MJU

[origamicrane]

I'm surprised no ones actually written up this restaurant??

(sorry if the photos are a little soft

had the wrong ISO/aperture settings on my camera last night. doh! )

Context:

My 29th birthday dinner. Yeah next year is the big 3-0

Sigh!! Can’t claim to be no spring chicken no more.

This is my forth visit to mju and the second time I have had the tasting menu.

The weather was grey, dark and rainy and I had a crap day at work and I wasn't feeling 100% as I'm currently ill.

All my previous visits to mju have been positive and I am looking forward to this meal.

Restaurant:

Mju

Millennium Hotel

17 Sloane Street

SW1X 9NU

Tel: 020 7201 6330

The Blurb on the website:

The food at Mju is arguably one of London’s best-kept secrets and,

When expertly matched by Mju’s executive chef Tom Thomsen and sommelier Stuart Hudson to wines

from one of South Africa’s most dynamic wineries, it produced a meal ‘made in heaven.’

Throughout July the six-course menu will be available at dinner,

Priced at £71 per person (or £46 without wine).

Closest tube:

Knightsbridge - Piccadilly Line

Date & Time:

27/07/05 @ 8pm

Cast:

A trio of Orientals representing China, Singapore and Thailand.

Decor:

The decor at Mju is nothing to shout about. Its a nice spacious hotel dining room with a high and large glass ceiling.

One of the things I like about this place is that the tables are quite spread out,

you can have a private conversation at normal volume without it being eavedropped by neighbouring tables.

It also has a small chilled out bar area.

Menu:

GRAHAM BECK DÉGUSTATION MENU

Rock oysters,

with tobiko & rice vinegar

Graham Beck, Blanc de Blanc, 1999 (£4 supplement)

Duo of scallops,

sashimi of scallop with wasabi ice cream

seared scallop with chorizo

Graham Beck, Viognier, 2004

Lobster linguini,

light aromatic oil, kunbo, garlic & laksa

Graham Beck, Old Road Pinotage, 2000

Raviolio

open raviolio of celeriac, free-range egg,

truffle & wild mushroom

Graham Beck, Chardonnay, 2003

Wagyu beef

seared & braised, horseradish, pepper oil, watercress

Graham Beck, The Ridge Syrah, 2001

Summer strawberries

coriander syrup, coconut sorbet & hibiscus

Graham Beck, Rhona Muscadel, 1999

We ordered:

My friends ordered the full menu with the wines.

I decided to skip the wines as I wasn't feeling too well.

Friend also ordered a cheese board.

Cauliflower foam and langoustine.

hmmm.... for me the jury is still out on foams. Although I can understand the use of them, I'm not sure I can really appreciate them.

From an aesthetic point of view they do look interesting and from a cooking point of view they allow a little bit of liquid to go a very long way.

But from a diners point of view, I always think foams are a bit of a con.

Thats just me, feel free to disagree.

But having said that, this was quite delicious, very deep and intense langoustine flavour.

Rock oysters, with tobiko & rice vinegar.

These were excellent oysters, very sweet, very fresh, did they sweeten the rice vinegar? probably.

They might have been a little small but heck, they tasted amazing.

Not sure the tobiko actually added anything apart from a very slight texture.

Duo of scallops,

The presentation is a bit wierd? but it did look interesting.

TOP

sashimi of scallop with wasabi ice cream.

paper thin slices of scallop sashimi topped with wasabi ice cream and nori.

This was damn good!! pretty sure they did something to the scallop as the outer edges tasted like they had been caramelized.

The wasabi ice cream was very subtle but the sweetness and creaminess of the ice cream really added to the scallops.

I wish there was more !!

BOTTOM

seared scallop with chorizo

a very dense and firm scallop with a crisp slice of chorizo.

The scallop and chorizo was good but this is where the chinese side of me starts to speak

the taste was approaching that of conpoy (dried scallops) and to me, thats not a good thing for a fresh scallop.

Don't get me wrong this dish wasn't overcooked, just not as juicy as i think it could have been.

