Click here to see Le Manoir: Christmas Day

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Le Manoir is always so perfect, and in deciding where we should spend Christmas this year, it seemed to us that they would deliver up a perfect Christmas too. And they did. The warmest of greetings on arrival, a glass of champagne and a mince pie welcomed us to the manor house which looked spectacular as always. Taken to our lovely room, the sound system was already playing carols from Kings College and the Christmas tree, for every guest room has its own, was already twinkling. All that remained was for us to light the log fire and prepare ourselves for three days of doing nothing much at all. I was also informed that the bar had acquired a bottle of Glenfarclas whisky especially for me as they know that's what I prefer to drink: an unprecedented level of customer care and typical of Le Manoir, little wonder then that we love the place. 

Food wise, we had a Christmas Eve dinner, a Christmas day lunch and a Boxing Day dinner to look forward to and it is the Christmas day lunch we show below. The menus are generally set (around eight course each day!), though as is their way, the staff will facilitate any desired changes if they can and they check ahead of the meal, as you enjoy a glass of champagne ahead of moving to the dining room, that the menu is to your liking. 

For the main course on Christmas day, there's a choice of turkey with all the festive trimmings, or slow roasted rib of Wagyu beef. Since the only day of the year we eat turkey is Christmas day, the occasion seemed to demand it, but turkey versus Wagyu, really? So we both went for the beef. On puddings, traditional Christmas pudding is available but again there's an alternative if this seems too heavy or simply not to your taste; we had one of each here.

And those are all the choices you have to make. Other than that, sit back, relax and enjoy Christmas by the wonderful team at Le Manoir. 

Click here to see the Le Manoir: Christmas Eve & Boxing Day

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How difficult is this? After so many great meals in 2011, trying to decide the best of what we ate during the year really is mission impossible. We have however narrowed it down and derived a list of the year's great food moments, quite a long list in fact, but there are still so many great restaurants we couldn't squeeze in, so sorry to the chefs who didn't quite make it and to our readers if your favourite is not included. 

At the end of the list there is a special 'award' (which carries absolutely no prize with it) for our choice of the best restaurant in the UK that we ate at in 2011.

So here we go.

Best starter #1: The Ledbury

Buffalo milk curd topped with grilled onion consomme served with truffle toast by The Ledbury. Brett Graham is a genius and fully deserves all the (many) awards bestowed on him this year. This dish in particular has been copied in many a restaurant but never bettered but what really makes this the best starter is the truffle toast which is utterly mind-blowingly good.

Best starter #2: The Waterside Inn

Pan-fried lobster medallion with white port sauce at The Waterside Inn. The Waterside Inn has held 3 Michelin stars for 25 years for upholding the best in classic French food and front of house service. This lobster dish is one of those dishes so magnificent that the memory of it stays with you forever. So rich, so magnificent, so beautifully done, it is simply perfect. 

Best starter #3: Le Champignon Sauvage

Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham is known by many yet it is still something of a hidden gem. When we ate there in January this year we wondered if it might be the UK's best restaurant, the food is that good. Chef-owner David Everitt-Matthias is another genius in the kitchen and amongst the most memorable of his dishes is one of the most intricate and interesting beef tartares we've ever seen. Taste, textures, plating, is has it all. Familiar but original, totally amazing.

Best Pasta Dish: Apsleys at The Lanesborough

The Carbonara Fogottelli served by Apsleys at The Lanesborough is without doubt our winner for best pasta dish of the year (and possibly ever). The pasta is filled with warm liquid Parmesan cheese, so that when you put the pasta parcel in your mouth and apply the smallest pressure to it, it bursts releasing a bomb of flavour in your mouth. Totally sensational.

Best twist: Pollen Street Social

Jason Atherton's Pollen Street Social opened to much acclaim in 2011 and there's plenty on the menu to be excited about. The squid 'risotto', using diced squid rather than rice is simply brilliant. 

Best Fish Dish: Restaurant Nathan Outlaw

That Restaurant Nathan Outlaw should win our best fish dish vote is probably not a big surprise since Restaurant Nathan Outlaw is consistently voted the best seafood restaurant in the UK - his tasting menu comprises four fish dishes and two desserts. It was all brilliant but the Wreck Fish 'English Breakfast' was standout. So much had gone into this dish including a magnificent sardine ketchup that we were completely blown away by how good it was. 

Best Chicken Dish: Coq d'Argent

Coq d'Argent is a restaurant everyone thinks they know, but on eating there this year, we found a standard of food that was entirely unexpected. Head Chef Mickael Weiss has been relentless in driving quality and the food we ate that day was Michelin standard. The signature dish of Coq d'Argent is the Coq au Vin and it is the best coq au vin we've ever tasted.

Best Beef Dish: Alyn Williams at The Westbury

Opening right at the tail end of 2011, Alyn Williams at The Westbury is one of the great additions to the London restaurant scene in 2011; Michelin stars beckon. As well as offering real value, Alyn offers real quality in both the ingredients and the cooking of those ingredients. His Devon red beef sirloin oozed intrinsic flavour; no tricks, just brilliance.

Best Lamb Dish: L'enclume

The winner of this dish is not strictly lamb, rather, it is a hogget dish. Packed with flavour, the Herdwick Hogget at Simon Rogan's L'enclume was in a league of its own and faced no real competition. Simply brilliant.

