London Food Detective

Sketch paints a pretty picture

It was Grace's birthday and, being the caring boyfriend I am, I wanted to take her somewhere special and with a bit of 'wow' factor.

After getting some advice via Twitter and checking a couple of reviews from bloggers I trust (thanks Laissez Fare (some great photos of the decor & toilets), Foodsnob, the Catty Life) I decided on the opulence and sheer glitz of the Lecture Room at sketch (deliberately lower case.)

They may have the most annoying website in the world, but from the moment you step into the place you're made to feel welcome and special.

From the over the top welcome from the restaurant manager to the French maid who escorts you back upstairs from the most weird, wonderful and decadent toilets I've visited, the whole experience puts a smile on your face and a dent in your wallet!

Now, it would be easy for sketch to be a place of style over substance, but i'm pleased to say that the food is more hit than miss.

As it was a special occasion we decided to go for the 8-course tasting menu and as a nice touch we were given a bookmark with all the courses listed.

First up came a selection of feulletes and amuse bouches. Not one, but about five, together with a fine selection of warm bread and three types of France's finest butter (salted, unsalted and a herby laverbread one). It was almost a meal in itself.

Highlights of which were a delicate tuna sashimi (served on a block of ice) and a gooey, deep fried cheese ball.

1st Course: Red Mullet

Grace and I aren't huge fish lovers, but this was a beautifully balanced dish.  The main fillet was delicate, perfectly cooked and melted in the mouth. The meatier rilletes had a much stronger, peppery flavour and worked well with the beetroot.

2nd Course: Brown Crab

The photo doesn't really do this dish justice.  It was fab. The Lardo di Colonatta was something new for me and I was bound to enjoy anything made of pig's lard and garlic! The crab and langoustine were also very good and the accompanying creamy sauce made for an accomplished dish.

3rd Course: Foie Gras and Red Pepper

This was the course I was most looking forward to as it contained some of my favourite ingredients on one plate.  However, whilst all the individual parts were good, the dish as a whole just didn't quite work for me. I could barely taste any chorizo in the ice cream and the gingerbread and foie gras was a taste combination too far.  Whilst it was visually beautiful with the vivid orange ice cream, it was the only dish that was more style over substance.

4th Course: Scallops

In hindsight I should've taken separate photos of the scallops and the pumpkin soup and cubes of scallops, as they were essentially two dishes. The scallops with the leeks and salsify were huge and beautifully cooked, however the leek and salsify overpowered the subtle flavour of them and I left most of leek and just ate the scallops.  The pumpkin soup was a light, creamy broth and really went well with cubes of scallop.

5th Course: Deer

There was only one meat course on the tasting menu, so the pressure was on for it to deliver and fortunately it did.  It was a really hearty winter dish.  The deer was lean, cooked a perfect medium rare and packed full of flavour. The accompanying sauce was much reduced and so was rich and intensely flavoured.  The red cabbage and quince jelly provided a sweet contrast to the rich flavours of the deer and sauce and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole dish.

6th Course: Cheese

The cheese dish was unusual and a real mix of flavours and textures.  The roquefort was creamy, but with it's usual strong flavour, there was a Ewe milk jelly (texture of pannacotta, but without the sweetness), a hint of lemon and a coarse, crunchy sable biscuit.  Like I say unusual, but I enjoyed it.

Pierre Gagnaire's Grand Dessert

Sadly I didn't take any notes on the five desserts and my memory has failed me a bit - it must be my age - so apologies for the slightly shoddy write up of them.

Anyway, I do remember doing a highly satisfactory swap with Grace for her dark chocolate torte with my pistachio dessert.  The torte had a gooey, soft, fudge topping and was very moreish (hence the two portions).  I also have fond memories of the deconstructed jammy dodger dessert.

At the prices sketch is undoubtedly a special occasion restaurant.  At £95 (plus 12.5% service) for eight courses you expect something special and for me sketch delivered. The ingredients were first class, the portions extremely generous for a tasting menu and the service exemplary throughout.

