Richard Bagnold

Another belter and this time I had the duck! It was a celebration for my MA so I got that for everyone and I can confirm it was utterly divine. They carve and sculpt all portions in to rectangular, bite size shapes for everyone which I wasn’t expecting and visually this was a let down, but the slightly puffed nature of the pancake, the sheer class of the sauce and the utter delicacy of the duck and crispy skin was instant delight in the mouth. I still don’t think it merits the price but it was rather superb. All other dishes were great and the duck was divine, but I don’t think it needs to be done again in a hurry.

Food Grade: 86%

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I had the tasting menu at lunch here with my old Uni mate and left feeling very gratified. It was nice to go in to a quiet part of town within the alluring passageways of Kensington and the interior of the restaurant was more like someone’s home which had a certain charm about it. The extras here were all a delight and gave such a nice bonus to the meal. There were certainly some good moments in the meal, namely the succulent pork and the amuse bouche of melted cheese puff pastry balls at the start were heavenly. There was much technical skill shown at this restaurant and the throw ins given were plentiful (amuse bouche, pre-desert and petit for to accompany coffee were lovely bolt ons). All in all, this was a very good outing, well worth a follow up visit and would cater for virtually for any circumstance other than one needing an atmosphere as it was one of those places where it somehow felt more appropriate to remain quiet as diners.

Food Grade: 85%

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Everyone has heard or knows about The Ivy and is practically an institution in itself. For over 20 years, its perspex windows and iconic reputation has been widely recognised. Traditionally a spot for many celebrities but I don’t think that is the case as much anymore from word of mouth. However, I had never been until this visit and was eager to see what the fuss was about. I now know.

The service is as bubbly as the atmosphere within and it is as if one has walked in to a club that only a few know about and where everyone inside is completely comfortable – even the waiters seem to be having as good a time as the restaurateurs and that was lovely to see. The interior is definitely stylish in a traditional way and its unmistakable coloured windows made it a pleasant decoration to be viewing from the inside for once.

The all day dining menu is extensive and there is virtually no appetite it wouldn’t be able to cater for which was another eye-opener, revealing another string to its successful bow. The foie gras on fried brioche and orange sauce was a delight and not too heavy and the beef carpaccio with cheese had quite potent garlic oil, however was very good regardless. I went for the signature cottage pie and can confirm the meat was beautifully seasoned and the beef jus to go with it was balanced superbly with lovingly prepared mash. Being given a bottle of Worcestershire sauce (for preferential spice) and the decision to provide the ketchup by giving the bottle of Heinz itself I actually thought was great to see and that they had the guts to do so – there are only so many ways ketchup will be(!) and if it is coming from Heinz, placing it in a silver dish only tries and fails to make it more than it actually is.

Providing the bottle I thought was a nice touch. The staff were gracious enough to accommodate my béarnaise obsession with the chips (that were also fine) and the sauce was extremely well done. My other half at the time very much enjoyed the fish course as well being seasoned and light at the same time. The signature selection of puddings (prosecco jelly, strawberry and champagne ice cream and giant almond cream macaroon) were absolutely tasty – no issues with these whatsoever.

So all in all, this is a lovely place and was very good to finally find out why this is – The Ivy provides simple food done well, in a very comfortable and stylish environment with impeccable service, all in a fun atmosphere which would suit any pre-theatre, lunch or dinner occasion. Simple.

The place is now closed for the first portion of 2015 and will be reopened apparently in May after what has been reported as a much needed facelift after being as it has been for so many years. Nothing unhealthy about change and the specific design of the new Ivy is being treated as ‘Top Secret’ so there is no hope in trying to get an idea until the unveiling so they say, and I hope the refurb does not end up being a shot in the onwers’ foot – I’m sure it will be well considered.

