We’ve wanted to eat here for ages but chose not to whilst they retained an archaic “jackets required” policy. They scrapped that 12 months or so back and, whilst a number of men were wearing jackets, many of us were more casually dressed, including even a couple in jeans. It is, however, still a formal restaurant – the staff are the most formally dressed in the room – with exemplary service, entirely “proper” but full of hospitality. The sort of service where everything happens just as it should do, and you’re not really aware of it happening. There’s none of the “how is everything” – that you might get in lesser places.
There is no getting away from the fact that this is an expensive restaurant but that’s the nature of Michelin 2* places. We’d travelled to London solely to have dinner so, adding on train fares, hotel and other bits and bobs, there was no change for us out of £800. For that sort of investment, you have your fingers crossed that it’s going to be really good. Fortunately, it was.
In a very old fashioned style, menus were presented – one with prices, the other not. How did they guess it was my wife who was paying and should have the priced version? Must have been because she’d booked the table.
There’s an interesting looking carte and an even more interesting looking tasting menu – the menu exceptionnel. Although we generally prefer a traditional three courses these days, the tasting just seemed the way to go.
Things kicked off with a couple of lovely canapes – a cylinder of brik pastry filled with chorizo and a little crisp tart filled with salmon. And bread arrived – a mini baguette was perfect.
Souffle Suissese is a signature dish of the restaurant. It’s delicate, light as the proverbial feather – the waiter said it’s like eating clouds. The soufflé sits on seasoned double cream and is topped with Swiss cheese (Gruyere or Emmental ?) before going back in the oven for the cheese to melt. Delicious
Trout had been cured so that it was almost the texture of jelly – this is a good thing. And it had a lovely colour from the beetroot that had formed part of the curing mix. Also on the plate, more beetroot, a puree from black sesame and another from white. And, for crunch, a scattering of Monks Beard – it’s a coastal plant that is a little salty so is actually providing the seasoning for the dish.
Then there was what I think may have been my favourite dish of the evening. A single, perfectly cooked, scallop. But, for me, the actual star of the plate was a slice of smoked Jerusalem artichoke – nutty and a bit chewy (also in a good way). There’s also an artichoke puree, artichoke crisps and scattering of truffle. Call us philistines if you will, but neither of us find truffle something to rave over. Next up was octopus – a tentacle braised until it was tender but still retaining a little bite. A slice of roasted cauliflower and a slick of cauli puree were perfect accompaniments and a couple of slices of crisped chorizo – really good chorizo – gave it all a little edge from the pimenton.
For the first of the meat courses, Herdwick lamb shoulder had been long braised and then encased in a perfectly made and cooked raviolo. Now, I reckon that if you’re going to eat lamb, never pass up on it if Herdwick is on the menu. It gets its hefty flavour from running up and down Cumbrian fells. There’s a little savoury sauce and a contrasting sweetness from pumpkin puree. For the second meat course, veal cheek had also been given a very long seeing-to. It fell apart at the touch of a fork. There’s also potted tongue topping a crisp crouton. Sprouting broccoli contributed to the “five a day”.
It’s now time for cheese. And it’s probably the best selection we’ve ever come across. There’s easily 30 cheeses on the trolley – a mixture of French and British and all clearly in perfect condition. None of the fridge cold stuff you come across too often – even in restaurants that should know better. To accompany your selection, there’s a rye bread with nuts baked into it, celery, chutney and membrillo. This is how a cheese course should always be.
And, finally, there’s a choux bun filled with new season Yorkshire rhubarb. There’s slivers of rhubarb, a rhubarb sorbet and cream. It’s lovely – a perfect use of this sweet/sharp fruit (yes, I know it’s technically a vegetable). As you might expect, coffee was excellent and came with good petit fours.
This had been a superb evening. A meal where each course flowed easily into the next. Nothing jarred, as can sometimes happen with tasting menus but it does mean there wasn’t a course which stood out as a real “WOW” and we’ll still be talking about in a couple of years (although the scallop & artichoke came close). But we will still be talking about the whole experience in a couple of years. Yes, it had been a lot of money but it was worth every penny. And, if you’re happy to be called a foody, sometimes you just have to eat and enjoy meals like this.