Often the things you remember (see desserts part above) about a restaurant six months after a visit is not always the food, but the experience and it's fair to say sketch was the perfect way to end a special day and will live long in the memory.

It was what fine dining is all about for me with a decadence and opulence that means, even if just for a few hours, you feel good to be alive and privileged to experience great cooking in sumptuous surroundings.

Blokes eat beef @Goodman

For some reason I decided to check out Twitter on Monday morning and stumbled across a tweet from Simon of Dos Hermanos, who was advertising a spare place at the 'Blokes Eat Beef' event that they had organised at Goodman.

As a hardcore carnivore it was an invite I couldn't refuse and I was treated to one of the best meals I have had in a long time.

Simon has already posted a comprehensive review, but I just wanted to share a few additional thoughts and some slightly different photos from the event.

Frank Hederman's Smoked Salmon

As someone who isn't a big lover of fish, I almost skipped the starter of salmon so I could save space for the bovine delights to come. However, I'm glad I had it as it was easily the best I have ever tasted. 

It was served in a beautifully simple way which allowed the quality of the meaty, melt in the mouth, slightly smoked salmon shine through. Great stuff.

For me, one of the highlights of the evening was the various talks given by the suppliers. Passion is a much overused word, but it is appropriate on this occasion. It absolutely shone through from everyone: John the chef, the Catena wine rep, Frank, the vegetable suppliers and the lads promoting the Lake District beef.

The main event: the four contenders on one plate

With a selection of sides

Never has a salad looked lonelier...

The star of the show: one of the two Josper grills the steaks were cooked on

It almost goes without saying that the beef was fantastic. Beautifully cooked and full of flavour.  It was hard to pick a winner, but my (slight) favourite was the Scottish Charalais/Limosin ribeye. I'm not sure how much beef I actually consumed, but I'm pretty confident I got my 1kg quota!

I was also impressed with the sides. I'm a chunky chip man and these were crackers: crunchy (twice cooked?) on the outside and fluffy in the middle. The creamed spinach, onion rings and mushrooms were all of a high standard.

Baked Cheesecake with berry compote

Somehow I managed to find room for cheese and dessert. The cheesecake was pretty good. A crunchy biscuit base (it hadn't gone soggy like many cheesecakes), a thick creamy topping and a tangy berry compote made for a highly satisfactory end to the meal.

The other thing that I was impressed with on the night was the service. We had two waitresses serving nearly 30 blokes and they were chatty, up for a joke, but also very efficient and professional. I hope everyone was generous with the tips as they deserved every penny.

Overall, a fantastic evening and a big thanks to Dos Hermanos for organising it. I will definitely be back to Goodman on a normal evening to see if the standard remains as high!

Corrigan's, Mayfair

Going out for Sunday lunch has always been a big tradition with my family and my passion for eating out developed when I was growing up.  My parents would always be on the look out for new places to go and try and we'd travel long distances in the North East if we heard of a particularly good place to go.

Therefore, whenever my parents come down to visit me, I always try to take them somewhere that they will enjoy and can tell their friends about when they go home. 

On previous visits I've taken them to the Ivy and the Gherkin, but this was the first time they'd been down for Sunday lunch, so after some advice via Twitter I plumped for Corrigan's in Mayfair.

The set menu was a reasonably priced £27 for 3 courses, with a £10 supplement for the beef. They also had a slightly annoying £2 cover charge and I couldn't understand why they just didn't make the price £29.

The room was large and busy with a good vibe.  They had some unusual feather covered light shades and carvings of deer and game on the walls and it made for a nice setting.  We were seated right at the back of the room and the three of us were squeezed round a table that probably was only meant for two.  It wasn't a huge problem, but the table did become cramped when our mains were served.

The menu had a choice of six options for each course (though no vegetarian option!) and I went for the country terrine and the beef.  My parents both had rabbit to start, followed by black bream for mam and lamb for dad.

