We had heard so many good things about Racine that we assume that on the occasion of our visit on the Thursday before Xmas that they must have been having a bad day, a really bad day. We had heard that their cote de boeuf was the 'best in the world' but ours was not just 'not good' but was actually quite bad. If that were the only dish of the day that went wrong we might be inclined to shrug it off but the whole meal was disappointing from start to finish.
For those not familiar with Racine, it is a French restaurant situated in Knightsbridge just a short walk from Harrods serving Bourgeois French cooking. The interior is instantly recognisable in the French style and given the rents in Knightsbridge, the tables are authentically close together in the Paris style. With prices at the level you might expect for the area, while Racine does not posses a star, our expectations were high, especially given the widespread praise it had received.
With our usual hunger to try much of their offering we thought we'd order a four course lunch with the cote de boeuf as the second course to share across a table of four before we all enjoyed self selected main courses.
For the starters there was universal excitement at the scrambled eggs and fresh black truffle which was chosen by three of four, while yours truly selected the warm garlic and saffron mousse with mussels, another dish that had come much recommended.
With the plates brought to the table, the first surprise was that despite three truffle dishes now in front of us, there was no real aroma of truffle. Not one of us around the table could pick up on the truffle for it was without smell. Nor was the shave the most generous but this was not portion dependant, it just didn't smell of anything. Missing the aroma, it is little surprising then that the taste was also of nothing for the two are directly related. In every respect, this seemed a truffle of no consequence. To add insult to injury, the scrambled eggs were also disappointingly washy. The garlic and saffron mousse was in most respects the dish of the day with the saffron and garlic flavours subtly combined in a light mousse. From here though it would be downhill.
For those not familiar with Racine, it is a French restaurant situated in Knightsbridge just a short walk from Harrods serving Bourgeois French cooking. The interior is instantly recognisable in the French style and given the rents in Knightsbridge, the tables are authentically close together in the Paris style. With prices at the level you might expect for the area, while Racine does not posses a star, our expectations were high, especially given the widespread praise it had received.
With our usual hunger to try much of their offering we thought we'd order a four course lunch with the cote de boeuf as the second course to share across a table of four before we all enjoyed self selected main courses.
For the starters there was universal excitement at the scrambled eggs and fresh black truffle which was chosen by three of four, while yours truly selected the warm garlic and saffron mousse with mussels, another dish that had come much recommended.
With the plates brought to the table, the first surprise was that despite three truffle dishes now in front of us, there was no real aroma of truffle. Not one of us around the table could pick up on the truffle for it was without smell. Nor was the shave the most generous but this was not portion dependant, it just didn't smell of anything. Missing the aroma, it is little surprising then that the taste was also of nothing for the two are directly related. In every respect, this seemed a truffle of no consequence. To add insult to injury, the scrambled eggs were also disappointingly washy. The garlic and saffron mousse was in most respects the dish of the day with the saffron and garlic flavours subtly combined in a light mousse. From here though it would be downhill.
scrambled eggs and fresh black truffle
garlic and saffron mousse with mussels
Despite emphasising on ordering that the cote de boeuf should be a second course and the individual mains a third course, both then arrived together. However, as we will discuss shortly, three of the mains - the partridge dish - were over cooked and so returned to the kitchen leaving us to devote our time to the cote de boeuf. Where to start? The first thing perhaps we should note is the cooking, the beef was ordered medium rare but as the photographs below show, especially the bottom one, there was too much of it that was actually well done. Bits that had pinkish tinges to them stilled showed evidence of overcooking with the dark brown cooked layer penetrating almost an inch into the cut.
Possibly due to the poor cooking, the beef was also tough. Despite serrated knives, the effort required to cut the beef was immense leaving us at times with white knuckles given the force that we need to apply. Furthermore, the top char didn't in fact cut through, rather, it broke away in fibre like lengths. We were little surprised then that the beef tasted of very little. Despite this being a dish for two shared between four of us, beef remained on the plate when it was cleared because it really wasn't worth eating.
Possibly due to the poor cooking, the beef was also tough. Despite serrated knives, the effort required to cut the beef was immense leaving us at times with white knuckles given the force that we need to apply. Furthermore, the top char didn't in fact cut through, rather, it broke away in fibre like lengths. We were little surprised then that the beef tasted of very little. Despite this being a dish for two shared between four of us, beef remained on the plate when it was cleared because it really wasn't worth eating.
cote de boeuf
too much was well done rather than medium rare
For the individual main courses there were three selections of roast partridge, Chartreuse of cabbage and foie gras, one main of grilled rabbit, mustard sauce and smoked bacon with a shared plate of truffled macaroni gratin. We have already noted that the main course arrived early but on that occasion the partridge was thoroughly over cooked (leaving it to taste like the ubiquitous over cooked chicken). Meanwhile we sampled the truffled macaroni gratin which as can be seen below, despite being on the menu at £15.50, had a mere five small truffle shaves on it. However, given that this was the same truffle of no consequence as before, did it really matter? Like the scrambled eggs earlier, the macaroni was also poor being a little chewy with a greasy texture. No one around the table took more than a single mouthful.
The grilled rabbit was good but not exceptional and had to be enjoyed out of synch with the other main courses. When the partridge did come back, it was not this time over cooked but it was cooked inconsistently (even within a single bird) ranging from a close to rare to cooked through. It too challenged the diner to extract the joy from the bird. At our recent Waterside Inn visit (admittedly both more expensive and with 3 stars), we nevertheless drooled at the partridge dish. Here, you would not be able to tell it was the same bird that we had so enjoyed in Bray.
The grilled rabbit was good but not exceptional and had to be enjoyed out of synch with the other main courses. When the partridge did come back, it was not this time over cooked but it was cooked inconsistently (even within a single bird) ranging from a close to rare to cooked through. It too challenged the diner to extract the joy from the bird. At our recent Waterside Inn visit (admittedly both more expensive and with 3 stars), we nevertheless drooled at the partridge dish. Here, you would not be able to tell it was the same bird that we had so enjoyed in Bray.
grilled rabbit, mustard sauce and smoked bacon
truffled macaroni gratin
roast partridge, Chartreuse of cabbage and foie gras (over cooked)
partridge second go round, better but inconsistently cooked
We called it a day deciding not to opt for dessert as we felt that Racine had fully used up all of its life lines (and those of the restaurant next door also). The bill was not cheap. Wines enjoy mark ups at the top end so that a Pontet Canet 2001 that retails at around £45 per bottle is on the wine list at £158 (350% mark up), and after service charge, that will be closer to £178. They do have a favourable corkage policy though (£15 per bottle) which is well worth taking advantage of. The cote de boeuf meanwhile was £75 that we would have happily parted with for the best in the world but for this?
Four people round the table, all four disappointed and for the rest of the day, conversation dominated by both the need to marvel at how bad the meal was and a need to move on to put it behind us lest we get angry at the experience and expense. We started by suggesting that this must be an off day because Racine has so many fans and advocates. That said, we don't want to go to the expense of going back to find out if this was an off day or not, for the London restaurant scene is currently far too vibrant to waste our time also.
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Four people round the table, all four disappointed and for the rest of the day, conversation dominated by both the need to marvel at how bad the meal was and a need to move on to put it behind us lest we get angry at the experience and expense. We started by suggesting that this must be an off day because Racine has so many fans and advocates. That said, we don't want to go to the expense of going back to find out if this was an off day or not, for the London restaurant scene is currently far too vibrant to waste our time also.
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