy Lynes]

Sounds like you really have found the most reasonable "posh" restaurant in London. That's another one to add to the list then.

[Scottf]

Andy

I noticed on the Aquavit thread in NY, that you've a weak bladder and it reminded me that there's the sound of running water at The Crescent!  Thought I'd let you know.

[Andy Lynes]

Oh dear! I don't want people to run away with the idea this is a major problem for me, but I might have to think again about the Cresent.

The downstairs restaurant at Harvey Nichols "The Foundation" had a waterfall effect behind the bar. Not only was the sound disconcerting, the design was very reminisant of a stainless steel urinal. I only ever visited that bar once, I wonder why.

[SamanthaF]

Andy,

I'm interested to know - have you tried the Crescent yet.

Scott and I have picked it as our 'night out' between Xmas and New Year, when I'm back from the US for a whopping 8 days!

[Andy Lynes]

I'm afraid not. Between work committments and already scheduled visits to places like The Square and St John, I have yet to make it to The Crescent. Maybe early next year.

[Tony Finch]

Dined here with 3 others last night.The deal is still the same,ie. £25 for 3 courses or £20 for 2 inc. half a bottle of wine pp.

This is a really noble attempt at serving 'haut cuisine',Michelin style food at bargain prices and as such one is loth to knock it.However,in all honesty it must be said that the food just missed too many of the right notes.A baked(single) scallop and (tiny piece of) lobster starter had a separate thin sauce poured over it by the waiter and the advertised galangal was impossible to detect.Sweet and sour squid was heavy on the sweet and virtually absent with the sour.

An ambitious main of braised,smoked pig's trotter advertised foie gras in the stuffing and truffle in the jus.You'd had to have been Sherlock Holmes to detect either.Fillet steak came up medium when requested medium rare.Lamb shank,Morrocan style had clearly used pre ground packaged spices.A dessert of "hot" pear souffle was decidedly tepid,and I struggled to find the cinnamon in the ice cream.

Everything was pleasant enough but maybe this restaurant should either cut out using very expensive ingredients altogether and take a more 'rustic ' approach to its cuisine,or (forgive me for saying so)it should raise its prices and  produce a higher standard.

For decent food at a reasonable price its a good place to go but don't expect too many culinary 'wow' factors.

[Scottf]

Tony

We went back over Christmas and I must admit the food wasn't as impressive the 2nd time.  I think it may be struggling a little to fill the dining room and that is having a knock on effect on the quality of ingredient.  A pity as the idea is a good one but your suggestions make sense.

[magnolia]

Thank you for this recommendation!

I have had a silly prejudice against hotel dining rooms for awhile but the meal I had last night goes a long way toward convincing me otherwise. Scottf and Tony - I hope your recent experiences were an aberration (or else the chef is reading our posts!) - the dining room definitely wasn't full, which is worrying for a Friday night, but they didn't skimp on our meals - at least I don't think they did! I am a healthy eater and I thought my portion of pig's trotter was very generous.

I skipped the starter based on your disapointments...and also because I didn't think I'd make it to pudding, always my preferred option :-)

The menu may have changed slightly since the previous posts - I don't think there are as many choices as Scott & Samantha had in December (?) - but still enough choice, about one of each item - beef, lamb, rabbit I think, probably a duck or other fowl...a couple of fish including a scallop and herb risotto, a vegetarian samosa (which my friend had), the pig's trotter stuffed with foie gras...and the aforementioned half-bottle of house red (Merlot) or white (Fr. Chard) . Once I got stuck in, I forgot to notice the preparations of the other dishes, sorry!

The main menu doesn’t list the puddings so I took a chance that I'd find something I like – and was very happy I saved my appetite.

The pig’s trotter stuffed with foie gras was very large, juicy and thick - almost caramelised, served with spinach and red cabbage and it was divine. It was the first time I’ve ever had pig’s trotter.

Pudding choices: a plate of cheese; white peach poached in champagne, strawberry Sabayon - yum...my friend had this; a chocolate tart with orange salad; pear souffle; and the one I chose - apple and Calvados frozen souffle, with 'nougatine ice cream' served in a frozen semi-scooped out apple. I'm glad I had this since I won't be having this at La Trouvaille! It was very refreshing after the pig trotter, with the lovely warm jolt of Calvados.  

They have a small, un-outrageously priced wine list, with nothing heart-stopping - mostly 94’s, 97’s, 98’s, 99’s…about 10 bottles each of sparkling, red & white…and a few dessert wines, with three-four options by glass per category. I asked the waiter to recommend a wine to go with it, and he pointed to a claret, Ch. Cantenac St Emilion – which was on the menu as a bottle - I said ‘but I only want a glass’ and he said ‘no problem.’  

Re: the décor – very comfortable, unintimidating – tables are well-spaced, and several have their own little ‘nook’ which is really nice, as you cannot easily see or hear the neighbours, good for privacy and conversation.

Beautiful but simple flower arrangements on each table and on the low walls that break up the room. . There was a pianist but he/she was in an adjacent room so the music is more in the background, between the restaurant and the large, hotel lobby which I thought was a really nice touch. The nook we occupied had a plaque on the wall that says “Frederick Forsyth often entertains spies and assassins at this table” – not sure which I would be considered, probably a spy…

Re: the crowd, not much of one…on a Friday night. Several hotel guests, Japanese businessmen (the hotel is a Nikko), a few couples.

The whole meal – two courses, bottle of water, a glass each of wine from the menu (in addition to the complimentary wine, of which we didn’t really take much advantage, about a glass and a half each) and a generous tip – the menu states “we don’t include tip because we feel it should be a reward for good service” – came to £30 apiece. I expect my standard, samey Chinese meal tonight will cost nearly that.

 

Go back - or go for the first time - before the chef moves on!