[London] The Ledbury

I had a delicious lunch at the Ledbury, on Ledbury Street in Notting Hill. The Ledbury is run by Australian chef Brett Graham, and has held two Michelin stars since 2010.

This was kind of a last minute reservation and they didn’t have any dinner slots open, but I managed to get squeezed in for lunch on a Wednesday. There were two menus available for lunch - a four course set lunch for £75 (£135 with wine pairing), and an a la carte lunch for £120, which is also four courses but with multiple different options for each course. I went for the set lunch with their wine pairing.


Seaweed Crisp with Mussels

Started things off with an amuse bouche of crispy seaweed cracker topped with a cream made from mussels, with a few fish eggs on top. This bite was a good mix of crispy and creamy, with the cream having a nice briny flavor.


Guinea Fowl and Mead

The second amuse was a little puff pastry filled with a warm guinea fowl broth and I think some meat as well, with a cube of mead jelly on top.


Deer Dumpling

The next amuse was a dumpling that I was instructed to pop in my mouth and eat in one go. It had a slightly doughy outer crust, and the inside, which I think had some juicy venison, exploded with flavor once bitten into.


Bread and Butter
Very good bread with a moist crumb. It kind of reminded me of the country bread from Tartine back in SF. Interesting looking butter.


Pineapple Ribbed and Red Russian Tomatoes
Lobster Oil, Sorbet and Chardonnay

The first course was a pretty tomato dish. The tomatoes were delicious - ripe and very flavorful. The green sauce (lobster oil?) was very subtle and was maybe a little garlicky. There was also a nice contrast between the tomatoes, the cold and creamy tomato sorbet, and the sourdough crisps.


Steamed Cod
Courgettes, Anchovy and Basil

The second course was a perfectly steamed piece of cod sitting on a light foamy hollandaise-like sauce. I’m guessing the sauce was where the anchovy was. The cod was cooked a little rare inside, and tasted very fresh.


Jowl of Pork
Caesar Mushroom, Apricot and Carrot

Like the cod, the pork jowl was also steamed. It was topped with some chives, shallots, thinly sliced mushrooms I think, and little crispy strips of pork crackling, which were a nice contrast to the tender pork jowl, which had some unctuous fat but not an excessive amount. This was delicious.


Passion Fruit Custard

This was something sweet before dessert. The sauce underneath the custard was made from Sauternes and went really well with the tropical flavor of the custard.


Doughnut

The second pre-dessert was a donut, which was warm (freshly fried?), airy, and covered with granulated sugar.


Fig Leaf Ice Cream
Buffalo Milk Meringue and Mead

Very pretty presentation. The figs were fresh and sweet, and went well with the fig ice cream, which was not too sweet. The meringue gave it a nice crunch.


Chocolate Eucalyptus
Juniper Caramel

Post desserts. The chocolate was liquid inside.


This was a great meal, and everything was delicious. Service was excellent as well.

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Good looking food, there. They were our “top meal” of 2012. Faultless.