London
Tom Aikens - The highly controversial plating method that Aikens employs puts many people off. But if you can get past the way the food looks (many people, including me, like the abstract look of the plating), you will find a cuisine that evokes thoughts of Pierre Gagnaire. Not every dish works, but the ones that do offer much sensual pleasure. A recent dish of foie gras and a chestnut chiffonade was luxurious as well as delicious and something you might find at a two or three-star restaurant in France. The room is comfortable and surprisingly light and airy. The service is a bit stiff. B+
The Square - You have to start with the premise that French cuisine in London is not the same as French cuisine in France. So how do you create an anglicized version that works? Well, you take what is really an upper-middle restaurant, and you serve an ultrarich, bourgeois cuisine using as many luxury ingredients as possible. That's what Nigel Platts-Martin did at The Square. He and Chef Philip Howard will serve up some beautiful scallops with onion purée, a ballotine of duck and foie gras, cod with black truffles and mash, and a fabulous leg of lamb from the Midi in France. It's an honest way to approach French dining in London, and it offers a better experience than many other restaurants in town that try to come off as being more authentic. There's also an excellent wine list with a number of wines that are priced “correctly.” B+
Sketch - Sketch, a private club just off Saville Row, is not an obvious place for an haute cuisine restaurant. But serious diners took note of this restaurant when they hired Pierre Gagnaire to act as the consulting chef. Fortunately, I happened to be having lunch there on a day when Pierre was at the stoves. The cuisine he fashioned for Sketch is a variation of his cooking at his Paris restaurant. With the set lunch you get to choose your main course, and then the kitchen bombards you with an assortment of five starters. At £42 (this was nearly two years ago), it is an amazing value. Recent reports say the restaurant is erratic. I wonder if Gagnaire is spending the same amount of time there. B+
Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road - They are running on autopilot at this Ramsay flagship restaurant, which makes sense for England's most famous chef who also happens to be a television star. It’s a shame because the place used to be so much better. Sure, it was never on the cutting edge of cuisine, but you could get an honest 2+ Michelin-star meal there, and the cooking had enough spirit and intensity to make your meal enjoyable. But now eating there comes with a severe case of the blahs. B
St. John - This restaurant seems to have lost some of its footing in 2004. I’m not sure why that happened, but it seems to be unanimous among everyone that has visited the restaurant over the past six to eight months. It’s even harder to calculate where it has gone wrong when you start to analyze what exactly it is that makes Fergus Henderson’s modern version of traditional English cuisine tick. There isn't much technical wizardry needed in the kitchen. Just honest preparations that use top-quality local ingredients. Puzzling as to why this restaurant seems to have deteriorated. B
Nobu - I can’t speak for the quality of the sushi, but the cooked food at this London branch of Nobu is near the same level as the New York original. One of the great places to people watch in London. B
La Trompette - Not the best restaurant in the Nigel Platts-Martin group but possibly my favorite. The most French, if you know what I mean. Most of the diners seem like Chiswick locals, rather than the business diners and people out for a posh night on the town that you will see at his central London restaurant The Square. We had the set lunch that included an outstanding duck consommé and a nice ribeye with Bearnaise sauce. All for £21 a person. Very good wine list that is well priced. B
Hakkasan - Poshed up dim sum with superloud techno music blaring in the background is what you will find at this basement restaurant off Oxford Street. The food isn’t half bad. They served us a nice tea-smoked duck and some freshly made turnip cakes that were delicious. It certainly makes for a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon in London. Lots of funny drinks for those who like that sort of thing. Understandable why it has a Michelin star. B-
Zaika - Another London restaurant in a restored bank. They try to match the cuisine to the décor, and it is an attempt at a pretty grand expression of an Indian–French fusion cuisine. They are fairly successful: a tandoori-smoked salmon dish was superb. But where I found it lacking was in the intensity coming from the kitchen. The food is well conceived, but they don’t cook with passion. If the kitchen was more inspired, I would return more often. B-
J. Sheekey - Classic British seafood house just off Charing Cross Road in the heart of the theater district. I love the aroma of fish broth, cream, and tomatoes that permeates your nostrils as soon as you walk into the place. Have some briny oysters and a top-notch, extra-large Dover sole with some beurre blanc. Some days I fancy the lightly smoked finnan haddie on mash. Good British comfort food. B-
The Wolseley - The original owners of The Ivy offer British comfort food in a restored bank on Piccadilly. The setting is glorious and the food probably better than it needs to be. There are reports of slippage since I was there almost a year ago, but I’m not sure anyone goes there for the food. Recommended if only for the amazing people watching. On my one visit Alan Rickman, one of the members of Duran Duran, and Lucien Freud were all there at the same time. C+
Petrus - One of my major dining disappointments of 2004. After so many good reviews, I found Marcus Waring’s cooking to be a third-rate version of bourgeois cuisine. How could anyone like this more than Philip Howard’s cuisine at The Square? And they wouldn't even serve me the Omelet Arnold Bennet when I was there—they claimed it had returned to the Savoy Grill. Have you ever heard of an omelet that changed its location? C
