Category: Best of the best

Tamarai – lotus eating

Tamarai is a late night Bar/Club/Restaurant in Drury Lane with a pretty good reputation for its pan Asian fusion food. We found them when reviewing Top Table deals for January. Tamarai were advertising a 50% discount on their 9 course tasting menu (full price £52). Too good to miss.

Night clubs are not exactly known for good food, and we were a bit dubious about this place, as we navigated our way thorough the corridors and down the stairs to the restaurant, which basically did look like a dark night club with tables on the dance floor (slight exaggeration, but it definitely had that vibe about it).   However this place was a revelation, as it served up delicious dishes one after another, with no dip in the quality which started high and did not drop.

It is hard to pick out standout dishes when all the food is good, but I especially enjoyed the snow crab with coconut, and the rather amazing chicken salad, which was refreshing and spicy (neat trick). Even the strawberry and basil palate cleanser is worth a mention. The main courses were Thai Green curry and lovely almost meaty prawns in a barbecue style sauce. We then finished with White Chocolate Ice Cream and Fresh Fruit Kebabs.

As well as the tasting menu we ordered the flight of wines (5 glasses for £17),  which were a good accompaniment.

The staff were plentiful and the service was efficient.

I would even suggest if this Kitchen moved above ground to a fashionable location, like Mayfair or Chelsea, that they would not need to offer deals to attract custom. Definitely the best Pan Asian food we have ever tasted.

Marks out of 10

Food 7

Service 6.8

Ambience 6

 

 

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Foliage – Accidental walkin

A first for us, getting the dates wrong for one of our restaurant visits. It turned out that we had arrived a week earlier than our booking – almost a disaster. Fortunately they just managed to squeeze us in. We literally got the very last table in a packed restaurant.

The meal was of the usual high standard, with the Gnocchi and Ox Cheeks dishes being the standouts. In fact it was so good, we decided to keep the booking for the next week as well!.

Marks out of 10

Food 8

Service 8

Ambience 7.8

 

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The Kitchin – Sunshine (& Snow) on Leith

We had watched Tom Kitchin on BBC’s  Great British Menu and admired his ability to follow the brief and not merely repeat his normal repertoire.  So it was with some anticipation that we made our way to a beautiful snowy yet sunny Leith. After our visit to Number One at The Balmoral the ambience was disappointing in comparison but then again not every restaurant can be located in a 5 star hotel.  The Kitchin is a more modern colder affair located in a converted warehouse. However all was not lost, as course after course we were treated to some of the best food we had experienced this year with perfectly matched wine.

Again the highlight of this meal was the Monkfish, specifically Monkfish tail wrapped in pancetta with an amazing broccoli puree and pumpkin gnocchi.

The service was excellent and if we were ever in Edinburgh this would be one restaurant that we would happily visit regularly. If was also nice to see that even on a day so close to the Xmas holiday Tom was busy in the kitchen.

 

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Number One at the Balmoral – Well Bread

So can the top restaurants north of the border hold their own against the top London restaurants? Based on our experience at Number One Restaurant at The Balmoral Hotel, the answer is a resounding YES. Indeed they could teach some other Michelin establishments a thing or two about service and the importance of good bread. Bread is normally something we have found that a lot of the very best restaurants tend to dismiss. Not so at Number One, they have a “loaf trolley” and serve up world class bread baked on the premises by their Pastry Chef a former French Baker.

We really liked the dining room, the décor is warm and certainly in the evening very effective for a basement restaurant. There is a large bar area and two larger rooms with well spaced tables and curved booths that allowed everyone a good view of the room.

We went for the tasting menu with matching wines, which was all of a very high standard. The standout course being the Monkfish. The New Zealand wines were also very good indeed. I also really enjoyed the fois gras course with pineapple relish and pineapple bread. At the end of the meal the sommelier discreetly slipped us a small present in the shape of a full loaf of the wonderful walnut and raisin bread.

We also had pre dinner champagne cocktails in the lively Bollinger Bar at the Palm Court,  which is a popular new venue for afternoon tea.

 

 

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Tom Aikens – Downsizing

Readers of our earlier post  (Tom Aikens – Flavour, Flavour, Flavour) will have noticed that our only criticism, applied to portion control. It does rather seem that Tom Aikens has had this feedback from a number of customers and has made some changes. Ironically we went here, without having had breakfast, ready for a feast, instead we had a well balanced lunch.

The petit fours also used to be a highlight, and now at lunch time are limited to some Madeline’s and rather tiny chocolates, which might have been ok, if we had not been aware of how spectacular this part of the meal used to be.

We had  the Tasting Menu with some stunning matching wines. The lamb course with artichokes was the weakest course, but on the whole the food was superb.

It is also great to be given the details of the wine parings.

One day we will visit and stick to our original intention of trying the much cheaper lunch menu. The temptation was just too much for us yet again.

Update: Tom Aikins is now doing BYO – see

http://www.hardens.com/restaurant-news/uk-london/17-09-09/byo-tom-aikens-bob-ricard/

Marks out of 10

Food 8

Service 8

Ambience 8

 

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The Berkeley – Pret a Portea

KiA friend reserved a table for the Pret a Portea at The Berkeley – the famous fashionista’s afternoon tea. Not that I qualify in any way for the description of fashionista, but there were plenty of them in the room to make up the shortfall.

The table was beautifully set, with individual stylised menus and a personalised name card.  Our only criticism was the size of the font on the menu (see vent number 21). We also had some concerns when only one cake stand was set on the table for four people – there was only two handbags!.  However the waiter quickly reassured us that the plates would be swapped out as and when we finished them. He was true to his word as we discovered following multiple plate changes.

The sandwiches (we had 3 rounds each and were offered more!), savoury spoonfuls and cakes were all of a very high standard. In fact I actually enjoyed the afternoon tea more than the lunch we had a few months back in Marcus Wareings restaurant!

We also had a few glasses of champagne – they offer standard or couture. The waiter serving the champagne was particularly proficient as he single handedly poured the champagne, smoothly swapping from one hand to the other. He also used a small laser pointer to individually identify and describe the sandwiches and cakes! I jokingly commented that he put on a better show than the Fat Duck.  So you can imagine my shock when Heston Blumental walked by a few minutes later. The Berkeley will be a rival to his planned new Restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental just around the corner (see Foliage replacement – the gossip!), so I guess he was just being neighbourly!

 

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