I like a fresh scallop to taste like a fresh scallop, this tasted like they were trying too hard.

Lobster linguini,light aromatic oil, kunbo, garlic & laksa

lovely, very rich and strong flavoured pasta, juicy pieces of lobster.

This actually tasted like chinese lobster noodles with ginger and spring onions but this had a more aromatic flavour from the laksa.

I've always been a sucker for lobster and pasta.

Man i could have eaten a whole bowl of this!

(in fact i will this friday when i go for a lobster spaghetti at Mimmo D'ishcia)

I think next time i cook pasta i will try cooking it in a seafood stock.

The maitre'd made me smile when he introduced this dish, one of the ingredients in the dish is shiitake

and he said this in a perfect cantonese accent "dong gwou".

It's the little things you remember.

Raviolio

open raviolio of celeriac, free-range egg,truffle & wild mushroom

I recognise this dish I made something like this on the leith's cooking course last year, think we had ricotta in ours.

Basically it a raw egg yolk inside the ravioli. This is an amazingly tasty little dish, very light and clean flavour but very messy to eat with a knife and fork, the egg yolk bursts as soon as you cut into the pasta, would have been easier to eat with a spoon.

Wagyu beef

seared & braised, horseradish, pepper oil, watercres

not sure about the presentation of this one again.

Wagyu beef was yummy but actually like mine hurt, bleeding and wounded

quote-unquote touaregsand

Olive ice cream with mango and tarragon.

This was very interesting, it was actually the only new flavour in the entire meal. I would describe it as like a cold, very smooth tapanade with little bits of olive. Eaten with the mango and tarragon it tasted strangely oriental, the flavour reminded me of thai olive and basil fried rice

I wouldn't say it be something I would consciously order but in the flow of the meal made an interesting addition.

Summer strawberries

coriander syrup, coconut sorbet & hibiscus

nice and simple. extremely sweet strawberries.

a perfect end to a lovely meal.

Drinks:

2 bottles of voss mineral water

1 Mojito

1 Sakitini

1 G&T

1 glass of Graham Beck, The Ridge Syrah, 2001

1 expresso

2 Hine antique XO

&

2 cigars

Total Bill: £318 (S.C. included)

Service: Staff were very efficient and friendly.

We didn't feel rushed or anything but we felt that the courses came out a little bit too quickly

we would have liked to have a couple of minutes between courses to reflect and disgest.

Value/Quality/Quantity ratio:

Good.

At £100 per person can hardly call this a cheap meal but with the amount of food and drinks we had I would say the bill was quite reasonable.

The quality of the food was excellent and I don't think I could really pick out any faults in any of the dishes.

Although not sure about the presentation of the wagyu beef or the inverted martini glass scallop dish.

The quantity I think was spot on and we left feeling just full.

Complaints: none

Nit picks:

Friends said they weren't particularly impressed by the wine pairings

guess this is due to them being limited to Graham Beck wines.

Hopefully the two of them will add to this review later.

Conclusion:

A lovely meal, quality food, good service but strangely enough pretty forgettable.

The three of us came to the conclusion that although each dish was good the meal as a whole just didn't seem to be special.

The only really interesting flavour was the olive ice cream with mango and tarragon.

All the other dishes were good but just lacking a little "wow" factor but i guess I maybe asking for too much?

Overall I gave the food 8.5/10, friends gave it a 7.5/10 but that might have been to do with the wine parings.

Thanks to Tien and Vee for coming out for dinner.

Edited July 28, 2005 by origamicrane (log)

[Matthew Grant]

A lovely meal, quality food, good service but strangely enough pretty forgettable.

I'm sure I've reviewed the restaurant on here before but I can't find it. I can't remember much of what I ate but I do remember being reasonably impressed especially as it was a degustation that was 2 for around £50 and included a few luxury ingredients.

[origamicrane]

Yeah strange

evertime I come to mju I know i've left with a smile on my face

but I really can't remember many of the dishes I have eaten there.