Best Pork Dish: Jose

Is there no home chef that hasn't had drilled into them that pork should be thoroughly cooked through before serving? At the brilliant new Spanish tapas bar Jose in Bermondsey, most people then surely shared our surprise at the Pluma Iberico that arrives at the table looking like a rare steak. It tastes truly exceptional, huge flavours, a revelation.

Best Game Dish: The Kitchin

So many great chefs now serving game, it's hard to choose, but with Scotland the home of some of the country's best game, and Tom Kitchin a master in this field, we're voting our best game dish to be the grouse we were served at The Kitchin. Tom has a deep understanding of game as well as passion for it, both are evident on the plate.

Best Pies: Guinea Grill

Who doesn't like a good pie? For us, there's only one place to go in London for top notch pies and that's the Guinea Grill; three times National Steak & Kidney pie champions is just one of the many accolades their pies can claim. The quality of the ingredients used sets them apart from the rest and they're made with total love and care. And of course they're totally delicious.

Best dessert #1: Paul Ainsworth at Number 6 Restaurant

This is one of the outstanding dishes (not just desserts) of the year. What it shares in common with so many of the dishes in this list is that it lives on in your mind long after you left the restaurant such that you find yourself dreaming of it in idle moments and even just thinking about it brings you great joy. It is A Trip to the Fairground by Paul Ainsworth at Number 6 Restaurant. Paul was a contender in so many categories here because his food is brilliant and he gave us one of the great meals of the year, but in having to choose one dish, who does not love a trip to the fairground?

Best dessert #2: Hibiscus

When something comes along and shakes up the conventional, it can be very special and the Cep Tart served up at Hibiscus was (yet another) touch of genius. Tell people that you enjoyed a Cep tart and they assume it was a starter, to make it a dessert, and to make it a dessert that worked is simply fabulous. And the pastry, possibly the best pastry we've tasted, so rich in toffee caramel notes. Yum.

Best Dessert #3: River Restaurant at The Savoy

Former home of Escoffier, River Restaurant at The Savoy served up the most wondrous chocolate dessert. Brought to the table as a chocolate sphere, hot chocolate is then poured over it, melting the chocolate sphere and revealing a treasure chest of other sweet naughtiness like white chocolate and marshmallows.

Best Steak Restaurant: Goodman

Goodman ticks all the boxes: range of the highest quality meats stored in their own ageing room, cooking to perfection, comfortable surroundings and friendly knowledgeable staff. We seem to keep going back and find something new to get excited about every time. With branches in Mayfair, the City and now Canary Wharf, we're never far away from a great steak.

Best Restaurant in Scotland: Castle Terrace

We love so much of what Scotland has to offer, and we love The Kitchin and Restaurant Martin Wishart, but... we concluded that Castle Terrace deserves our Best Restaurant in Scotland vote. Plate after plate of amazing and original food arrived, each perfectly done and each eliciting real joy. Chef Dominic Jack is a massive talent and we're delighted that he received his first Michelin star this year. If you are in Edinburgh, you simply must eat there. 

Restaurant Surprise of 2011: Lumiere

It is generally hard to be surprised by a restaurant these days and it's very hard to discover somewhere remarkable before other people, but in the case of Lumiere in Cheltenham, we discovered a gem. The surprise was of course the quality of the cooking; Chef Jon Howe's food is simply sublime, as good as anything we ate in 2011. It is only a matter of time before Lumiere gets its (well deserved) first Michelin star and with Jon still so young, quite frankly, he could achieve anything over the coming years. Jon Howe and partner Helen Aubrey who runs FOH are shining examples of the future of food in the UK.

Best Restaurant in the UK: L'enclume

This was actually an easy decision, a very easy decision. Simon Rogan's restaurant L'enclume is mind-blowingly good. It's original, it's natural, it's precise, it's technical, and it's a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. The breadth of ingredients used is staggering, and what's fantastic too is that Simon not only sources most of his ingredients locally, but many come from his own farm, picked by his own hand in the morning to end up on the plate in the evening. The word has been used a few times in today's post, for it's a post of good company, but Simon really is a genius.  

Every serious foodie in the UK should in our view make the trip to Cumbria to eat at L'enclume but if that isn't possible, you can now visit Simon's two year pop up restaurant Roganic in London. Here talented Head Chef Ben Spalding shows a remarkable affinity with Simon's ideals to provide a brilliant meal which resulted in Roganic being voted in our Reader Survey the best restaurant opening in London in 2011, beating Dinner by Heston Blumenthal into second place.

Below are just a small selection of pictures highlighting the brilliant food of Simon Rogan. 

Congratulations to everyone mentioned above but also to all the other chefs and restaurants who have worked so hard to provide us and all their diners fantastic meals throughout the year. We hope to see you all again soon - though there's only so much we can eat - and we look forward to trying many new restaurants in 2012.


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If someone asks me 'what does Christmas mean to you' I might soon have to answer 'eating at Goodman' for it seems the perfect place to go for those Christmas catch up lunches with friends you haven't seen all year. Today, it seemed the perfect place to go eat following Christmas shopping in the West End. A restaurant for all Christmas occasions then.

Turning off Regent Street, it was Pollen Street Social or Goodman Mayfair, but PSS doesn't do all day dining, Goodman does, so Goodman it was. That said, this close to Christmas, even at 4pm the lunch crowd were still there and showing no signs of leaving and we took what was I think the last free table.

