Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley has two Michelin stars but surely merits three, more so than Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester from our experience and certainly more so than Gordon's Hospital Road where we have little desire to return until the place comes out from up its own backside. What makes the difference between Marcus Wareing and so many of his London rivals is that Marcus is almost always to be found in the kitchen ensuring that the food standard is consistently first class. What's more, the food is innovative, seasonal and inspiring. But it is not just the food that is consistently first class, the whole experience is. The restaurant is run with unassuming efficiency, precision and grace. The food glides to your table, everything is beautifully presented and the staff strike exactly the right balance between professional friendly without over intrusion. Finally in this respect, the restaurant manager Giancarlo Princigalli is just perfect in the role and makes us feel special every time.
A late lunch just before Christmas last year served up a perfect suckling pig with the most light, air puffed, crisp and tasty crackling we'd ever tasted. But with restaurants such as these, it is the tasting menu that's a must and on Friday and Saturday, the a la carte is not in fact available. Instead, there is a choice of three tasting menus, normal, large and man versus food large. In an AJ Liebling moment, we chose the man versus food challenge and opted for the Gourmand menu. Strap yourself in.
After the amuse bouche, first out the kitchen is lobster, chilled bisque with a glass of Kerner, Abbazia di Novacella. With the lobster cooked sous vide, it's melt in the mouth time in this delightful dish.
Next up, pan fried fois gras, yogurt, rhubarb muffin top, ginger crunch, thyme cress with a Suatuernes (Castelnau de Suduiraut). The fresh taste of the rhubarb with the indulgent frois gras is a perfect combination of acidity and sweetness. And texturally, the full spectrum as the ginger crunch provides bite to the softer fois gras and even softer yogurt. Heaven.
Next they brought out marinated mackeral, brown crab, chargrilled potato bread, apple and hazlenut with a Gruner Veltliner Terrassen.
A late lunch just before Christmas last year served up a perfect suckling pig with the most light, air puffed, crisp and tasty crackling we'd ever tasted. But with restaurants such as these, it is the tasting menu that's a must and on Friday and Saturday, the a la carte is not in fact available. Instead, there is a choice of three tasting menus, normal, large and man versus food large. In an AJ Liebling moment, we chose the man versus food challenge and opted for the Gourmand menu. Strap yourself in.
After the amuse bouche, first out the kitchen is lobster, chilled bisque with a glass of Kerner, Abbazia di Novacella. With the lobster cooked sous vide, it's melt in the mouth time in this delightful dish.
Next up, pan fried fois gras, yogurt, rhubarb muffin top, ginger crunch, thyme cress with a Suatuernes (Castelnau de Suduiraut). The fresh taste of the rhubarb with the indulgent frois gras is a perfect combination of acidity and sweetness. And texturally, the full spectrum as the ginger crunch provides bite to the softer fois gras and even softer yogurt. Heaven.
Next they brought out marinated mackeral, brown crab, chargrilled potato bread, apple and hazlenut with a Gruner Veltliner Terrassen.
Still on those early dishes, next up is roasted and marinated quail, smoked white beans, toast foam with Chapel Hill Grenache. This is a truly delightful dish. Brilliant and homely with the smoked beans and toast foam giving a 'beans on toast' effect and the quail breast delicate and perfectly cooked.
The 'main' course we opted for smoked venison, parsnip and heritage beetroot with a Chateau Durfort-Vivens 1995. The best venison ever but totally unexpected in taste and texture. The smoking process transformed the venson into a smoked meat unlike anything else we've had. Tender to cut, moist, with the smoking clear to the taste but not heavy or excessively powerful; a new face to venison.
Then some smelly cheeses from the trolley with a 10 year old Tawny Port followed by iced lime mousse, sweet and sour pineapple, soft baked meringue, liquorice with a final glass of sticky. Yum. And as always, the bon-bon trolley comes after but if like us you're too full to eat anything further (not even a waifer thin mint sir?) they'll bag these up for you to take home.
What a delight.
Here we also need to say a word about Marcus Wareing himself. Like we've already said, when you eat at Marcus Wareing, it's not just a name above the door, he's almost always in the kitchen. Second, he seems to care more about the food than about chasing celebrity - pretty rare among chefs these days. Third, he wants to create a great customer experience which means preparing the food the way you want it. We like it as he likes to make it but if you want your fish cooked with no salt, he'll do it for you rather than throw you out on your arse. In short, he has a rare humility for someone who has achieved such success. We've been lucky enough to spend time with Marcus on the occasions we've been to his restaurant and he's generous with both his time and ideas, and passionate about the food that leaves his kitchen.
MW at the Berkeley competes in a crowded field but in our view stands head and shoulder above the competition bar none. Many of these two and three star restaurants you might 'tick off' and 'do' but how many do you want to keep going back to and make home? At Marcus Wareing, we do just want to keep going back, trying all the things we missed first time round but with a constantly changing seasonal menu, Marcus is always one step ahead of you. Food at its very best.
Visit Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley here.
The 'main' course we opted for smoked venison, parsnip and heritage beetroot with a Chateau Durfort-Vivens 1995. The best venison ever but totally unexpected in taste and texture. The smoking process transformed the venson into a smoked meat unlike anything else we've had. Tender to cut, moist, with the smoking clear to the taste but not heavy or excessively powerful; a new face to venison.
Then some smelly cheeses from the trolley with a 10 year old Tawny Port followed by iced lime mousse, sweet and sour pineapple, soft baked meringue, liquorice with a final glass of sticky. Yum. And as always, the bon-bon trolley comes after but if like us you're too full to eat anything further (not even a waifer thin mint sir?) they'll bag these up for you to take home.
What a delight.
Here we also need to say a word about Marcus Wareing himself. Like we've already said, when you eat at Marcus Wareing, it's not just a name above the door, he's almost always in the kitchen. Second, he seems to care more about the food than about chasing celebrity - pretty rare among chefs these days. Third, he wants to create a great customer experience which means preparing the food the way you want it. We like it as he likes to make it but if you want your fish cooked with no salt, he'll do it for you rather than throw you out on your arse. In short, he has a rare humility for someone who has achieved such success. We've been lucky enough to spend time with Marcus on the occasions we've been to his restaurant and he's generous with both his time and ideas, and passionate about the food that leaves his kitchen.
MW at the Berkeley competes in a crowded field but in our view stands head and shoulder above the competition bar none. Many of these two and three star restaurants you might 'tick off' and 'do' but how many do you want to keep going back to and make home? At Marcus Wareing, we do just want to keep going back, trying all the things we missed first time round but with a constantly changing seasonal menu, Marcus is always one step ahead of you. Food at its very best.
Visit Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley here.