The last time I had the tasting menu it was 8 courses and the only courses I can remember are the sushi course that was excellent and one course that was a prawn served on a teaspoon

[MobyP]

Wasn't this the place opened by the Aussie chap Tetsuya, but I heard he had sold his interest and moved on (or some variation).

Food looks good though.

[origamicrane]

Wasn't this the place opened by the Aussie chap Tetsuya, but I heard he had sold his interest and moved on (or some variation).

Food looks good though.

←

yeah he moved back to oz a long time ago.

[Morfudd]

ate there about a year ago, dont remember individual dishes,I'm afraid, but we had the degustation menu - it was simply superb and I also wonder why it isnt better known

[Jon Tseng]

Chris Behre

Lovely chap

Last seen running a joint in Santa Monica, I believe

ta

J

[adt]

I ate here a couple of months ago and was distinctly unimpressed, and I'm surprised to see such positive write-ups. I had some sort of 'summer tasting menu', and found it rather unadventurous (I like fusion influences in western cuisine, e.g. like Providores a lot, but would much rather have been at the capital than round the corner at mju, for similar money). the wagyu beef was serverd rare to the point of being excessively chewy, and really was uninsipring. The oysters, for which I paid a supplement, were fine but really nothing special, and remaining courses were not particularly interesting - the menu you describe sounds far better than what was on offer on my visit.

How did you think the cooking compared to other fusion-y places like Providores? (I realise the latter is less oriental in its bias, but the only distinctly oriental places I've tried, like E&O, have tended to be less ambitious).

[origamicrane]

I find most asian fusion places are quite conservative.

Like Asia De Cuba, for a lot of their dishes they just adds a few western garnishes to what is basically, a very good but very normal japanese dish.

Western bias fusion places are usually more ambitious but IMO they are far more hit and miss because of this.

But i know this is due to me judging their use of asian ingredients by traditonal asian cooking.

Haven't been to Providore yet, I've had mixed reviews.

so i will have to go and make up my own mind.

I see if i can get down there next week.

Pictures will follow

(and this time i have the right camera settings)

[adt]

I find most asian fusion places are quite conservative.

Like Asia De Cuba, for a lot of their dishes they just adds a few western garnishes to what is basically, a very good but very normal japanese dish.

Mmm. Haven't been - are they any good? I like the idea of a bit of judicious tampering with otherwise authentic eastern cuisine... if the result is interesting and successful, of course..

But i know this is due to me judging their use of asian ingredients by traditonal asian cooking.

Do you think there is sometimes an arbitrary/disrespectful plundering of eastern ingredients, which doesn't respect the culinary traditions surrounding their use and development? Any specific examples?

Haven't been to Providore yet, I've had mixed reviews.

so i will have to go and make up my own mind.

Must admit, I've got really good associations with the place, so I'm perhaps not judging it solely on the food.. but I think it's pretty good, better in the restaurant than the tapa room, although the latter is a great place. P. is much better than the Sugar Club imho (mind you, I've only been to the SC once, didn't much like it so didn't go back).

You could argue that it's not a place that fully respects the integrity of certain produce - i.e. the intrinsic/underlying flavours of subtler ingredients. I once had gorgeous, very strongly flavoured duck dish with aubergines and spinach and a wonderful, very distinctive sauce, but the duck itself was in fact quite pointless, protein for protein's sake. It was totally overpowered by the rest of the dish, its underlying flavour being scarcely discernable. (same cannot be said for anything I had at Mju to be fair).

Thinking about it, providores must be a pretty good restaurant for vegetarians, although I wouldn't say that all meat/seafood dishes there deserve similar criticism. I hope you enjoy the place if you do make it there, and that it's not changed too much.

[origamicrane]

I find most asian fusion places are quite conservative.

Like Asia De Cuba, for a lot of their dishes they just adds a few western garnishes to what is basically, a very good but very normal japanese dish.

Mmm. Haven't been - are they any good? I like the idea of a bit of judicious tampering with otherwise authentic eastern cuisine... if the result is interesting and successful, of course..