Not expecting to be eating out today, we didn't take the normal camera but I did have a compact in my pocket so apologies to Goodman that the pics are not of the usual quality (guess I'll just have to come back yet again).

We know too that we are not the first to review Goodman, so with the aim of having something original to say in the blog post we set up a little experiment:

60 day aged USDA bone in ribeye vs 28 day aged Scottish bone in ribeye

The USDA 60 aged bone in ribeye has been aged in Goodman's own dry ageing room. What this mean is that moisture leaves the beef while it ages causing the meat to substantially shrink. This has two effects. First, it should mean the beef has a very concentrated flavour. Second, it means the beef is also very expensive (somebody has to pay for the shrinkage after all).

Also of note, the USDA beef is corn fed while the Scottish beef is grass fed. The thing is, chickens are supposed to eat corn, cows surely are supposed to eat grass. The result of the corn feeding is that the beef tends to be sweeter, a little less beefy, and has a softer texture. Would the concentration induced as a result of the extra ageing vault the US beef past its 28 day aged Scottish rival? 

In the usual Goodman way, both steaks were excellently cooked. They come with a choice of sauce, we both went for Bearnaise for Goodman do an absolutely excellent one, and we had a side of hand cut chips, spinach, and truffled mac 'n' cheese which itself was brilliant; some of the reasons we love Goodman. But how did the steaks fare?

There's no getting away from it, the Scottish beef was better in every way (in our opinion). Yes the extra ageing had imparted more flavour to the USDA steak than would have been the case if it too were only aged for 28 days, but the grass fed Scottish cow didn't need the extra ageing time because the complex flavours were already there. 

On texture too, the softness imparted by the grain took away something of value from the meat, such that eating the meat becomes 'too convenient', like baby food. And given the fact it's almost twice the price, well...

We were of course too full for puddings, but we did have starters which can be seen below. But in the great bone in ribeye battle, there was a very clear winner for us: British beef. Anyway, time now to put on my Union Jack PJs and climb under my Union Jack duvet.    

Joking aside, Goodman has become our steak house of choice in London. While at the City branch a week or so back with a friend, no camera and unrecognised as a blogger, it made no difference, we were still treated fabulously well. They have a strong, friendly, service culture running through the organisation and when that's doubled up with great food, well, it makes us just want to go back again and again (err, so I have).

If you check out the menus on line, you will see a lot of USDA beef available, but if having read this you too want to stick to 
more locally sourced produce, there's always a huge blackboard offering a vast array of choice in origin, in cut and in weight. Put another way, there's something for everyone Goodman (except veggies perhaps). We simply love it.


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Related links

Goodman City Critical Couple blog post

Goodman website

Needing some sweet treats this week and reaching out to Twitter, we were lucky enough to get a reply from @Hayden1974 (Hayden Groves) and @pastryben (Ben Mansfield), [Executive Chef and Pastry/Sous Chef at Lloyds of London respectively], who offered to whip us up a storm and they certainly did.

As well as tasting absolutely yum, they looked so good that as bloggers, we couldn't resist taking pictures and putting them up here as #foodporn. If you like what you see and want some for yourself, we're sure Hayden & Ben would be happy to help.

We have loved the food of Alyn Williams for some time and after what seems like forever, the wait is over, restaurant Alyn Williams at The Westbury has opened its doors to customers. And let's say right now, the wait was entirely worth it, Alyn is cooking up truly great food, set against the backdrop of a very comfortable dining room with first class service led by Giancarlo Princigalli. In a word, the meal was faultless.

None of this should be too much of a surprise however to those who know Alyn, for he's been cooking at the two Michelin star level for some time. Even if you don't instantly recognise the name Alyn Williams, there's a good chance you have in fact already eaten his food, for he was previously Head Chef at Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley and Petrus before that. 

The Westbury too might also be a new venue to many though it's been around for some time, though fails to enjoy the profile of its Mayfair rivals. Located on the corner of Conduit Street and New Bond Street, it is mostly familiar to locals for cocktails at the Polo Bar. The owners, keen to raise the profile, have undertaken a substantial investment in the hotel and know that to put a Mayfair hotel on the map, you need a restaurant of a calibre that can match the best of what's out there right now, and so Alyn William at The Westbury came to life.

With it being early days for the restaurant and a depressing economic backdrop, the restaurant has cleverly paired quality with value: three courses a la carte will set you back £45 and there's a three course set lunch menu for £24. The real bargain though is the seven course tasting menu at just £55. By comparison, the eight course tasting menu at The Square, no more than 200 yards away, will set you back £105, and you will not, take our word for it on this, feel this is a lesser meal in any way. 

On a quiet Monday lunch service, having chosen the tasting menu, Chef Alyn was kind enough to showcase to us a few more dishes than the standard meal; with everything so good, we're glad he did. With so many plates, we wont labour the words here but invite you to enjoy the picture show below while picking out a few highlights along the way.

The three amuses were simply delightful, his signature Fourme d'Ambert gougeres (super light and super cheesy), prawn crackers (with prawn and tom yum mayonnaise) and beautiful truffle risotto balls. The bread selection encompasses potato sour dough, lavash, and beer & star anise rolls, served with whipped caraway butter or more traditional English salted. 

Moving on to the menu itself, there's a simply beautiful salmon/horseradish/oyster/nasturtium vichyssoise dish to start. Harmoniously balanced, it packs a flavour punch above its unassuming size while the vichyssoise refreshes the palate ahead of the rest of the meal. The foie gras semi-freddo is an Alyn Williams favourite, and is another literally refreshing twist on an old familiar, giving the diner something a little different from the standard torchon.