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The most hotel-friendly parts of the flagship St John Bar & Restaurant were taken to use in this short venture but ultimately things seemingly did not work out in business terms as the establishment has closed. However the key thing is that Fergus Henderson maintains his two other establishments in Smithfield (1 Michelin starred St John Bar & Restaurant) and Spitafields (St John Bread & Wine) – and long may they continue. There was no huge difference in the menu here from his Bar and Restaurant however, as it is now closed, there is only the passing thought that it was pleasant whilst it was there to write.

Food Grade: 76%

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My visits to here have always been a pleasant experience in terms of the food and the particular likes were the tempura battered lobster and lemon, lobster salad (coincidence on the lobster being the two favoured dishes). They have, however been tainted by the restaurant displaying either passive-aggressive customer service or the too many of the clientele trying to be the next new celebrity lookalike spoiling the show.

The bar is very swish and is a good start to an evening if one didn’t go on upstairs to the restaurant however, the feel of the place does seem to take itself a little too seriously, probably based on its Address. Food wise, I have never had any serious complaints other than the fact it is extortionate for what you get (hence my comment on self-esteem) and the demotion of the Michelin star (as at 2015) for both Nobu restaurants may be a useful wake up call for them to address the quality of the food for the prices they deem fit. I would definitely go back and most probably will, but this will be to fit an occasion and the friends I’m with rather than the food.

The bar is very swish and is a good start to an evening if one didn’t go on upstairs to the restaurant however, the feel of the place does seem to take itself a little too seriously, probably based on its Address. Food wise, I have never had any serious complaints other than the fact it is extortionate for what you get (hence my comment on self-esteem) and the demotion of the Michelin star (as at 2015) for both Nobu restaurants may be a useful wake up call for them to address the quality of the food for the prices they deem fit. I would definitely go back and most probably will, but this will be to fit an occasion and the friends I’m with rather than the food.

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A very pleasant visit on this occasion whilst it had a brief spell holding a Michelin star. I’m not sure why it as lost it’s star as the menu I had was perfectly acceptable and comfortably in the middle echelon of 1 Michelin starred restaurants and for me personally, it was a lovely set menu at a reasonable cost and even more lovely to see steak and béarnaise sauce on the set menu! The food was highly satisfying and probably the highlight was the duck egg starter – a lovely, rich feel to the dish naturally, with the duck egg yolk which went very well with the accompanying mushroom jus, crispy base and spinach. Although the interior was a little wide, it is certainly homely and stylish at the same time. A very nice option if you are in the area in need of somewhere and certainly better quality food than say, The Bluebird up the road which is mainly popular because of the design of the establishment than anything else.

Food Grade: 78%

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This was, to my surprise a very good meal. Firstly, the service was out-of-this-world good; practically served like royalty on greeting at the top of the stairs inside the Burj Al Arab where the greeters to the restaurant then escorted us to an elevator to back down to the ‘ground’ floor and all the way to the restaurant. I should have mentioned as well that if you are not staying in the world’s only 7-star hotel you do need a specific lunch, dinner or tea reservation in any of their restaurants or upper level bar just in order to get through the security gates to be allowed entrance in to the building.

Thankfully, this we had and on strolling to the restaurant through the underground tunnel, you cannot, not be considerably impressed or bowled over by the originality and special feel of dining next to the largest restaurant aquarium in the world giving a vivid sense of being somehow in the sea. The amazing display of fish and creatures smoothly floating by is a lovely treat for the eyes to watch as one dines it has to be said.

Thankfully, this we had and on strolling to the restaurant through the underground tunnel, you cannot, not be considerably impressed or bowled over by the originality and special feel of dining next to the largest restaurant aquarium in the world giving a vivid sense of being somehow in the sea. The amazing display of fish and creatures smoothly floating by is a lovely treat for the eyes to watch as one dines it has to be said.

But, more importantly what was the food like? Well, although the drinks list is pretty limited, they did produce some superbly done cocktails and although their forté is fish as primarily a seafood restaurant two meat dishes were enjoyed and all dishes were actually very well done. The beef carpaccio was light and had a very good balance of garlic senses with its velevty texture, both fish courses displayed very tender meat cooked perfectly with subtle and very agreeable sauces and the beef main, although in last place was also very carefully done with a healthy selection of well judged vegetables. The chocolate meringue was comfort food done superbly and with another chocolate martini was a superb way to finish. I throw in a bonus picture in the gallery to this visit of what one can have here on the liqueurs side if you feel like blowing a month’s wage on a round of the Louix III, which works out as roughly £70 per sip.