The country terrine was a perfectly good terrine, although I found the accompanying orange marmalade a little bit tart and slightly overpowering. A reasonable start though.

Both parents enjoyed the rabbit.  The meat was tender and cooked beautifully pink and the deep fried breadcrumbs provided a good crunch and contrast to the rabbit and egg.  There was also a little bit of blue cheese on top, which just added a bit of extra flavour.

There was no messing with my roast beef main.  Just two thick, rare, slices of rib of beef, served with an excellent yorkshire pud and a tasty, thick gravy (though some people may have found it a bit greasy, I thought it was just right) and horseradish cream. A classic dish, well executed.

All the mains were served with really crunchy roast potatoes with a pillowy soft centre.  Dad complained they hadn't been turned and so one side was more well done than the other, but I suppose it is a matter of personal preference. Vegetables were buttered carrots and green beens.

Dad really enjoyed the lamb, which came with a pepper salsa. Again it was just a lovely piece of meat, well cooked and simply presented and dad scoffed up every bit.

Mam was equally pleased with her black bream (no photo - sorry) and pronounced it a 'lovely, delicate piece of fish'.

Onto desserts and first up, mam went for a chocolate delice with hazelnut ice cream.  After the previous day's ice cream, I thought she may have been 'chocolated' out, but no, she wolfed down every bit and declared it excellent.

I went for sticky toffee pudding and it was slightly disappointing.  I found it a bit stodgy and lacking in fruit.  I would have preferred a flatter, squarer piece that soaked up the toffee sauce a bit better, as the centre was a little dry. I would've also liked the option of custard or ice cream to accompany it.

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The picture doesn't really do justice to the last dessert. It was eggy bread with poached pears and chocolate sauce.  The waiter brought out a cauldron of chocolate sauce and my dad insisted on three scoops, which totally smothered the rest of the dessert. It was worth it though as he savoured every mouthful and loved the poached pears and chocolate.  I don't think i've seen him enjoy a dessert as much.

Whilst we were having dessert Richard Corrigan came out from the kitchen and said hello to a few diners and sat with one table.  He seemed a very friendly, affable guy and the restaurant seemed to reflect this ethos.

Overall, i'd rate it as a very good set menu lunch.  Excellent ingredients, well cooked and served in an unpretentious way.  I would definitely return next time I want to impress someone with a reasonable value Sunday lunch.  You can see why the place has received a number of plaudits and though there's still room for improvement, overall I left full and impressed.

 

The Icecreamists at Selfridges, Mayfair

I may have mentioned before that I have a bit of a sweet tooth, so when I was at Selfridges recently for my Pierre Koffman visit I was intrigued to see the Icecreamists 'God Save the Cream' installation.

The Icecreamists claim to be 'Liberating the world one lick at a time' and 'Agents of Cool' and the pop up cafe certainly has a wow factor.  Dark walls with bright neon pink writing on the walls, over the top furniture and the Queen driving an ice cream van!

Such a cool (no pun intended) place needs a product to match and I took Grace the week after to see if the ice cream was as good as the place looks.

The menu, also in bright pink, has 16 flavours to choose from and a number of specials.  These range from an ice cream hot chocolate to a decadent selection of pink champagne ice lollies.  These come in at an eye watering £39.99!

On my first visit I stuck to the simple tub of up to three flavours for £4.99.

Narrowing my choice to three was tough, but with the servers allowing you a taste of them in advance I finally settled on chocolate, dulche de leche and a berry sorbet.  G went for liquorice, rose water and dulche de leche.

The quality of all them was superb: rich, creamy, full of flavour and with a velvety smooth texture.  We probably didn't choose the best combination as we both thought the dulche de leche was slightly over powered by the other two.

The portion didn't look the biggest, but due to the quality of the ice cream it was surprisingly filling - there were no ice crystals and very little air, which you tend to find in bad ice cream.