Le Suquet - At this corner restaurant in Chelsea, they try to evoke the many fish restaurants that you can find alongside the port in Cannes. They do a pretty good job of it, serving platters of oysters, plump coquilles St. Jacques with various sauces, and a good firm sole with some nice beurre blanc. A good neighborhood place and great in a pinch as it is always easy to book a table. Going on 30 years in the same location. C
Kensington Place - This restaurant has gone downhill since it was sold a number of years ago by Rowley Leigh and partners. Yet at a recent meal all wasn’t lost, and I had an enjoyable mutton chop. Once upon a time it was somewhat of a destination restaurant, but now it is really a neighborhood place and not worthy of any real effort to get there. The design of the room is still fantastic, good enough so that the building should be listed. And the Damian Hirst–designed Pharmacy is around the corner, which makes the area a veritable London restaurant design museum. C-
Roast Mutton Chop at Kensington Place
Bray
Fat Duck - I’ve had five meals at the Fat Duck, and I still can’t claim to understand what it is that makes this food tick. Save for one meal that I thought was both uninspired and redundant, all the rest have been wonderful. Still, at its best it doesn’t make me want to stand up and yell, this was the best damn meal I ever had. It’s more than a touch more cerebral than I fancy for my meals. Yet what can appear on its face as an odd combination, like risotto with guava jelly and crab ice cream, or snail porridge with Jabugo ham, ends up working surprisingly well. The menu changes very infrequently and that keeps me from returning here on a regular basis. Otherwise, it is very casual for a Michelin three-star restaurant, which makes for a comfortable dining experience. A-
Waterside Inn - If you miss the cooking of the 1970s, book yourself a table overlooking the Thames at this quaint old inn at Bray on Thames. But if you like a more modern approach to your cuisine, book a table at the Fat Duck which is literally just around the bend. I am so off these types of places, as they have nothing of any gastronomic interest left to say. At this point all they do is cater to the crowd who dine after Ascot or Henley and are happy to throw down £500 or more for a bottle of moderately old claret. C
Leeds
Anthony's of Leeds - If you ring up this restaurant in advance of your visit and ask them if they can prepare a tasting menu, they will tell you they can accommodate you only if they aren't busy that day. Well, pray that they are having a slow day because a tasting menu prepared by Anthony and served by his partner, Olga, is a real treat. For a 24-year-old, Anthony can cook his heart out. And he can cook almost anything to boot. A graduate of the kitchens at El Bulli, his cuisine utilizes many of Adria's techniques while at the same time staying focused on serving a market cuisine. He is someone who is on the path to becoming a three-star Michelin chef, and the restaurant should be visited on a regular basis to see how he is progressing. And Olga, a former captain at El Bulli, is a consummate professional. The entire experience will make you forget that you have to take a two hour and twenty minute train ride from London to get there. B
Langoustine with Fennel Consommé at Anthony’s
Restaurants Reviewed in Prior Years
Club Gascon - Southwest French cuisine in tapas-size portions. Foie gras dishes are terrific as a foie gras company owned by the chef's father in France supplies the restaurant. B-
Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons - Terribly boring. In dire need of a new approach. C+
Tamarind - Mayfair Indian that used to be best in class, but then the chef left. My last meal was something you can find at a dozen London Indian restaurants. C
Chez Bruce - Many people love this restaurant, but my one meal was less than a success. It lacked spark. C
Moro - Good tapas but the restaurant leaves something to be desired. Better off eating tapas at the bar. C
Pont de la Tour - Excellent view. I prefer eating in the bar as it has a nice menu of grills and is a good place for a casual meal. C
Racine - My one meal here was a disaster. Sort of a pretend French bistro. D
Couldn't agree more about the waterside inn. Extortionate and dreadful. Disagree about La Trompette which I have found to be highly overated. Next visit you might want to try Richard Corrigan at Lindsay House - great use of unusual ingredients, and I'm amazed you haven't reviewed Clarke's - the Chez Panisse of London and just round the corner from the deteriorating Kensington Place.
Posted by: Thalia | March 31, 2005 at 11:26 AM
Haven't been to Clarke's in about 7 years, save for buying a slice of brie in their shop next door. I will try to get to it, and Corrigans, on my next trip to London in May.
Posted by: Steve Plotnicki | March 31, 2005 at 12:06 PM
Let me know how it goes. I will now try Tom Aikens which had completely passed me by - thanks for the pointer.
Posted by: Thalia | April 03, 2005 at 09:35 AM
Great reviews! A truly discerning diner...
Happy eating.
Posted by: Simon Carter | April 15, 2005 at 05:33 PM
Come on. What is it? a dining table in the UK that has held 3 Michelin stars for over 25 years, and you pan it. The Waterside Inn is forced by its existence to offer traditional French cuisine. That said it has dispensed with only using double cream, and has modernized and transitioned as the Chef patron role has moved from father to son. Like the Toisgros, there is an expectation when you come here, and both in food and service I think it hits it's mark. For the young hairy bikers, and the robot warriors (te he!) it may seem old hat, but it delivers time after time... But yes it that level of service does come at a price.
Posted by: David Prais | March 02, 2006 at 03:37 PM
Many dining tables that should have been demoted long ago have held 3 Michelin stars for long streteches of time. Paul Bocuse, Tour d'Argent, Georges Blanc are three that quickly come to mind. If I was the Michelin inspector I would demote them to one star and that would be generous. The food is much better around the corner.
Posted by: Steve Plotnicki | March 12, 2006 at 07:51 AM