The whole meal however, was actually quite reasonable considering where we were as we stuck to the set lunch menu costing approximately £110 each including drinks, however there are options on this menu available which will happily take care of emptying all of your disposable if you wished for the extensive tasting menu.

Without drinks at lunch, this is actually not a bad option for a reasonable meal in Dubai indeed and I would say the quality of the food sat quite comfortably in the lower-echelon 1 Michelin starred bracket, but certainly in the 1 star family, which is all to its credit. Highly enjoyable and well prepared dishes here, whose price tag is not as scary as one thinks with a bit of self-discipline.

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Set above Palm Beach roughly 30 miles north of Sydney, this Relais Chateaux boutique hotel is certainly one of the most alluring settings I have ever been to. This little venue is probably responsible for more wedding proposals and wedding ceremonies than any other place on earth and one can easily see why this would be such a wonderful location for a romantic or special occasion. For my visit however, the view and setting was purely a massive bonus for wanting to sample one of Australia’s most hailed eateries holding two hats – their second highest accolade. The fact that one can get a seaplane here was also another superb option to have and clearly this was taken for such a great thing to do. The price of the plane ride was thrown in with the meal at Jonah’s costing approximately £280 pp, which, admitedly is quite a bit for lunch, however the views that one gains form the ride effectively doubles up a huge tick in the box for a visit to Sydney and dispells the need to do a helicpoter tour costing not too much less than that in some cases and this was one has a superb meal overlooking Palm beach as well.

As the plane landed in the bay of Palm Beach the dinghy boat was ready to collect all the passengers (which included a lucky work group on their Christmas party as a present from their boss) and all were transported to the top of the cliff by the Jonah’s taxi. On entering one simply cannot be taken by what a truly superb venue this is and it genuinely had the sort of excited ‘I can’t believe how nice this is’ impact which was a lovely holiday feeling and thing to do – a little treat for making the trip to Sydney to attend the wedding of a platinum couple and organising the stag do from Germany.

As the plane landed in the bay of Palm Beach the dinghy boat was ready to collect all the passengers (which included a lucky work group on their Christmas party as a present from their boss) and all were transported to the top of the cliff by the Jonah’s taxi. On entering one simply cannot be taken by what a truly superb venue this is and it genuinely had the sort of excited ‘I can’t believe how nice this is’ impact which was a lovely holiday feeling and thing to do – a little treat for making the trip to Sydney to attend the wedding of a platinum couple and organising the stag do from Germany.

On to the food then and the amuse bouche of lobster bisque and olive oil toast bites were well done and were simply a huge pleasure. Creatively, I thought the bread was a little dull in comparison though. There was a large selection of different spices and variants of the oysters that were had and my poached egg with pickled onion and mushroom was, although not technically amazing, certainly delicious. An observation on the starters was that the oysters probably would have had even more kudos if they were actually just left to be in their own natural juices with lemon to let the flesh itself do the talking, as the sauces and additives detracted from this, however I was informed that the overall effect was very good nonetheless.

The mains of partridge and Porterhouse steak were well done and absolutely fine as they were cooked beautifully however, again, it wasn’t the most advanced of technical presentation for the prices on the menu – it was just very good cooking. I should also make a point that the half bottle of Cookshed Zinfandel was noted as one of the best red wines ever had. A pre-dessert of passion fruit mousse was light and very enjoyable and the actual desserts of chocolate delice and amaretto baba were, no question pleasing as flavour combinations and textures that were employed. After lunch drinks on the terrace in the summer sun were a given finishing off the meal to a lovely effect before collapsing in the plane for the journey home, rounding off a quality experience.