As soon as we finished we decided we must return before it closes on the 1st November. 

This I duly did with my parents, who've been down visiting from the North East. I persuaded my mum to share one of the ice cream cocktails and went for 'The Chocoholic'.  At £16.99 it was by far the most expensive ice cream i've ever had, but boy it was good.

The picture doesn't really do it justice, as the top hat it came in was about six inches deep and it was full of dark and white chocolate ice cream, fruit, whipped cream and hazelnuts.  On the side came a glass of warm dark chocolate sauce that just added to the indulgence.

I wish i'd taken a pic of my mum's face as she tucked into it, as I don't think i've ever seen her enjoy something so much. It took about 20 minutes to get through it, but every spoonful was an indulgent delight.

If you want to wow someone or have a taste for ice cream then clear your diary and get down there before it closes on the 1st November.

Pierre Koffman, Selfridges

There has been a lot of hype about Pierre Koffman's pop-up restauranton the roof of Selfridges and I was delighted to secure a Saturday night reservation after a tip on Twitter.  I can't remember who it was from, but thank you whoever you were!

The restaurant is one of the highlights of London Restaurant Week and demand has been so high that they've extended the restaurant's opening until the end of October.

My sense of expectation was raised even further after reading Kavey's review (check out Kavey's photos as they are a lot better than mine!) and I went along on Saturday evening expecting good things.  I'm pleased to report I wasn't disappointed.

Entrance to the restaurant was via an exclusive lift that took you up to the roof.  You walked out the lift into a impressive all-white grotto and a warm welcome from the hostess - who I'm led to believe is Pierre's partner Claire.  Our coats were taken and we were escorted into the huge marquee that has been erected on the roof and offered an aperitif at the bar.

Whilst seated there we got chatting to a lovely couple from Australia who were just finishing their drinks from lunch (at 6.30pm!) and they said what a wonderful meal they had, which increased our excitement even further.

We were escorted to our window seats which looked out over Mayfair and West London (which sadly isn't the greatest view of the city), but the sun was just going down and it was still an impressive setting.

We were given menus and informed that the guest chef was Tom Kitchin and the specials were a pig's head & scallop starter and beef wellington main (as featured on 'Great British Menu' on BBC2). On most menus I can usually narrow down my choices to two or three items quite quickly, but I can honestly say that I would have had happily had all the starters and all the meat main courses. *Note this isn't a place for vegetarians and there wasn't a veggie option on the menu.

Now, Koffman's signature dish are his pigs trotters stuffed with veal sweetbreads and morel mushrooms and I went fully intending to try this.  However, Grace didn't really fancy it and as we both love veal and beef wellington we decided to order these and go 50/50.  To make up for my lack of trotter I went for the pig's head special to start and Grace went for the lobster cocktail.

Excellent bread was brought (six choices, three warm) and we were offered two slices and happily accepted. I went for a roll with bacon (not quite as nice as it sounds) and a wonderfully crusty piece of granary.

Whilst waiting for our starters the hostess came over and had a quick chat, which I thought was a lovely touch. She said she'd been really surprised at how young a crowd the restaurant had attracted and hadn't anticipated that so many people would have heard of it via blogs and Twitter (she estimated about half the people had).  To make me feel even luckier about getting the reservation she said they'd had to turn loads of people away including Andrew Lloyd Webber!

Now, on to the food...

The amuse bouche was excellent duck rillettes that were served on melba toast. It boded well for what was to come.

The pig's head starter was beautiful and the flavours went perfectly together.  The melt in the mouth meat of the head was wrapped in it's own fatty skin, was topped with some crushed tomato and came with two huge, perfectly cooked scallops. A lattice of crunchy crackling was also thrown in for good measure. It just all worked together perfectly and it's hard to do justice to just how good it was.  Undoubtedly one of the best starters i've ever had.