←

Asia de Cuba's food is a feast for the eyes, the room is pretty funky, the presentation and quantity is impressive too so are the high prices!!

It's definitely style over content but having said that i thought the food was pretty interesting. Their crispy squid salad with banana, chayote and orange sesame dressing is really nice almost floral in flavor and the braised belly of pork served with deep fried plantain and gari I thought was excellent really juicy and moist pork and the plantaint gave it crispy almost crackling texture. And the desserts are massive 3 of us shared the bay of pigs dessert is like a massive ice cream and chocolate bust of mickey mouse.

This is in my top ten places to go on a first date.

But would the food make my list of top ten restaurants? nope!

But i know this is due to me judging their use of asian ingredients by traditonal asian cooking.

Do you think there is sometimes an arbitrary/disrespectful plundering of eastern ingredients, which doesn't respect the culinary traditions surrounding their use and development? Any specific examples?

←

Oh defintiely!

but that is the nature of fusion.

The problem for western chefs is its difficult for them to throughly research an eastern ingredient properly as often there not much written on them, at least not in english anyway.

Some examples of bad fusion i have had:

1. roast cod with a deep fried chinese wax sausage! nasty! nasty!

this would be like deep frying a whole salami and plating it.

They should have steamed the sausage first then sliced and pan fried it. But beyond that the sausage they used was really low quality, the meat disintegrated on the tongue and was really fatty.

2. Not bad fusion more like bad description i had a "lobster won ton" which was in fact a very plain and very small lobster ravioli.

3. And this was the worst one i had, a ginger and spring onion pan fried scallop wrapped in pancetta, the scallop was juicy and perfectly seared but was rendered inedible as it was literally swimming in 1cm of dark soya sauce.

yep i will check out providore.

The personal reviews i heard from friend range from "very good" through to "too much going on on the plate". But no one actually slated the food or the cooking so thats a good sign.

[jennahan]

I've walked past the Millenium Hotel a gazillion times...even used their loo, but strangely never have been tempted to try MJU. I guess because the room itself didn't look too appealing, and it always seemed pretty empty. However, oragamicrane's positive reviews have made me put it on my list of places to try (not the top of the list, but definitely upper middle part of the list).

I agree that Asia de Cuba is all about style over content. Funny, I've been there three times and have always liked the meals, but can never recollect anything I've eaten there. I do always remember the atronomical bills we ring up (primarily due to alchol! I always remember what we drank though!). I agree that it's a great first-date place, but maybe too loud for a romantic date.

In terms of fusion cuisine, I think there are 3 types:

a) Western with a dash of Eastern

b) Eastern with a dash of Western

c) a happy medium

I've, by the way, never had c. A and B, yes. I think fusion is great if the spirit of the dominant cuisine exists, but enhanced by aspects of the secondary cuisine. I think fusion fails when done clumsily. I think that fusion is actually very difficult to do well because the chef has to master 2 different types of cuisine, not just one. Anyways, just my opinion.

[adt]

Some examples of bad fusion i have had:

One bad fusion I had was actually at the Sugar Club - goats cheese spring rolls with (amongst other things) cauliflower puree. why make something light and delicate like a spring roll heavy and ponderously unsophisticated by stuffing it with goat's cheese I've no idea. I think there were red peppers in there too... mediterranean+spring roll. great.

This is not to imply I don't like disparate influences in fusion. I remember an old dessert at Providores that fused eastern/pacific rim, scottish, middle eastern and spanish influences with amazing success - coconut sorbet and tamarind caramel on oat shortbread with saffron poached quince and marshmallow. But you can tell it's going to work just from the description, it's the judiciousness of the flavour and texture combinations that makes it.

jennahan, does the 'eastern' in your A B C encompass middle eastern / african / tropical 'non-western' influences? is the implication that fusion only really works if it is wholehearted (and skilled), and not just a dish from a particular cuisine with a token 'twist' from another?

