Ritz

The meal today began with a trio of nibbles:  beetroot macaron with caviar, a sugar tuile filled with coronation chicken, and squid ink crackers with avocado and lobster. These were all made, but my favourite was the coronation chicken, whose hint of spice, rather counter-inutuitively, worked remarkably well with the tuile.

Next was a clever presentation: on top of a layer of Scottish beef tartare was what appeared to be a black truffle but was not. It was actually a sphere of breadcrumbs coloured with squid ink, encasing a mushroom puree with a soft cooked quail egg at its centre; the dish was finished by dots of egg yolk reduction. This not only looked pretty but, more importantly, had stunning flavour (18/20).

Next was a disc of kohlrabi with Mirabelle plums, prune puree and glazed veal sweetbread topped with garlic crisps and flowers, resting in a pool of veal jus (17/20). This was followed by some old-school French cooking: ”sole zephyr” was Dover sole filled with mushrooms and langoustine, accompanied by a langoustine tail, covered with champagne and shellfish sauce, then finished with a veal jus. No one could accuse this of being a light dish, but the ingredients were impeccable and the combination of sauces lovely (17/20).

Grouse was served with celeriac purée caramelised salsify, lardons, salted grapes. caramelised walnuts and grouse jus, with crisp and light pommes soufflé on the side. This season has seen limited supply of good quality grouse, but this one was excellent, not over gamey (16/20).

A pre-dessert was sphere of salted caramel filled with nougatine and caramelised almonds, topped with gold leaf and cocoa nib ice cream (16/20). The finale was an impressive “Gateau St Honore”, named after the French patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs, a dish often served at weddings in France. This version consisted of a layer of puff pastry, Diplomat cream (a mix of pastry cream and whipped cream), an eclair with caramelised pear William, almond nougatine, caramelised choux bun, white chocolate with more Diplomat cream and topped with dark chocolate discs and caramelised nuts. This was as impressive as it looked, the pastry delicate, the pear providing just enough balancing acidity, the choux bun having just the right level of caramelisation. This was top class pastry cooking (19/20).

Service was excellent. A friend was taking me here today so I did not see the bill, but a typical cost per head for a three course meal here, sharing a modest bottle of wine, would be about £95 a head. Not a cheap meal for sure, but the room is very grand and there is a great deal of skill and effort going into the cooking here.