Ritz

I have written previously about The Ritz, its history, the grand dining room and its wine list. The kitchen is now headed up by Deepak Mallya, working under executive chef John Williams. There are plenty of menu choices, from an £86 three-course lunch through to a tasting menu at £215 for seven courses, as well as a complete a la carte selection.

The meal today started with an initial trio of tried and tested canapes. The coronation chicken nibble at the Ritz is wrapped in a sugar tuile cylinder. Chicken is mixed with curry powder and salt, steamed and then chilled. This is then mixed with spices, coconut cream, mayonnaise, coriander, raisins and mango chutney. The mix is wrapped in a sugar tuile seasoned with coconut, curry and espelette pepper, the ends being dipped in toasted breadcrumbs. The result is a lovely blend of flavours, with the delicate tuile melting on the tongue. Another regular canape here is duck liver parfait with sour cherry and gingerbread, the richness of the liver nicely balanced by the sharpness of the sour cherry. The third old favourite was Ragstone cheese mousse with wood-roasted pepper and basil roasted on a sable base, the mousse smooth in texture and the base of the canapé being very delicate. Two further canapes then appeared. Tartlet of beef tartare with creme fraiche and imperial caviar featured a delicate pastry base, nicely seasoned beef topped with a layer of caviar that provided its own salinity to the mix. Barquette of smoked trout was cured in a citrus salt and then gently smoked, diced and bound with lemon zest and juice, fresh grated horseradish, fresh dill and a dill pickle gel. This was topped with trout roe and alyssum, and again was a very successful and pretty canape (18/20 average for canapes). 

The first formal course was crab, sourced from Norfolk. White crab meat was mixed with passed brown crab and mixed with crème fraiche, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. There was a chopped jelly made from Granny Smith apple juice, fennel juice, grape juice and minus 8 Verjus, the whole thing finished with 6g of Imperial caviar. On the side was a crab crumpet. This was made from a traditional dough using sourdough, salt, sugar, and baking soda. This was then cooked gently on a hot plancha and topped with a brown crab buster, creme fraiche, crab meat bound with brown crab. This was an extremely pretty and very well-designed dish, featuring complementary textures and flavours, the acidity just right (19/20). 

A new dish to me today was Orkney scallop, spiced carrot and vadouvan sauce. Fresh Orkney scallops are halved, dusted with curry powder, and seared on the plancha, finished with lemon and finger lime pearls. Vadouvan is a French spice mix, rooted in the old French province of India, Pondicherry, on the Bay of Bengal in Tamil Nadu. The vadouvan sauce is made from lobster and prawn shells, aromatic spices, herbs, and a dash of brandy. Spheres of spiced carrot and a smooth purée infused with vanilla and warm spices were served alongside. A lime and vanilla gel and a fresh coriander oil were the final touches. This was a really well put together dish, the acidity of the lime balancing the natural sweetness of the scallop, the gentle spices lifting the dish (18/20).

The signature langoustine a la nage was next. Langoustines were sourced from the coast of Scotland, and were displayed at the table live (many langoustines served in London are frozen). The langoustine tails were poached in butter and served with cauliflower puree, baby Cornish Vegetables and bronze fennel. The langoustines had lovely natural sweetness and were very tender, the vegetables providing some balance to the butter. As ever, this was a glorious dish (19/20).

Next was agnolotti stuffed pasta filled with a Taleggio cream, gently cooked in boiling salted water and then glazed in a truffle sauce made with black truffles (tuber melanosporum), Madeira and port. The agnolotti rests on a Parmesan foam made using 36-month aged Parmesan. This is a gloriously rich dish, though I always wonder whether another element might be useful in order to balance this richness  (17/20).

The main course was pressed pigeon. The chestnut-fed pigeons used here are raised by Jean-Jacques Boga since 1988 near Plouneour-Menez in the Armorique regional national park in Brittany. The pigeons live outside in roosts and are only fed on a diet of corn and chestnut flour. This came about when a friend of the family had a surplus of chestnuts to use, and they found it brought a delicious taste to the bird. The birds are unique as the parents of each pigeon feed the offspring directly. This is not only a more natural process but also ensures a gentler fattening process. The pigeon was carved at the table, and the breasts served. The carcass went into a duck press and was used to thicken a red wine sauce, flambeed at the table. The bird and the sauce were served with hen of the wood mushrooms and Madeira purée, glazed cep and girolle mushrooms, along with English turnips. The pigeon had lovely flavour, and the richness of the sauce was nicely balanced by the earthy turnip and the forest flavour of the mushroom (18/20)

We had a selection of cheeses from the large cheese trolley, which was made up of cheeses from the UK, such as Baron Bigod, Cornish Yarg and Stilton. Pre-dessert was Italian mandarin segments with yoghurt sorbet, covered by a pretty Baie Des Bataks (a Sumatran pepper) flavoured tuile. This was refreshing, as any pre-dessert should be, and the pepper gave a nice contrast to the acidity of the mandarin orange (17/20). Sweet pastry tart with a port-reduced fig compote was the main dessert. This featured an olive oil and orange sponge, burnt honey panna cotta and wafer. The dish was finished with fresh fig segments, fig leaf ice cream and a fig leaf tuile. This was a pretty and enjoyable dessert (17/20). Petit fours included dark chocolate and hazelnut praline, salted caramel and vanilla macaroon, and raspberry pate de fruit. I had an infusion of a grapefruit-flavoured leaf, the leaves snipped to order from the display of plants on the infusion trolley.

Service was lovely, the staff being highly professional and welcoming. I was being treated to this meal as part of a magazine interview, so I did not see the bill. However, it would be possible to eat here for about £165 a head, depending on the menu chosen. The Ritz remains my favourite fine dining experience in London.

Further reviews: 11th Jul 2025 | 26th May 2025 | 04th Mar 2025 | 28th Jan 2025 | 15th Oct 2024 | 28th Mar 2024 | 02nd Feb 2024 | 11th Dec 2023 | 01st Nov 2023 | 24th Sep 2023 | 26th Jun 2023 | 10th May 2023 | 08th Mar 2023 | 09th Dec 2022 | 04th Nov 2022 | 30th Sep 2022 | 20th Jul 2022 | 24th Jun 2022 | 15th Apr 2022 | 08th Feb 2022 | 14th Dec 2021 | 06th Dec 2021 | 22nd Oct 2021 | 14th Oct 2021 | 25th Jun 2021 | 25th May 2021 | 15th Oct 2020 | 28th Aug 2020 | 31st Jul 2020 | 29th Feb 2020 | 19th Nov 2019 | 25th Oct 2019 | 30th Sep 2019 | 30th Aug 2019 | 16th Jul 2019 | 18th Apr 2019 | 12th Mar 2019 | 26th Sep 2018 | 01st Aug 2018 | 04th May 2018 | 20th Apr 2018 | 13th Feb 2018 | 11th Dec 2017 | 02nd Feb 2017 | 15th Jun 2016 | 27th Jan 2016 | 26th Aug 2015 | 28th Feb 2015 | 21st Dec 2013 | 24th Aug 2013 | 30th Apr 2013 | 29th Dec 2011 | 01st Feb 2011 | 01st Dec 2010