I went to Gordon Ramsay (London) in a party of four on a very wet and windy Bank Holiday Monday for lunch. My friend’s wife has wheat intolerance, does not eat red meat (except duck) and does not do dairy (except butter) blah blah blah. We arrived at about 1pm, half an hour early, and thought that we might go somewhere less expensive for a drink first, but due to the appalling weather we decided to go straight in.
Our early arrival was not a problem and we were greeted by very warm and gracious staff, they could not do enough to make us feel welcome. It is not at all like any restaurant I have been to, rather like going into a grand London house. The dining room is modern, elegant and very tastefully decorated. We settled at the table and had pre dinner drinks while browsing the menu. Set lunch was 3-courses for £45.00, a la carte was 3-courses for £90.00 and the menu prestige was 6-courses for £120.00 we opted for the set lunch.
Having taken in the ambience and enjoyed a drink it was almost an hour before we ordered our food, not that this was a problem at all, who wants to rush an experience like this? We were offered bread, well three of us were, and butter rounds were placed on the table, unsalted and salted. Everything was described by the waiters in a running commentary of soft Gallic tones and a real desire for you to be informed and most of all, happy. “And for Madame, chef has baked some bread for you last night, from rice flour it is your own special bread” Obviously well briefed, as was everyone who approached our table fully aware of the special dietary needs.
Amuse bouché was a spring vegetable consomme served at room temperature, a clear reddish amber broth with wafer thin spring onion slices, perfect tiny tomato brunoise, parsley and chives. Each ingredient was a tiny burst of flavour in a beautiful light but slightly smoky tomato soup; it really did “entertain the mouth” and left you craving for more as it was only the size of a double espresso. For our first courses, three of us had a pithivier of quail, mushroom and spinach, with celeriac remoulade and confit quail’s leg, this blew us away, it was absolutely delicious and for me, the best dish of the day. The fourth starter was yellow fin tuna and roasted cep tartar with caviar, basil puree, spring onions and cep vinaigrette, my friend’s wife said that this too was delicious.
The main courses we ordered were fillet of royal dourade with artichokes barigoule, navet, carrot and radish in baby gem lettuce and chervil butter sauce. The little lettuce parcel was fantastic and a perfect accompaniment to the sea bream. The others had roasted sirloin of beef, I can’t remember the details of that dish (medium rare); well it came up so rare, it was virtually seared, it looked really good though. They did a special sauce for our “allergic” friend’s fish, I think a pea puree of some kind, with absolutely no fuss at all; it was as if it were a pleasure for them to do it.
The wines we had were Côtes du Rhône Viognier ‘Les Gendrines’, Pierre Gaillard 2006 and Gigondas Clos du Joncuas, F. Chastan 2001. Meanwhile the waiting staff are describing each dish and pouring sauces, the wine glasses are charged and they are making us feel very spoilt indeed. At this point I catch a whiff of the cheese trolley gliding by and already decide what my dessert will be. Other desserts on our table were Gianduja chocolate parfait with passion fruit and guava coulis for my chocoholic wife, and they prepared a wonderful friut platter for our “allergic” friend accompanied with a raspberry sorbet.
Apart from the superb food of course, the thing that really impressed me was the outstanding service, so friendly and not at all pretentious as some top restaurants are. They even escort you to the bathroom… yep, sounds weird but they do wait outside, the door is magically opened for you on your exit and you are escorted back to your table. This really was a day to remember and as expected was a fantastic experience, the total bill for four was £465.00 and worth every penny.
Our early arrival was not a problem and we were greeted by very warm and gracious staff, they could not do enough to make us feel welcome. It is not at all like any restaurant I have been to, rather like going into a grand London house. The dining room is modern, elegant and very tastefully decorated. We settled at the table and had pre dinner drinks while browsing the menu. Set lunch was 3-courses for £45.00, a la carte was 3-courses for £90.00 and the menu prestige was 6-courses for £120.00 we opted for the set lunch.
Having taken in the ambience and enjoyed a drink it was almost an hour before we ordered our food, not that this was a problem at all, who wants to rush an experience like this? We were offered bread, well three of us were, and butter rounds were placed on the table, unsalted and salted. Everything was described by the waiters in a running commentary of soft Gallic tones and a real desire for you to be informed and most of all, happy. “And for Madame, chef has baked some bread for you last night, from rice flour it is your own special bread” Obviously well briefed, as was everyone who approached our table fully aware of the special dietary needs.
Amuse bouché was a spring vegetable consomme served at room temperature, a clear reddish amber broth with wafer thin spring onion slices, perfect tiny tomato brunoise, parsley and chives. Each ingredient was a tiny burst of flavour in a beautiful light but slightly smoky tomato soup; it really did “entertain the mouth” and left you craving for more as it was only the size of a double espresso. For our first courses, three of us had a pithivier of quail, mushroom and spinach, with celeriac remoulade and confit quail’s leg, this blew us away, it was absolutely delicious and for me, the best dish of the day. The fourth starter was yellow fin tuna and roasted cep tartar with caviar, basil puree, spring onions and cep vinaigrette, my friend’s wife said that this too was delicious.
The main courses we ordered were fillet of royal dourade with artichokes barigoule, navet, carrot and radish in baby gem lettuce and chervil butter sauce. The little lettuce parcel was fantastic and a perfect accompaniment to the sea bream. The others had roasted sirloin of beef, I can’t remember the details of that dish (medium rare); well it came up so rare, it was virtually seared, it looked really good though. They did a special sauce for our “allergic” friend’s fish, I think a pea puree of some kind, with absolutely no fuss at all; it was as if it were a pleasure for them to do it.
The wines we had were Côtes du Rhône Viognier ‘Les Gendrines’, Pierre Gaillard 2006 and Gigondas Clos du Joncuas, F. Chastan 2001. Meanwhile the waiting staff are describing each dish and pouring sauces, the wine glasses are charged and they are making us feel very spoilt indeed. At this point I catch a whiff of the cheese trolley gliding by and already decide what my dessert will be. Other desserts on our table were Gianduja chocolate parfait with passion fruit and guava coulis for my chocoholic wife, and they prepared a wonderful friut platter for our “allergic” friend accompanied with a raspberry sorbet.
Apart from the superb food of course, the thing that really impressed me was the outstanding service, so friendly and not at all pretentious as some top restaurants are. They even escort you to the bathroom… yep, sounds weird but they do wait outside, the door is magically opened for you on your exit and you are escorted back to your table. This really was a day to remember and as expected was a fantastic experience, the total bill for four was £465.00 and worth every penny.
