Apsleys

Below are notes from a meal in September 2010.

An amuse-bouche was a trio of carpaccio: scallop marinated in ginger and lime on a bed of amaranth, tuna tartare, and tuna with orange and bottarga. I particularly liked the tuna tartare, and overall this was around 16/20 level. Carbonara fagotelli (£17.50), which I have written about previously, was enhanced with white truffles (17/20). The dish of the night was tagliolini of lobster with almonds and aubergine (£22), which had very tender lobster and superb pasta (18/20). Pumpkin tortellini with Castelmagno cheese and white truffles was also excellent, the sweetness of the pumpkin working well with the earthiness of the truffles (17/20).

Grouse was wrapped in spinach leaf with a parsley mousse with poached foie gras, pearl onions cooked in port with wild mushrooms and mustard seed sauce (£38). The grouse had excellent flavour and was carefully cooked, and the combination with the mustard and onions worked well, offsetting the richness of the foie gras and the grouse itself (17/20).

Turbot cooked in a salt crust with roasted peppers and a potato terrine (£38) was in itself of high quality and was well cooked, but the dish overall was spoilt by clumsy preparation at the table. The waiter did not do a good job of filleting the fish, leaving lots of bones, while in the time all this took the accompanying vegetables had gone cold (still about 15/20 given the lovely fish). In my view they should do this preparation in the kitchen. I am all for some culinary theatre, but not to the detriment of the dish. Desserts of rum baba and ricotta soufflé with chocolate and passion fruit were to the usual very high standard here (17/20). Service, fish filleting aside, was excellent.

Further reviews: 18th Dec 2013 | 21st Sep 2013 | 23rd Jul 2013 | 05th Apr 2013 | 09th Feb 2013 | 08th Oct 2012 | 01st Mar 2011 | 01st Feb 2010 | 01st Dec 2009 | 01st Sep 2009