Cauliflower panna cotta follows dressed with textures of cauliflower, and takes cauliflower to the next level. The beautiful creamy panna cotta is dressed with various textures including shredded fried leaves, and pickled rib of the cabbage leaf, over which rests a shaving of acorn. The most delectable cream cheese wafers are served alongside. Following this is a venison tartare (see the picture for the full description); it's another winner.

Every dish so far has been a winner leading to an inevitable 'which is your favourite' theme. But the barrage of good food doesn't stop there as a Risotto Milanese with smoked lardo arrives at the table. The lardo adds a rich fatty smokiness to the already comforting risotto, it's fabulous. A warm kipper in fennel custard is as brilliant as it is unusual, and turbot cheeks with gnocchi and truffle is every bit as good as it sounds.

The final main, Devon red beef sirloin is one of the genuinely tastiest cuts of beef we can remember having this year. The flavour here is intrinsic, not imparted to it by a high temperature grill and an outside char, but simply the quality of the beef precisely cooked. At Wolfgang Puck's CUT, a single steak will set you back more than the whole meal at Alyn Williams yet none of the beef we ate on our visit to Cut came close to being as good as this.

After the mains, a first rate cheese trolley is brought to the table for you to pick and choose: new cheese friends or old? The cheese is served with both crackers and various breads, while a really lovely addition was the serving of honey gel alongside. This came together best with the walnut bread layered with cheese to make the most delectable little cheese-honey sandwiches.

Desserts at Alyn Williams are also nicely original. A pre dessert of creme catalan and pear granita is so nice it make you wish you could super-size it. After that, there's an Asian themed dish with banana in lapsang tea. The last dessert of baked apples and blackberry is not quite the final bite as all meals end up with Alyn's chocolate and coffee truffles, available to take away if you're too full to manage after all that you have eaten.

This was a very accomplished meal indeed. For a restaurant that has only been open for a week, it is simply stunning. For the price, bearing in mind the quality, it has to rate surely as amongst the best value food in the capital right now.

As we've already said, Alyn Williams has been cooking 2 star quality food for many years now and his time off between the Berkeley and opening the doors at The Westbury provided opportunity for Alyn to take in the restaurant scene around the UK as it currently stands; he used the time to good effect. The result is that Alyn Williams at The Westbury provides the perfect contemporary take on fine dining: modern food underpinned by classical technique, a stylish but comfortable venue, and service that is faultlessly professional but friendly, never stuffy. Wine pairings too by Alex Gilbert, ex-Dinner by Heston Blumenthal were similarly faultless throughout and offer similar value as the food. 

We simply loved our meal here and fully expect Alyn Williams at The Westbury to be a major and influential addition to the London restaurant scene over the coming year. This was for us one of the very best tasting menus of 2011 and without hesitation we group it in the same company as The Ledbury and The Kitchin. So, if come the new year you want to eat like a king but don't want to break the bank, head to Alyn Williams at The Westbury, the new face of fine dining in the capital.


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Related links

Alyn Williams at The Westbury website

Alyn Williams on Twitter

Giancarlo Princigalli on Twitter

It is a widely known fact that Rules is the oldest restaurant in London having opened on the current site in 1798, seven years before the Battle of Trafalgar and a cool seventeen years before the Duke of Wellington would defeat Napoleon at Waterloo. Over that period, the reigns of nine monarchs, much has been written on Rules, some good, some bad, but Rules endures so they've clearly been doing something right for the past two hundred years.

Given its history, the preconception of the venue ahead of our visit runs along the lines of a crusty, wood panelled gentlemen's club of old; we weren't disappointed. And if you think that after a few years your home has become a little 'busy' with knick-knacks, imagine what 200 years of collecting does; the walls are festooned with pictures, memorabilia and the preserved heads of dead animals. 

And to top it all, for the Christmas season, out come the garlands, the lights and the baubles; even the deer heads get a scarf or a Santa hat. If you love Christmas, your inner child will giggle with delight, while if you're prone to 'humbug' you'll most likely do a runner at the first opportunity. Us? We love Christmas, and we loved being greeted inside the front door of Rules by a roaring log fire, and we loved the timelessness of it all.

Foodwise, it's not hard to guess where Rules positions itself, traditional British fare and meats, but the other delight of going at this time of the year is that Rules also specialises in game, and December is nicely placed within game season to enjoy both early season (Red Grouse) and late season (pheasant) game. What's more, the website for Rules is as busy as the walls of the dining room, and included within the content is a very useful guide to game. Here, not only do you learn that wild game contains 5% - 7% fat (lamb is 25%), but you also get a guide to the game season (where you learn that snipe is in season from 12th August to 31 January), and a descriptions of what's what (guiding you on the difference between teal and widgeon).

Nothing too exotic ordered on the starters with just a Caramelised Cox's apple salad with hazelnuts and Cropwell Bishop stilton, and a bowl of Cornish fish soup with crab and mullet. The soup bowl arrives empty with the soup then poured from its own pan at the table; Rules like doing things at the table it seems, more tradition. The fish soup was actually very good while the apple salad came with stilton as crusty as the restaurant and was enjoyed well enough also.

