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.
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.
Beef tartare, peppered melba, mustard and cipollini onion salad, quail's egg
Chestnut and porcini veloute, confit frogs legs and apple
Seared yellow fin tuna, dried green olives, confit garlic, fennel salad
Pork belly, prawn carpaccio, cucumber, citrus dressing
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.
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.
Pan fried turbot fillet, poached rock oysters, potato terrine, cucumber tagliatelle, safron miso
Pan-roasted veal chop, salsify, carrots, pommes puree, sauce au poivre
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.
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.
Opalys chocolate jelly sphere, ivoire red fruit cremeux, raspberry ice cream
Warm chocolate orange moelleux, salted caramel popcorn ice cream
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
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.
Return to homepage
Related links
Savoy Hotel website
The River Restaurant website
The American Bar website
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