Back in April this year we visited Coq d'Argent in the City and came away thoroughly impressed with the food we ate that day. Our full review can be read here. We believed that Head Chef Mickael Weiss was delivering up Michelin starred quality food to diners but because of its location and size, the restaurant had not got the attention it deserved. Others too however were beginning to take note and in June, Giles Coren reviewed Coq d'Argent for The Times and described the cooking as 'sublime'.
This week we revisited the restaurant to find that the food continues to be first class. We might even suggest that standards have continued to inch forward during the year and our meal yesterday possibly surpassed the one we enjoyed back in April.
Our menu for the day was as follows:
- Seared hand dived scallops, coral aioli, light cauliflower puree and seaweed oil with pickled cauliflower, bacon and shallots
- Foie gras and “pain d’epice” terrine on ginger bread flavoured melba toast with pickled pear slices, mulled wine jelly and a lemon syrup, hazelnut oil, ginger and black sesame seed dressing.
- Steamed trout fillet topped with a soft almond crust on a bed of wilted baby spinach, toasted pumpkin seeds, sultanas, granny smith apple julienne salad with soft parsnip mash, red wine butter sauce and toasted almond brown butter.
- Straw baked salt marsh lamb rump with fennel and courgette purée, coriander yoghurt and pomme fondant
- selection of desserts (for a table of five): take on black forest gateau, blackberry mess, salted caramel and pear miroir with cocoa sorbet, frozen blackberry and violet parfait, and cheese.
This was, start to finish, truly excellent. Interestingly, we said just two days ago in our review of Restaurant Sat Bains:
even where traditional 'top end' ingredients are used like scallop and duck liver parfait, Sat seeks to provide an original twist to the dish, something not always tried even amongst his two star contemporaries.
And this is true of Mickael Weiss also. Layering through the foie gras with ginger bread was simply brilliant and one of the best manipulations of foie gras we've encountered. It is perhaps what has impressed us most about Mickael Weiss and what he's doing at Coq d'Argent, he never takes the easy and/or lazy option and he has a sufficient abundance of skill as a chef to carry off those more complex plates.
All the food we had yesterday was brilliant, all immaculately presented (remarkable given how many covers they do) and cooked to perfection. Coq d'Argent is probably the best food in The City right now in our opinion.
This week we revisited the restaurant to find that the food continues to be first class. We might even suggest that standards have continued to inch forward during the year and our meal yesterday possibly surpassed the one we enjoyed back in April.
Our menu for the day was as follows:
- Seared hand dived scallops, coral aioli, light cauliflower puree and seaweed oil with pickled cauliflower, bacon and shallots
- Foie gras and “pain d’epice” terrine on ginger bread flavoured melba toast with pickled pear slices, mulled wine jelly and a lemon syrup, hazelnut oil, ginger and black sesame seed dressing.
- Steamed trout fillet topped with a soft almond crust on a bed of wilted baby spinach, toasted pumpkin seeds, sultanas, granny smith apple julienne salad with soft parsnip mash, red wine butter sauce and toasted almond brown butter.
- Straw baked salt marsh lamb rump with fennel and courgette purée, coriander yoghurt and pomme fondant
- selection of desserts (for a table of five): take on black forest gateau, blackberry mess, salted caramel and pear miroir with cocoa sorbet, frozen blackberry and violet parfait, and cheese.
This was, start to finish, truly excellent. Interestingly, we said just two days ago in our review of Restaurant Sat Bains:
even where traditional 'top end' ingredients are used like scallop and duck liver parfait, Sat seeks to provide an original twist to the dish, something not always tried even amongst his two star contemporaries.
And this is true of Mickael Weiss also. Layering through the foie gras with ginger bread was simply brilliant and one of the best manipulations of foie gras we've encountered. It is perhaps what has impressed us most about Mickael Weiss and what he's doing at Coq d'Argent, he never takes the easy and/or lazy option and he has a sufficient abundance of skill as a chef to carry off those more complex plates.
All the food we had yesterday was brilliant, all immaculately presented (remarkable given how many covers they do) and cooked to perfection. Coq d'Argent is probably the best food in The City right now in our opinion.
Seared hand dived scallops
Foie gras and 'pain d'epice' terrine
Steamed trout fillet with almond crust
Rump of salt marsh lamb
cheese plate
Blackberry 'mess'
salted caramel and pear miroir
frozen blackberry and violet parfait (picture from prior visit)
take on Black Forest gateaux
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Related links
Coq d'Argent website
Mickael Weiss website
Mickael Weiss on Twitter
Critical Couple review of Coq d'Argent (April 2011)
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