For the mains, we choose Poached Pheasant with pearly barley risotto and forest mushrooms which is excellent, but the star of the show in many ways is the day's special: Woodcock. The Rules website describes Woodcock thus:

A medium sized wader with a long straight bill. Favours moist woodland with low cover and may be found throughout much of Britain. A dish fit for a king. Snipe and woodcock are rarely available over the counter or from game dealers so are highly prized.

Given that description, how could we resist? They also tell us that the bird is served with the head on, 'is that ok?' Why not. Another dish served at the table, it arrives in its own pan with crispy bacon, veg with lardons and parsnip chips. The bird sits on toasted brioche that has absorbed some of the bird's juices and is useful if you want to spread with the offal which is readily available inside the bird's carcass. Bread sauce and game sauce are brought to the table, and red currant sauce is also available if desired. 

Not only is the Woodcock served with the head, but the head has been split down the middle offering up its brains for eating. Even its bill has been split down the middle and acts like a useful handle if you want to pick up the head and suck the brains out directly (I didn't). The woodcock meat itself is extremely gamey, I was amazed how much so in fact while the offal was twice as intense as the meat - wow. A sharper knife to help remove the meat from the bird would have been useful but I mostly got there in the end and it was great to enjoy something very different from the standard fare of most restaurants.

With the excitement of mains over, we're both quite full and elect to share a dessert. The dessert list reads like a list from school dinners and includes chocolate sponge, sticky toffee and rice pudding. We elected for a Golden syrup sponge with custard which was nice enough.

You go to Rules knowing what to expect and taking it on those terms, there's plenty to like about it. Christmas ladles on seasonal indulgence yet further meaning you'll find many a Christmas party taking place there this time of year. But we also like that Rules is open all day for food and should you be shopping in the nearby Covent Garden market (also extravagantly decorated for Christmas) and mid/late afternoon fancy a late lunch/early dinner, walk-ins should have no problem securing a table. After 6pm however, booking is currently essential.

Rules has received plenty of bad reviews in its time. Kingsley Amis had little that was good to say about the place (Where disaster Rules) but even this is proudly displayed on the Rules website, after all, over the course of 200 years, Rules has outlived its critics and reviews, survived world wars, and emerged unscathed through every one of the many economic crises. And so Rules will undoubtedly be serving the best of British long after this critical-couple is fertilising soil, but for what it's worth, adding one more review to the pile, we loved it.


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Related links

Rules website

The Savoy is truly a London landmark with a special place in Britain's history. Opened in 1889, it was the first hotel in Britain to have electric lights and electric lifts. It is also the hotel in which Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas conducted their affair (in rooms 346 and 362), and the forecourt road of The Savoy is the only street in Britain where traffic drives on the right. The list goes on.

The hotel is of course equally famous for its connection to food. Auguste Escoffier was chef at the hotel between 1890 - 1897, and for etymologists and fans of trivia, it is from Escoffier that we get the word 'scoff' as in 'to scoff your food'. Somewhat more well known, it is where both peach Melba and Melba toast were created (named after Dame Nellie Melba) as well as omelette Arnold Bennett.

Mention dining at The Savoy to most however and they instantly think of The Savoy Grill, though it wasn't always the case. It was in fact the River Restaurant where Escoffier cooked, and to that end, it is the River Restaurant that is our destination today.

Following a period of closure and a £220million refit, The Savoy once again opened its doors, on 10/10/10 (at 10.10 am of course) and there was much interest in seeing the 'new Savoy' and its new offerings. In October this year, at the River Restaurant, Canadian born James Pare was appointed Head Chef, having formerly been with the Fairmont Group (the Savoy's owners) in Seattle and Whistler. It is reported that James spent much time looking through the Escoffier archives (at both the Savoy and the Musée Escoffier in Villeneuve-Loubet, France) to respect the restaurant's food origins. In the evening, there's even an Escoffier tasting menu of classic dishes though at lunchtime, it's à la carte or Menu du Jour only.

With a good looking menu, unable to decide between options, we elected to create our own tasting menu. The opening course in our DIY tasting menu was Chestnut and porcini velouté, confit frogs legs and apple, together with Beef tartare, peppered melba, mustard and cipollini onion salad, quail's egg. Both were excellent and the additional touches to the dishes, like the tiny apple cubes in the velouté to give small bursts of acidity to contrast with the rich warmth of the chestnuts and porcini was excellent. Seasonally perfect too on a cold winter's day.

Our next round saw an order of Seared yellow fin tuna, dried green olives, confit garlic, fennel salad, and Pork belly, prawn carpaccio, cucumber, citrus dressing. Again, both were delicious. The pork belly was fatty, but the perfect side of fatty, enough to give huge flavours to the pork, make you feel a little guilty, but never too much that you feel cheated. The prawn carpaccio too was juicy, wonderfully seasoned and a delight in its own right. Both were excellent stand alone, together, fabulous.

For the mains, we chose Pan fried turbot fillet, poached rock oysters, potato terrine, cucumber tagliatelle with safron miso, together with Pan-roasted veal chop, salsify, carrots, pommes puree, sauce au poivre. The mains were good but felt a little weaker than the starters. 

In the case of the turbot, the first bite of the turbot with the oyster was fabulous and the dish felt inspired. However, moving further into the main, the generous piece of turbot was accompanied by two very generous oysters, a very generous amount of cucumber tagliatelle, and a generous potato terrine, all resulting in too much competition between competing favours. In a dish like this, I don't want the cucumber wrestling with the turbot for top billing, the cucumber should know its place. 