[adt]

I guess because the room itself didn't look too appealing

Yeah, it's a bit west-end-autistic I though. Plenty of money, not quite enough taste and even less fun.

I reckon the food could be good though, there were some really interesting sounding things on the menu, and the kitchen was certainly not without moments of ability. I think I was just unlucky with the particular summer tasting menu on the day, and perhaps a few dishes that didn't turn out as well as they could.

[Winot]

c) a happy medium

I've, by the way, never had c. 

←

What about Moro (Moroccan+Spanish)?

[adt]

does it count as fusion if you can see one country from the other?

[origamicrane]

You know i like this place alot

but the other night i went there and was literally blown away!!!

I've been to Mju six times now but the other night was like the most amazing meal I have EVER had ANYWHERE in the world.

Ok we started with a lovely beef consommé and some cumin and sesame bread with excellent unsalted butter. Then the main meal

1. Duo of Colchester Oysters ginger & rice vinegar and passionfruit dressing

2. Seafood Trio was 2 slices of tuna sashimi with wasabi ice cream, a seared scallop, scallop carpaccio with water cress and langoustine tartar, truffle oil and foie gras shavings.

3.Poached salmon melted leeks and Riesling nage

4. Braised foie gras mulled wine jus, pear sorbet and hazelnut brioche

5. Lobster linguini shellfish oil, dried Aromatic seaweed, Asian herbs

6. Cleanser of lemongrass, salt and thyme foam cleanser

7. Wild venison fricassee of mushrooms, parsnip puree & sweet cranberries

8. Second cleanser of tapioca, coriander syrup and passion fruit ice cream

9. Baked Chocolate Hot Chocolate Fondant, Spiced Fig Ice Cream, Brandy Anglaise

everything was perfectly cooked, everything was really fresh, and each dish was a good sized starter portion and the ingredients so rich that by the time the foie arrived we were already stuffed.

The only dish that I would have taken out was the salmon, it was excellent but for some reason, it didn't seem to flow within the meal (just a personal preference).

And why was this the most amazing meal I have ever had anywhere in the world?

look at the ingredients in the dishes,

9 course degustation menu food only bill came in at £42/head?!

[Matthew Grant]

You know i like this place alot

but the other night i went there and was literally blown away!!!

I've been to Mju six times now but the other night was like the most amazing meal I have EVER had ANYWHERE in the world.

Ok we started with a lovely beef consommé and some cumin and sesame bread with excellent unsalted butter. Then the main meal

1. Duo of Colchester Oysters ginger & rice vinegar and passionfruit dressing

2. Seafood Trio was 2 slices of tuna sashimi with wasabi ice cream, a seared scallop, scallop carpaccio with water cress and langoustine tartar, truffle oil and foie gras shavings.

3.Poached salmon melted leeks and Riesling nage

4. Braised foie gras mulled wine jus, pear sorbet and hazelnut brioche

5. Lobster linguini shellfish oil, dried Aromatic seaweed, Asian herbs

6. Cleanser of lemongrass, salt and thyme foam cleanser

7. Wild venison fricassee of mushrooms, parsnip puree & sweet cranberries

8. Second cleanser of tapioca, coriander syrup and passion fruit ice cream

9. Baked Chocolate Hot Chocolate Fondant, Spiced Fig Ice Cream, Brandy Anglaise

everything was perfectly cooked, everything was really fresh, and each dish was a good sized starter portion and the ingredients so rich that by the time the foie arrived we were already stuffed.

The only dish that I would have taken out was the salmon, it was excellent but for some reason, it didn't seem to flow within the meal (just a personal preference).

And why was this the most amazing meal I have ever had anywhere in the world?

look at the ingredients in the dishes,

9 course degustation menu food only bill came in at £42/head?! 

←

I can't find my report on this restaurant from a few years ago - it seems to have been deleted? (http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=9112)

They often run deals like this. I had a very similar meal including caviar, Foie Gras, Lobster, Oysters etc. I always wondered how they manage it, recently they were offering unlimited champagne