Overall, this venue is a sheer delight and will always be remembered as one of life’s moments simply at its best; in terms of food I would say it was probably only just within the 1 Michelin starred bracket for overall finesse and certainly no more. However, it was clearly good cooking and fine flavours on some simple dishes executed well producing a highly pleasing effect in terms of the cuisine.

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The Michelin guide does not extend to Australia as with many other places that are too far for their reach within their resources (pulled out of Las Vegas 2009 for example) so Australia use the ‘hats’ system as one of their main accolade systems which, is based on a similar system to Michelin. Quay has achieved the hightest hats accolate for over a decade. My next observation will be controversial – having done four of Australia’s premier hat restaruants, my opinion however, is I honestly put the highest hat accolade in the approximate league of just under 2 michelin stars as a perspective.

What I saw at Quay was a stunning view, a wonderful venue to go (reservations absolutely required here) and stylish service decorated with simple, quality dishes. The photos will speak for the syle of the dishes, but my memories of the flavour only really can sing for the snow ball desert which was not only sumptous but also highly skilled and pleasant visually as well (this stood out as well above the norm). This was the stand out dish and there is no question as to the clean-cut and well executed nature of the plates served, however I found the most of this meal in food terms simmering at the very pleasant level as opposed to amazing. I would recommend this venue for virtually any occasion owing to the combination of an absolutely stunning occasion with very safe-bet cooking that is utterly fresh.

What I saw at Quay was a stunning view, a wonderful venue to go (reservations absolutely required here) and stylish service decorated with simple, quality dishes. The photos will speak for the syle of the dishes, but my memories of the flavour only really can sing for the snow ball desert which was not only sumptous but also highly skilled and pleasant visually as well (this stood out as well above the norm). This was the stand out dish and there is no question as to the clean-cut and well executed nature of the plates served, however I found the most of this meal in food terms simmering at the very pleasant level as opposed to amazing. I would recommend this venue for virtually any occasion owing to the combination of an absolutely stunning occasion with very safe-bet cooking that is utterly fresh.

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This was a much anticipated meal as one of the most acclaimed restaurants in Sydney with its long-standing 3 hat and 2 hat accolades. One approaches the restaurant entrance through a delightfully designed garden and can be taken upstairs to the main dining room overlooking another wonderfully designed picturesque garden. I have to say that the interior of the dining room was pretty bland in comparison so do expect a minimalist result here.

In terms of the tasting menu we had I would say as a headline that the food here is simple, stylish and pleasing. The warmed pea soup shot was refreshing but the truffled custard amuse bouche with caviar was an absolute gem – this entered the territory of not wanting the dish to end and was truly impressive. Of the fish courses, the only gem was in fact the signature salmon, which, with the herb and salted crust brought an excellent balance of flavours and I was pleased that this was worth it as was clearly Tetsuya’s pride of the menu. The meats were entirely pleasant and well done; no wow factor but certainly good and perhaps the most simple looking dish of dessert turned out to be one of the best – the balance of sweet and creamy flavours with the white and milk chocolate sauces of the chocolate cake.

In terms of the tasting menu we had I would say as a headline that the food here is simple, stylish and pleasing. The warmed pea soup shot was refreshing but the truffled custard amuse bouche with caviar was an absolute gem – this entered the territory of not wanting the dish to end and was truly impressive. Of the fish courses, the only gem was in fact the signature salmon, which, with the herb and salted crust brought an excellent balance of flavours and I was pleased that this was worth it as was clearly Tetsuya’s pride of the menu. The meats were entirely pleasant and well done; no wow factor but certainly good and perhaps the most simple looking dish of dessert turned out to be one of the best – the balance of sweet and creamy flavours with the white and milk chocolate sauces of the chocolate cake.

Overall, this was a fine meal indeed; I wouldn’t say it was in the same league as some of the two Michelin starred venues experienced such as The Square, Gidleigh Park and Marcus etc on design of dishes, however there were genuinely some fine flavour moments on an otherwise carefully constructed menu.

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