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Pollen Street Social: one year on

8/4/2012

7 Comments

 
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It has been a year now since Pollen Street Social opened its doors to the public and it has, without doubt, been a success story - even a bank holiday lunch time sees every table occupied. What's more, chef-patron Jason Atherton has achieved we think his goal of making the restaurant a 'social' space offering Michelin standard food without Michelin standard stuffiness. 

Our return visit to Pollen Street Social was driven by a desire to try the tasting menu, something that was unavailable in the early days when the small plates concept was available. With some guests finding this tricky for the usual small plate reasons like how much to order, how to share a slow cooked egg etc, the menu now is a more recognisable format of starters, mains and desserts so the tasting menu is a welcome addition.

The menu dishes have also changed somewhat as both customer feedback and the restaurant's increasing confidence shape the menu. Certain favourites are still there such as the cauliflower & squid which is featured on the tasting menu and is in itself reason enough for a visit to PSS since it is as clever as it is tasty replacing rice in a risotto with diced squid. The dessert bar also continues to thrive with most of the original desserts having survived, though as we found with the Eton mess, one year on it has become a somewhat more elegant dish.

The menu too is an interesting one, not least because of the Asian influences that are in dishes. The French quail for example come with mirin pickled vegetables while the miso braised leg is one of the highlights of the meal. Another highlight is undoubtedly the 50 day aged pure breed Black Angus rib-eye that came alongside the braised ox-cheek: it's one of the best pieces of beef you're likely to eat. The ox-cheek itself made for a fabulous dish, so tender it's a wonder how it holds its form on the plate, but plated alongside the 50 day aged rib-eye, it hardly puts up a fight. With the likes of Goodman now dominating the steak scene in London, it's nice to see somewhere like PSS hitting back with such a quality offering.     

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crispy pork skin & apple sauce
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Sicillian olives & brandade
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Wye Valley asparagus salad, Colchester brown crab, pomelo, coriander
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Scallop ceviche, cucumber, radish, yuzu soy dressing, apple
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Cauliflower & squid, clear roasted squid juice, sea herbs
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French quail, miso braised leg, mirin pickled spring vegetables
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French quail with mirin pickled spring vegetables
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Miso braised leg
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liver parfait on brioche
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Wild sea bass, coco bean, squid & langoustine "minestrone"
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Before... 50 day aged Black Angus
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After... braised Scottish ox cheek, 50 day aged pure breed Black Angus rib-eye, crispy potato, onion Lyonnaise
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... with parsley beef broth added
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Pineapple & kaffir lime granita, lychee foam
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Eton mess, wild & gariguette strawberries, basil ash meringue
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chocolate pave, mango sorbet
One year on, PSS is really in its stride. There's more chefs in the kitchen, there's fewer tables on the floor and any FOH issues from the very early days are gone, everything has come together now to provide an extremely elegant meal but in relaxed surroundings. The food standard, high from day one, has nevertheless improved further and everything we tried on the tasting menu was expertly done leading to a very satisfying meal.

It's easy to forget that Pollen Street Social is just a year old, still relatively new then, but already a well loved addition to the London restaurant scene. If like us you visited PSS in the early days but haven't been back for a while, it's definitely worth going back to see what's new. If however you have yet to visit PSS, well, you should, it really is very good.


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related links

Pollen Street Social (April 2011)

Pollen Street Social website

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Pollen Street Social on Urbanspoon
7 Comments
Matthew Strong
8/4/2012 08:52:03 am

Going later this month for Lunch, can't wait. Based on your previous recommendation of L'enclume it should be rather good

Reply
Essex Eating link
9/4/2012 12:30:29 am

Wow. The tasting menu looks absolutely stonking. I visited PSS a couple of weeks ago, for lunch and loved it. Beautiful food. The set lunch menu is a total bargain.

Reply
nick
9/4/2012 08:04:39 am

One of my favourite places in London. I've eaten there 4 times within the first 3 months of opening. Need to revisit soon.

Reply
nick
10/4/2012 07:08:21 am

Also, which dishes were part of the set menu? (if any)

Reply
thecriticalcouple
10/4/2012 07:44:16 am

nick,

i think these dishes are taken from the a la carte menu rather than the set lunch. details of that menu can be found here:

http://www.pollenstreetsocial.com/menu/setmenu

cheers

Reply
Alan spedding ( cumbriafoodie ) link
10/4/2012 10:44:54 am

I will get there... ill deffo make an effort this year to dine there.
Nice to see Jason using Pomelo...my fave fruit.I crave it every time i head to Thailand.

Reply
vialaporte link
4/8/2012 04:35:55 am

Could have been better....no worth the star....

Reply



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