In comparison, the cocktail of Scottish lobster, avocado and lime jelly was good, but not outstanding. Grace found it a little bland (compared with the pig) and thought it could do with a little more seasoning. Overall though, it was a very promising start.

As you can see, the beef wellington looked fantastic and i'm pleased to say it tasted pretty good too. The pastry was crispy, the beef perfectly cooked and the stuffing of chicken mousse and spinach lovely - you can find the Great British Menu recipe here.  All in all an excellent beef wellington, which was enhanced by the accompanying mushrooms, rich beef sauce and insanely buttery horseradish mash.

Grace had already declared the veal the best she'd ever had and so at 'half time' I was looking forward to swapping dishes, as i'm a huge fan of veal.  For me, it wasn't quite the best i've had (that honour still remains with the Waterside Inn) but it was still excellent. The accompanying sauce wasn't as rich or satisfying as the beef wellington one, but it was still a very good plate of food.

On to dessert and unlike the starters and mains there wasn't too much that appealed, as I don't like pistachio or grand marnier and wasn't in the mood for cheese.  Almost by Hobson's choice I went for the Gascon Apple Pie (as did Grace).

Wow. It was sensational.

It wouldn't normally be the kind of dessert I go for.  I'm normally a chocoholic or go for something creamy, so I was slightly shocked at just how much I loved it.  The pastry lid was sugary sweet, the apple had a hint of cinnamon which went well with the caramel sauce and there was a small pot of slightly sour cream that helped combat all the sweetness.  All in all a triumph.

Petits fours were served and the entire bill came to under £200, which I thought was very reasonable given the quality of food on offer.

A quick word about the service. It was far from perfect and not what you'd get in a Michelin quality restaurant normally.  I spoke to the restaurant manager when she brought over the bill and asked how everything was. We had a quick chat and she told us that she'd opened nine restaurants and this by far the toughest given the level of expectation and other challenges.

Apparently the staff all normally worked at events and a large number of them had never worked in a restaurant before! Personally I think the whole experience benefited from the informal atmosphere and I was impressed by the staff's friendly attitude and willingness to engage with everyone.  They were chatty, attentive and although they may not have served from the left and removed from the right, the experience was none the worse for it. 

Overall, a great night, with some excellent food in a wonderful location.  On the way out we put our name down for the cancellations list and would happily go again before the month is out - mainly because I still want to try the trotters!  If you get a chance to go, take it....

Maze, Mayfair

Twitter Summary Review: Excellent quality tasting dishes in stylish setting. If you've a sweet tooth go for two desserts!

Full review:

Gordon Ramsay has had a hard time of it lately, but the shining light in his culinary empire is meant to be Maze, which has continued to draw plaudits from critics and the public alike. Maze is run by Jason Atherton and has one Michelin star. It has an interesting concept and the menu is made up of a series of ‘small plates’ of beautiful sounding food and you are encouraged to order between four and six dishes.

I went along with my girlfriend for lunch on a Saturday and we quickly decided to ditch the reasonably priced lunch and tasting menus for the a la carte.

Maze is a lovely room. It is spacious, light, modern and informal. Service was friendly and attentive throughout, although the waiters kept spilling water when pouring and then not cleaning it up which annoyed me.

We went for three savoury dishes each and two desserts and can honestly say the quality was superb throughout.

My first dish was a beautifully cooked piece of cod that was accompanied with prawns, a cockle with cheese topping and a lobster bisque. The cod was delicate and melted in the mouth and was a lovely light dish to start the meal.

Secondly I went for hake wrapped in parma ham. I found it a bit dry and it could have done with a bit more of the intense pimento puree (it was meant to also contain chorizo, but I couldn't taste it) that it was served with. It was still above average though.

My favourite savoury dish was a melt in the mouth bit of pork belly. Again it was perfectly cooked. It wasn't overly fatty for pork belly and the rich, sticky, intense marinade reminded me of the best bits that are normally left in the roasting tin after cooking a joint. Lovely. It came with some really good pork crackling and a small piece of pig's head with a blob of apple sauce on that was probably not needed, but I really enjoyed anyway!