Desserts were excellent and seeing what the table next to us ordered, one dessert at least was immediately decided upon: Opalys chocolate jelly sphere, ivoire red fruit cremeux, raspberry ice cream. The plate initially arrives with an intact chocolate sphere and if they left it there as is, you'd still think wow. But then hot chocolate is poured on top and the upper half of the sphere melts away revealing an inside of white chocolate and marshmallows. Since starting the blog, we have observed that while many desserts are good if you enjoy sweets/chocolate, so few restaurants produce truly fabulous desserts. This is we think a truly fabulous dessert and the presentation and table theatre will make it memorable long after so many other desserts at other restaurants have been forgotten. And priced at £11, it's fair value in our view.  

The other dessert was a Warm chocolate orange moelleux, salted caramel popcorn ice cream. The chocolate, orange, salted caramel combination was excellent (and if you love chocolate oranges...) while the popcorn would have been heaven all by itself. Desserts are clearly a real strength of the River Restaurant. Peach Melba another time perhaps. 

Overall, we were delighted with our meal at the River Restaurant. The art deco surroundings are comfortable, the food good and the staff friendly, coupled with strong levels of service where the focus is on the guest. Communication between staff within the restaurant and even within the broader hotel was excellent and we felt very well looked after from the moment we set foot through the Strand entrance. The staff also exuded pride in the restaurant and hotel which was nice to see, and something that can never be faked; as a guest, it gives you additional confidence in the establishment.

Prices are where you might expect them to be, but no more. Starters £9-18. The main turbot at £29 is competitively priced for top end fish while the veal chop at £29 compares more than favourably with the veal chop at high end City Italian L'anima at £36 on our recent visit there. Desserts too as noted above are priced at £11. For the quality of food and the comfort of the surroundings, overall, it's a fair deal in our view.

They have we think a difficult job at the River Restaurant: respect the past but don't get stuck in it, appeal to the hotel's natural demographic but attract non resident guests also, deliver Savoy standard service, but acknowledge the trends in food towards less formal dining. In the round, they do it well and we enjoyed our meal there. With a perfect cocktail supplied by the award winning American Bar (before and after), The Savoy overall was something of a surprise, and a classy way to enjoy a good meal in London.  


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Related links

Savoy Hotel website

The River Restaurant website

The American Bar website

A major part of the blogging fun for us in 2011 has been to leave London and explore the great food being served up around the UK. We have loved all of our excursions and found brilliant places to eat everywhere we went. Accordingly, it was a trip to Devon earlier this year that took us via Dorset where we were lucky enough to discover the food of Russell Brown, owner and chef of Michelin starred Sienna restaurant in Dorchester. While Russell started in the food business much later in life than many of his peers, his passion and talent has made Sienna a must visit restaurant in the South West of England.

Passion and talent are also in abundance in another famous Dorset chef, Mat Follas, Masterchef winner 2009 and now the chef-owner of The Wild Garlic restaurant in Beaminster. Matthew Norman in The Guardian called Mat 'an exceedingly rare talent', which he is; a lively personality is equally matched with heart: Mat was the driving force behind the Kai We Care event earlier this year, raising money for New Zealand earthquake victims.

As Dorset's two leading culinary lights, Russell and Mat know each other well, have worked together before, and it was our absolute pleasure to host an entirely original collaboration between them for the last of the Chefs @CriticalCouple dinners. Themed 'a kind of Italian dinner', both chefs drew on Italian influences in their food but also heavily on local ingredients giving us 'a kind of Dorset dinner' also. 

We also have to thank Russell's demi chef Alex and Mat's sous Dann who were invaluable in the kitchen and Russell's wife and FOH at Sienna, Eléna, together with Katy from The Wild Garlic, who looked after the front of house for the night. Thanks too to The Dorset Wine Company for supplying and shipping the wine to us.

With Prosecco in hand, our amuse for the evening was listed as 'pizza delivery' and true to the description, more than dozen pizza mini boxes (by @richardbudd) arrive bearing the inscription 'The Sienna, Wild Garlic Pizza Co' and contained within was an absolutely delicious spinach and chestnut mushroom pizza bianca. With a white sauce base with Parmesan and cheddar, we all could have happily eaten a full size version of this though with so many treats to come, we're glad we didn't. 

Taking our seats at the table, the first course arrives on sharing boards and contains a slow cooked pork and apple terrine (served with onion relish) and smoked venison loin. A beautiful selection of breads also arrives at the table, containing ciabatta, tomato focaccia and bread sticks. Finally, there's a surprise, a plant pot. Those who have been to Noma will know how they serve a plant pot with radish and carrot and edible soil to guests as part of the pre menu finger food. With Mat having done a spell in Noma's kitchen as part of the Masterchef season, this was his take on the same, nicely done and continuing the serious food/playful theme. The sound of enjoyment surrounds us (apart from those who were brave/crazy enough to eat the chilli in the plant pot).

Listed as Oysters & Pearls, this is a tease of a dish, borrowing the name from the French Laundry classic. It is however their very own take though before we even get to the food, the serving plates, kilos of Dorset rock, takes everybody's breath away. When Ben Spalding served his 'chicken on a brick', we thought serving plates didn't come any heavier - we were wrong. This was a fantastic presentation and situated the ingredients in a meaningful but brilliantly fun way. 

