Discussion
What a brilliant place. Took the wife for her 40th Birthday last Thursday night.
I book several months ago via toptable, I don't know if this is just the website but I was limited to 2 sittings 6:30 or 9:30. The entrance is a door on a elegant street just off Park Lane. You enter a small bar with a very traditional feel to it, deep red and gold abound in a very old school luxury feel, it's like being in 19th century Paris.
We arrived at 6:30 sharp and were the first into the place, which was slightly intimidating as every member of staff was seemingly lined up to greet us. The decor in the downstairs restaurant is the same style as upstairs, we were lead to the table in an excellent position at the back of the room and with fantastic people watching opportunities.
The menu was presented and a drinks order taken in short order, whilst discussing the options it was clear only my menu had prices which was an excellent touch and something I appreciated. The huge wine list was also offered and we amused ourselves with 'fantasy wine list' for a few minutes.
The option was taken to go with the Menu Exceptionnel, the tasting menu with the associated wines.
Now, I would normally refer to the menu for this review, but MrsB seems to have lost it, so this is from memory, in the wrong order and probably missing something! We opened with the not very French Cod Teryaki, perfectly cooked fish sweet smokey sauce an excellent balance. The next dish was Souffle Suissesse a cheese souffle with cream, a signature dish for Le Gavroche, I had high expectations but it was simply way too rich with the cream and actually ended up as a minor disappointment. Following was a Scallop with tapioca and squid ink, again cooked to perfection but the tapioca was not to my liking in the texture department. My highlight was the Langoustine and Partridge with salty, crispy skin and perfect sauce. Main course was Crispy Duck pancakes with Foie Gras and cinnamon, which was exceptional, the duck succulent and not dry like it can be and the FG rich and flavoursome. At this stage I should mention the tasting wines, some like the match to the duck were excellent but some whilst excellent in themselves didn't really work with the food. We concluded with an excellent cheeseboard or French and English cheeses and finally a tarte tatin which I felt was the weakest course by a country mile. The sweet apple wine however was a revelation.
Overall a brilliant experience in a London dining institution and well recommended.
I book several months ago via toptable, I don't know if this is just the website but I was limited to 2 sittings 6:30 or 9:30. The entrance is a door on a elegant street just off Park Lane. You enter a small bar with a very traditional feel to it, deep red and gold abound in a very old school luxury feel, it's like being in 19th century Paris.
We arrived at 6:30 sharp and were the first into the place, which was slightly intimidating as every member of staff was seemingly lined up to greet us. The decor in the downstairs restaurant is the same style as upstairs, we were lead to the table in an excellent position at the back of the room and with fantastic people watching opportunities.
The menu was presented and a drinks order taken in short order, whilst discussing the options it was clear only my menu had prices which was an excellent touch and something I appreciated. The huge wine list was also offered and we amused ourselves with 'fantasy wine list' for a few minutes.
The option was taken to go with the Menu Exceptionnel, the tasting menu with the associated wines.
Now, I would normally refer to the menu for this review, but MrsB seems to have lost it, so this is from memory, in the wrong order and probably missing something! We opened with the not very French Cod Teryaki, perfectly cooked fish sweet smokey sauce an excellent balance. The next dish was Souffle Suissesse a cheese souffle with cream, a signature dish for Le Gavroche, I had high expectations but it was simply way too rich with the cream and actually ended up as a minor disappointment. Following was a Scallop with tapioca and squid ink, again cooked to perfection but the tapioca was not to my liking in the texture department. My highlight was the Langoustine and Partridge with salty, crispy skin and perfect sauce. Main course was Crispy Duck pancakes with Foie Gras and cinnamon, which was exceptional, the duck succulent and not dry like it can be and the FG rich and flavoursome. At this stage I should mention the tasting wines, some like the match to the duck were excellent but some whilst excellent in themselves didn't really work with the food. We concluded with an excellent cheeseboard or French and English cheeses and finally a tarte tatin which I felt was the weakest course by a country mile. The sweet apple wine however was a revelation.
Overall a brilliant experience in a London dining institution and well recommended.
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