I have to admit to a bit of food envy at my girlfriends dishes. I decided we wouldn't go for the same dishes and gave her the first pick of savoury dishes.

She generously allowed me a taste of them and the undoubted highlight was the lamb dish. A perfectly cooked (medium rare) lamb cutlet that came with a side of Shepherd's pie. The mash on the pie was perfect - smooth and creamy with an obscene amount of butter in it and the mince underneath was equally good. A really fantastic dish and one we'll both have if we go back.

Maze also works well for those with a sweet tooth and we decided to treat ourselves to two desserts each. Again, they were excellent.

First for me was the chocolate delice with olive oil ice-cream & honey gelatine. The delice itself was very good and the dark chocolate on the top came with a dash of salt that really brought out the flavours. The ice-cream was ok, but I couldn't really taste the olive oil and the honey wasn't as intense as I hoped.

My second dessert was wonderful. Buttermilk pannacotta, strawberry jelly and granite, a shortbread biscuit and a pipette of caramel. The pannacotta was beautifully milky and the accompanying strawberry went perfectly with it. The shot of caramel was equally good (though I would have liked a touch more) and the biscuit added a bit of crunch. Overall it was a beautifully balanced dessert and one that I will look back on with much fondness!

The girlfriend was equally impressed with her desserts. She loved her deconstructed peanut butter sandwich and wanted to lick the plate to get the last of the cherry sauce off the plate!

The lemon meringue pie was equally good, although she felt that the basil sorbet didn't really add anything.

Overall, Maze impressed me greatly. The concept of trying a number of small plates really worked and for the quality of ingredients and cooking we felt the £9-12.50 price tag for the savoury dishes and £7.50 for desserts was well worth it. From other reviews I'd read I thought the dishes might be quite small, but I thought the portions were good and we certainly felt full after the five courses.

The Maze concept does mean you don't get any of the amuse bouches or canapes that you might expect at a high end restaurant, but I think it's worth the sacrifice for trying a number of dishes. I definitely want to go back and can't wait to find an excuse to do so.

Le Gavroche, Mayfair

I was going to write an in-depth review of my recent trip to Le Gavroche with my girlfriend.  However, when checking out other posts on the restaurant I came across the following post from @laissezfaire.

Basically my experience was similar and I don't see any point in re-writing such a comprehensive and excellent review. I've added my comments to the review and have reproduced some of them below:

"I was just about to write up my recent visit to Le Gavroche then read your review and thought: you’ve beat me to it!

My recent experience wasn’t quite as disappointing as yours, but I concur with a lot of the points you make, especially about the cheese.

When i’ve had cheese at Gidleigh Park and the Waterside Inn, it’s been a real pleasure and treat. The waiters have talked you through the different cheeses, asked you what you like and tempted me to try something a bit different. This just didn’t happen at Le Gavroche and the guy doing it just seemed a bit bored – we wondered if it was the normal persons night off?

Again with the service, it was generally ok, but there were small deficiencies and when you’re paying over £300 for two you expect better. For example, our starter dishes were left on our table for 10 minutes when we finished, we had to ask for more drinks and the pre-dessert was left standing and was brought with our actual desserts (they thought we wouldn’t notice).

The food was very good, but not truly outstanding and not one element of the whole experience (food, service, ambiance, extras) was the best I’ve ever had. Like you, I thought the wine was superb and I had a fantastic half bottle of Bordeaux that was probably the highlight of the evening. Glad it wasn’t just me – I’ve seen lots of other reviews that adore the place, but for me you can clearly see why Restaurant Gordon Ramsay has 3 stars and they only have 2"

Basically, Le Gavroche was very good, but not exceptional, which is what I expect when spending well over £300 on a meal for two!

So would I go back? Well, probably, but only if someone else was paying!