On the rock we have a raw oyster, a hot smoked oyster with an oyster cream sauce, and one oyster Rockefeller, cooked on spinach with a sabayon topping and Old Winchester cheese. Dressing the rock is British seaweeds rehydrated in beef stock and miso, together with lemon and Tabasco tapioca pearls and lumpfish caviar.

It sounds busy but in fact looks beautifully composed on the rock and brings together some wonderful variety while staying focussed. We're spoiled in knowing where to start, the fresh oyster seems a good choice, oyster cream sauce next and the decadent Rockefeller last; it's all superb. Our thanks to Sarah from Samways for getting the oysters to us.

It's that time of year: white truffle time. For any 'kind of Italian dinner', a truffle dish is a must and we were served panfried potato gnocchi with wild mushroom ragout and shaved white truffle. Both Mat and Russ came out to shave the truffle but with plenty left over, we all had a go at shaving a little bit extra on our dish. Fab and fun on so many levels.

The truffle was supplied at an excellent price direct to our door by James Painter who is new on Twitter (@Sybaritic2011), more details can be found on his website. 

On cue from the kitchen, I ask the people sitting at one side of the table to take their glasses and step aside from the table; curiosity levels are raised. In come Russ and Mat, carrying a four foot long piece of wood covered in green pine, contained in which, as if settled on the ground, are 14 partridges. The board is laid carefully laid on the table. 

There's small pots too and with the lid lifted, the essence of smoked pine rises. The individual partridges are served up on plates and then sauced with button onions, lardons, together with quince and green salad. The partridge is beautiful, a real hit with the room and a personal favourite ever since we had it at The Waterside Inn around a year ago. The Waterside taught us how the very best partridge tasted and here today we were again enjoying the very best partridge. Superb.

Cheese next, Sharpham Brie with Red Williams pears, pear & walnut chutney, sea salt and olive oil crackers. A wonderful West Country brie, lovely and creamy with the pear providing contrasting acidic freshness that balanced well.

Hokey Pokey Sundae has us bemused but Mat assures us this is a straight up New Zealand term for ice cream with small lumps of sponge toffee, and indeed, Wikipedia has an entry for Hokey Pokey ice cream (it also has an entry for Mat Follas!). What's more, Wiki suggests that the origin of Hokey Pokey is the Italian phrase oh che poco meaning 'oh how little'; it all adds up for this kind of Italian New Zealand Dorset evening. Today, rather than plain vanilla ice cream we have English lavender ice cream topped with Dorset honey ice cream, honey 'Hokey Pokey' on the slate and dried lemon rind. Rather good all in all, and very refreshing. 

Since we're on Italian words, next up is pannacotta, Italian for cooked cream. Russ makes a mean pannacotta and reflecting the season, it is served with warm mulled cider soup and poached autumn fruits. Perfectly done.

Finally, it is the sharing chocolate bar, of which several arrive at the table whole inviting more participation, and someone to divide the bar up, something done with varying degrees of success, but it was fun. The bar is pistachio and milk chocolate ganache with a blackcurrant pate de fruit centre. The bar is then coated in 70% xoconusco chocolate and topped with gold powder and whole pistachios. Chocolate  is from Chocovic, and supplied by Mediteria in Woking.

Russell, Mat and the whole team did a wonderful job that night and everybody had a fantastic time, though of course, as many will know, the evening doesn't finish with the food. We didn't stick entirely to an Italian script as we can't abide grappa here so broke out the Glenfarclas whisky as usual, handed out goodie bags (which included a lovely donation from the even more lovely @theskinnybib) and collected donations for Galvin's Chance charity.

And cooking @CriticalCouple always provides the chefs with a discerning audience and tonight, we had the old Marcus Wareing crew round, Alyn (@chefalyn) and Giancarlo (@gcprinci) once again teamed at Alyn Williams at The Westbury, James (@JamesKnappett) now of The Ledbury and Sandia (@watermelonchang) of the fabulous Roganic. Their verdict: a huge success; praise indeed from these industry big hitters. We were also delighted to host a further mix of new and old friends including @mcmoop, @barrybevan, @workerbeep, @debbiegreeneyes, @eatingsoho, @fredsmith_, @burgerprincess and @andredang.

Russell and Mat were truly great, entering whole heartedly into the spirit of the evening and enjoying the additional challenge, having their restaurants in Dorset, of not having a London kitchen for prep as most of the other chefs have. They coped admirably. As Russell said, "what an opportunity! Cook your dream menu for 14 foodies and do it in collaboration with Mat and his team, two different food styles but a common purpose, to give the guests a great time. Bit of a logistical challenge but I think we got there.! A lot of credit goes to both our teams and I reckon our wives."

So there it is, the very last of the chefs' dinners @criticalcouple. What a wonderful way to end it, two great chefs, nine wonderful courses and fourteen very happy diners. Mat's Kiwi roots aside, Russ and Mat are two great British food talents right now, each very much doing his own thing in Dorset. So if you're in the area, do stop by Sienna or The Wild Garlic, the fourteen people round the table can testify that you'll have a lovely time with great food.  

Jason Atherton, Johnnie Mountain, Alyn Williams, Ben Spalding, Brett Graham, Bruno Loubet, Simon Hulstone, Russell Brown and Mat Follas, our thanks go to all of these chefs for making 2011 special for us and almost 100 guests. Simply wow.


