Choose a two star in London

[Gavin Convery]

I was given dessert wines at both GT and Union Pacific recently by male staff

Was the male person at Union Pacific Austrian by any chance - he is the sommelier I believe - they have a nice selection of wines from Muller Catoir I recall

[Gavin Convery]

....Anyway, enough of this pondering...I have a reservation at the Capital a week on tuesday...I'll report back.

[tony h]

....Anyway, enough of this pondering...I have a reservation at the Capital a week on tuesday...I'll report back.

I'm there tomorrow night (first evening visit).

Looking forward to the comparison.

[Gavin Convery]

BLH, You must have been to the Capital by now - how was it??

[Gavin Convery]

I duly went to the Capital.....

We started with a Kir Imperiale in the bar (this has raspberry rather than blackcurrant 'creme' in it) while we perused the menu and the wine list. First impressions of the service were favourable as we were greeted warmly. The bar is fairly small but ideal for a quick pre-dinner drink. Decor is of the grand hotel variety.

We chose the Menu Degustation and decided to go with the matching Sommelier degustation but swapped the glass of champagne for a Tokay Pinot Gris from Alsace. Menus are below:

Sauteed Scallops with red pesto minestrone and anchovy beignet

Seared Duck foie gras with wild asparagus,girolles mushrooms and pan-sauteed quail egg

Pan-fried turbot and truffle gnocchi, mushroom raviolo and garlic crisps

Canon of Lamb with black olive crust, couscous and thyme jus

one plateau du fromager shared (supp £6.50)

Dessert plate

Coffee + petit fours

Total cost £65

Tokay Pinot Gris

Riesling Auslese 1989 E. Karthauserhofberg-Trier

Barbera d'Asti, Sant' Emiliano 1997 Marchesi Icisa della Rocchetta

Volnay 1er Cru 1997 'Carelle-Chapelle' Y. Clerget

Saussignac 1999 Chateau Tourmentine

Total cost £45

We were give an amuse-bouche of black pudding topped with a quails egg and a crisp of bacon - this was delicious as was the first starter. The scallop was slightly too well done for my taste but the minestrone was delicious - a foam which had a lemon flavour was artfully poured around the plate - this added a nice touch of acid offsetting the earthier flavours of the minestrone. The whole thing was presented in a bowl reminiscent of the one in which they present the red cabbage soup at the Fat Duck.

The foie gras was next presented in a similar style to the amuse bouche with the egg on top and a crisp of bacon served with it - I was surprised that it was similar in concept to the amuse bouche. The foie gras was delicious and soft, the egg appropriate to the whole breakfast concept. The riesling was stunning with the most petrolly nose I have ever experienced on a riesling and appropriate sweetness that cut through the fat flavour of the foie gras.

Highlight of the meal was the turbot - this was an earthy fish dish and the red wine presented was perfect being not too overwhelming but marrying well with the mushroom flavours. The mushroom raviolo was presented on top and had a slight lemon (almost lemon verbena) flavour which added note to the whole dish. All in all a stunning dish.

Main course was the lamb which was too reminiscent of something I might have for supper...the lamb was a good piece of meat although not outstanding, a balsamic vinegar and tomato jus was delicious and intense, couscous was light and all the grains nicely separated. I was flagging slightly at this point so only shared some of my friend's cheese course. This was good although some of the cheeses seemed a little dry.

Dessert was a plate of three desserts - deep fried coconut stick served with a sweet chilli dip, a chocolate brownie topped with chocolate mousse and a strawberry soup served with a milk sorbet. The last one was the best - cut with balsamic vinegar it had a very refreshing effect on the palate mixed with the creamy flavours of the sorbet. The chocolate brownie was nice rather than stunning.

Coffee and petit fours were excellent - we chose the Kenyan blend which was smooth and rich.

Service was excellent and in particular the sommelier was outstanding - his choice of wines in the degustation was perfect, he was very knowledgeable - unstuffy and friendly. I would highly recommend the Capital to all egulleteers...definitely higher in the two star panoply than le Gavroche IMHO.

[SamanthaF]

Regarding non-French starred restaurants, I think one reason for the lack of comments is that there are not very many of them. Zafferano is an excellent Italian restaurant albeit very expensive for what is delivered (but then so is Locanda Locatelli). Zaika I thought was OK but have never managed to go back there, which perhaps suggests that I did not really think it was that good. (The River Cafe has a star of course, but I am not going to get started on that one).

I had lunch At Zafferano today, and it was very good. I much prefered it to Locanda Locateli. I waiting for Scott to take me back now

[Gavin Convery]

I went to the Square on Friday for my wedding anniversary, I don't currently have time to post a full report but the management summary is: slightly disappointing,service especially.

Current hierarchy of 2 stars, totally IMHO:

1) The Capital

2) Le Gavroche

3) The Square

Haven't been to Tante Claire recently...

[TCD]

Current hierarchy of 2 stars, totally IMHO:

1) The Capital

2) Le Gavroche

3) The Square

I was in London last month and had the opportunity to dine at both Capital and the Square for dinner (as well as at Defune, Foliage, Petrus and GR @ RHR). While I would give a slight nod to The Square over Capital for food, Capital's service was as proficient but was much more warm and caring. The ambiance and decor of Capital was superior as well (certainly in the case of a (non-business) dinner for two) and would give it a higher overall rating.

The service at The Square had little flaw, but seemed a bit robotic other than the sommelier.

The only disappointment of the trip was Petrus, which, while offering inventive and refined cuisine, subjected diners to an overly intrusive stream of servers and a particularly pushy sommelier.

[Paul Bell]

I went to The Square last week, the food was good as usual (but then I quite like the slightly simpler style, and larger portions ) although the desserts were not quite as good as the last time (they can be a little variable here), what I did find interesting was the service, as I have said before it can be very up and down, especially when they get busy after 8.00. Admittedly we went early but this time the service was a lot more professional than recent visits. They even passed the napkin test, which is not something I can ever remember them doing previously.

Paul

[Gavin Convery]

I found service at The Square bordering on the poor - that was probably explained by the sommelier (or one of the sommeliers) giving us a duff recommendation - a Puligny Montrachet when I was having a main course of John Dory with snails and a very meaty sauce and he also brought a german Riesling Auslese with a chocolate millefeuille with very alcoholic cherries which was much better served by a Maury which to his credit was not charged.

The food was more robust than the Capital as mentioned but I found it just not as well balanced and slightly old-fashioned and although I would not consider the Capital perfect foodwise it certainly scored on service, particularly the superb sommelier.

[Paul Bell]

Sommelier wise The Capital easily wins, Matthew Wilkin is one of the best in London, (and never makes me feel bad when I always order the same 'cheapest' house white ). I have had difficulties with the sommelier at The Square hence I now go with a very firm impression of what I want to order.

Paul

[SamanthaF]

Sommelier wise  The Capital easily wins, Matthew Wilkin is one of the best in London, (and never makes me feel bad when I always order the same 'cheapest' house white ). I have had difficulties with the sommelier at The Square hence I now go with a very firm impression of what I want to order.

Paul

Went to the Capital for lunch today - as usual, superb food. Managed to have a chat with Matthew - what a nice bloke.

I'll let the Mister put the lowdown on later

[Gavin Baxter]

Have to agree with the comments about Matthew - top bloke.

The Capital is one of the few restaurants where I am happy to hand back the wine list without opening it and just ask The Man to select a glass of wine with each course. We've never been dissapointed.

On a recent visit, when challenged to match a wine with a heady mix of cheeses, his answer was to split two glasses of wine for each of us, with very correct suggestions as to what to drink with what.

Looking forward to my next visit in October...

[Gavin Convery]

just ask The Man to select a glass of wine with each course.

I don't know if you've tried the wine per course pairing that the Capital do - there were some real revelations there including a textbook German riesling with the most petrolly nose I've ever smelled.

[Paul Bell]

Went to the Capital for lunch last Saturday, result on two fronts Matthew welcomed us back, at last I am regular in a v expensive restaurant (alternatively he recognises me as the cheap git who always orders the cheap wine ), plus one of the starters was sweetcorn soup, two michelined star sweetcorn soup with bacon tortellini but sweetcorn soup nonetheless. It was excellent soup by the way, as was the whole of the lunch as always. The only problem is I always want to go here for lunch so don't get around to going in the evening very often.

We also went to Le Gavroche for the first time for dinner. It was very good, very French, very formal, very expensive. The sommelier was average, he struggled when I ordered a second bottle of wine halfway through the tasting menu as he was too busy telling the table of chefs next door about his days as sommelier at the mirabelle (hardly a qualification).

Having now been to Le Gavroche my order of two stars would be

1= Square and The Capital (depending on what mood I'm in)

3 Le Gavroche

We enjoyed Le Gavroche a lot but it is the sort of place we would want to go back to once a year, rather than every month or couple of months like The Capital or The Square.

It is also interesting bearing in mind all the comments re: Gordon Ramsay turning his tables, that Le Gavroche do the same thing, they are just more subtle about it, the table next to us finished at 9.30 and within five minutes another couple were there, similary when we had coffee the maitre'd asked if we would have it in the lounge area, which we were happy to do and within five minutes our table was occupied again.

Paul

[Gavin Convery]

Ok, Guys now we really need to storm La Tante Claire - the latest TO Guide gives it a good write up and I think we need to find where it sits in the hierarchy. Once we've done that I think we all deserve a round of eggs, beans and chips at the local caff - that's all I'll be able to afford