Related links

Sienna website

The Wild Garlic website

Chef Russell Brown website

Russell Brown on Twitter

Mat Follas on Twitter

CriticalCouple review of Sienna


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Simpson's in the Strand is a step back in time of a hundred years or more, and that's exactly how they want it. For people who eat there, that's exactly how they want it too. As an authentic piece of Victorian England it is as far away from the Spuntinos of this world as can be and while Heston's Dinner lays claim to plundering the historical cookbooks of England for the menu, Simpson's need only plunder their own archive. Sit on one of their original divans and you will be sitting where the likes of William Gladstone, Benjamin Disraeli and Charles Dickens sat before you. Simpson's in the Strand then is the real deal, and it's never really changed for the fashion of the day so itself becoming timeless.

Originally founded in 1828 as a coffee and cigar house, Simpson's became the home of English chess, frequented by the likes of Howard Staunton, and as a venue, the home to the first international chess tournament, organised in 1851 as part of the Great Exhibition of Art and Industry of that year. Chess sets used in the 1853 tournaments are still on display.

And the chess is important because it is how the food tradition started also. Gentlemen playing chess (for women were back then excluded from the main room) wanting food without disturbance to the game had large trolleys of meat wheeled to the table where it would be carved in front of them and served up, a tradition continued to this day, still with the original trolleys and still a fabulous sight to see (indeed it recently featured in Michel Roux's Service on the BBC).

And while there was no evidence of chess games taking place while we were eating, Simpson's claim to have a board available for anyone who does wish to enjoy a game while enjoying their food. Women are now of course welcome throughout Simpson's though MrsCC feels the place retains the feel of a gentlemen's club and is less partial to the venue than I. Being MrCC, I find it hard not to revel in both the surroundings and its past and appreciate that while this might not exactly be the place for gastronomes (of a certain kind), it nevertheless nourishes in different ways and I have been an occasional visitor here for a decade or so, enjoying its unchanging ambience for all that time.

Finally, and what really helped to make our visit, was that looking after our aisle and the beef trolley was Giuseppe. I hope I don't offend him so by saying that if he wanted to retire, surely he could, but no doubt having been on Simpson's staff for decades himself, not only is he in character with the place but he is the character of the place and his pride in the trolley, the food and the institution offered a lesson in 'traditional values' that so many people talk of and dream of returning to. Well, it's here, at Simpson's, with Giuseppe, his trolley and his 'old school' service.

Starters are adequate though the stars at Simpson's will always be the main courses. I chose the smoked haddock omelette and while the omelette Arnold Bennett was invented next door at The Savoy, at a time when Simpson's was in fact owned by the hotel, the omelette was nice enough but failed to pack a real punch with its cheesiness or with the smoked haddock. My dining companion (not MrsCC today, rather a gentleman) chose the fishcake, poached egg and chive butter sauce which he assured me was very good.

On the main course, how could we come here and not have Giuseppe carving at the table? The trolley options are Roast Rib of Scottish beef (aged 28 days) with roast potatoes, Savoy cabbage, Yorkshire pudding and homemade horseradish, or Roast saddle of lamb. I chose the beef.  The meat is brought to the table on the trolley, burners below keeping it warm, juices running around the edge and Yorkshires piled high. It's a huge, impressive piece of meat and a very generous portion is carved to the plate. 

Giuseppe asks if I want my Yorkshire Pudding soaked in gravy? Why not I say after which the pudding takes a bath. Portions are generous and this is the original table theatre. There's beef seconds available too for £5.75 but you'd have to have a hell of an appetite to want and manage this. It's all beautifully done in beautiful surroundings and I'm delighted. The food too is excellent, exactly what you hope it will be, a roast to be savoured and I do admit loving it even if the beef for personal preference could have been somewhat more on the medium rare side.

Another Simpson's classic is the Beef Wellington ordered by my friend. A little challenge for them too, could they get the beef on the rare side and still crisp the pastry? They did a pretty damn good job and I got to try a piece, excellent, better than I remember from having tried it before. Both main courses were an absolute winner. 

We're too full for old school desserts that include treacle sponge and jam roly poly.

Simpson's will not appeal to everyone, but there again, what does? It is 183 years old and is not only proud of the fact, but invites you to be a part of that history and celebrate the tradition. In The Conan Doyle story The Adventure of the Dying Detective (1917), Sherlock Holmes, having fasted for three days as a ruse to ensnare a murderer, says to Watson following the successful completion of his scheme, 'when we have finished at the police station I think that something nutritious at Simpson's would not be out of place'; Watson, surely a meat and two veg man, would have ordered beef from the trolley I think even if we are denied the exact details of this particular culinary nugget. You'll find Simpson's too in the writings of WE Johns (Biggles) and EM Forster. 

If I have a qualm, it's that it's pricey. Three courses will set you back the best part of £50 before service for essentially a roast dinner, and wine is generously marked up though there are one or two bargains if you press the wine list hard enough. Accordingly, it's not a place to go every week, or even every month, but an occasional visit borders on an almost patriotic duty, and for anyone who reads history books, or watches history programmes on TV and enjoys them, Simpson's on the Strand more directly places you at the centre of the adventure, as a participant, not a mere observer. 

So, loving London, and loving history, in turn, I love Simpson's and will certainly return annually over the next decade, like I have for the past decade, find it unchanging over that time and love it all the more for it. And they say nostalgia isn't what it used to be?

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