Ritz Restaurant London

A lovely revisit to The Ritz roughly a year after my first experience. This time, a brief lunch visit, which included another glimpse at the superb crêpes cooked at the table. In fact, these are one of the gems of any visit here and the two a la carte dishes for each diner were a pleasant preamble before the crêpes. Thankfully, the preamble parts were right on the money again and a genuine pleasure. Service was impeccable, seen clearly when the staff worked to accommodate a shorter lunch window on request. Two starters, crêpes to share and two glasses of vin worked out at just over £100pp and I would say this was not unreasonable considering the setting and all aspects included. A double pleasure was the lunch occasion itself and this was followed by a brief chat with head chef, John Williams MBE at the end as additional icing on the petit four cake.

There really wasn’t much not to like about this meal and I used to think years ago that this would always be a stuffy affair, but you do have to come to see for yourself that this isn’t as much as you would initially think. The rules on attire are still very much the same which I have commented on at length in my previous review (draconian rules on dress code still persist) but these are mainly cosmetic. Once inside the service once again proved very accommodating and warm.

There really wasn’t much not to like about this meal and I used to think years ago that this would always be a stuffy affair, but you do have to come to see for yourself that this isn’t as much as you would initially think. The rules on attire are still very much the same which I have commented on at length in my previous review (draconian rules on dress code still persist) but these are mainly cosmetic. Once inside the service once again proved very accommodating and warm.

Canapés at this meal were lemon macaroons with creamed salmon (topped with eggs from salmon), caramelised pastry cigars with coronation chicken and short bread with whipped goat cheese. Not one of these were out of line and all simply really enjoyable and what a treat to have coronation chicken in a bite size tube that turned out to be a joy. The home made brown bread was served warm and in a similar fashion to that of The Typing Room, and whilst visually pleasing, plain, brown bread itself is only as exciting as it is.

The soft boiled egg, with shallot croutons on top, girolle mushrooms and watercress leaf with edible flowers and watercress puree was as pleasing as you can imagine with those components when done well, which was the case. A simple and effective starter. There was a feint kick of heat from mustard within the watercress puree and this was very well done – just enough to jazz the dish up. The crispy shallot rings on top were frankly a delight and perhaps the secret weapon of this dish giving it a final spark.

The terrine of goose liver is a signature classic of the restaurant, modified slightly from the last year and by all accounts, still as good as it has been in the past. As it was another game season visit, clearly the grouse had to be sampled and this breast of grouse came with juniper powder on top, pickled blackberry, mushrooms, celeriac puree and walnut crumble with a gravy sauce. The grouse itself was perfectly tender and with the supporting elements, the bird itself was enhanced with the creamy celeriac, combined with and sharpness from the pickled raspberries but thankfully the rich flavour of the meat was not lost. I can’t say I noticed the juniper very much, but this wasn’t a problem when the dish is coated with a gravy that would make you want to drink from a gravy boat (the environment was the only thing that stopped me doing!).

Then clearly it was time for the flambé show of crêpes at the table, capably done by our man, Daniel. This actually takes upwards of 10 minutes at the table to be done, and it very much worth the wait. There are probably enough calories in this dish to sink the Titanic however, the flavours of the caramelised sugar, grand mariner and orange lusciously draped over virtually perfect crêpes, cooled down by wonderful, buttery vanilla ice cream that melts in to the sauce from the surrounding heat makes it simply a crime not to go for this if here. Petit fours seem to be the same as they were last year as signature items, but again, there was nothing about these that I didn’t enjoy (especially the chocolate cream) which basically makes a very high strike rate and strong level of consistent dishes enjoyed here on second pass.

It was the very good to have a quick chat at the end with the Exec chef (John Williams MBE) who was in and in full regalia, discussing his classical roots of cooking and how these underpin all signature and new dishes, using British produce. I don’t think it’s possible to come here and not be pleased when everything fits so well and this is now two from two as far as I am seeing and experiencing. Moreover, it was a milestone and special occasion for me which was a sheer pleasure to enjoy with my dining companion. We agreed that perhaps the decor and dress code simply attracts clientele of a more senior age bracket, or maybe it is the fact that it is simply the institution that it is. Either way, it was a lovey meal all round and I still don’t like the chairs(!). Perhaps a slight adjustment here or there without breaking the iconic feel may attract a younger crowd, but every single other aspect seems to work like a charm. Another great meal here.

First up, if you are dining here, you have to accept that there will be an added filter on attire. Guests are not allowed in the bar or restaruant without a tie and my host was asked to make his way to the changing room to change his trousers from the expensive jeans he was wearing to chinos, that were hopefully washed, but with no guarantee. My version on this is that if a house has these rules then so be it and the diner should be willing to abide however, I simply don’t think it is necessary for ties these days and is in fact out-dated.

Equally, I don’t think anyone should be allowed to bimble in to this restaurant (mainly filled by wealthy senior citizens and travellers who don’t say a word during dinner and generally look absurdly miserable) wearing trainers or sandles either. It was however, actually getting quite hot towards the end and although we were by the window, the staff either weren’t able or forgot to open it and the tie is quite restricting and ultimately I was burning up. Formality in this context yes, ok, but to be uncomfortable or border line suffer is a big no no for me at the expense of an out-dated sense of protocol.

The service could not have been more attentive. It was not stuffy nor condescending however, with the confidence of the staff in their environment and number of times we were asked how everything was throughout the meal, I can imagine that lesser-experienced diners might struggle to feel as though they can’t say anything other than “Oh yes everything is wonderful”. Fortunately, it’s been quite a while since I was intimidated by a restaruant as the key is that these enquiries of the staff are mainly as they are on show and they wish to check how they are rating.

And so on that note, I’m happy to report that I was actually exceedingly impressed with the cooking here and the technical skill and care of attention to detail was genuinely sitting in the Michelin starred family. I say this from comparing with all the other 65 Michelin starred restaruants in London and numerous other 2 and 3 starred venues I have visited and reviewed. That’s not to say that every dish was brilliant. I will get the negatives out the way first, as I found the pea sponge, beautiful as it was a little too soggy, the liver paté just a bit too large for its density and similar to the sweetbreads, although prepared superbly, it seemed to be missing a sweeter spark. I say this when reflecting on the sweetbreads had at Daniel Clifford’s 2 Michelin starred Midsummer House sweetbreads with maple foam in comparison – the latter was simply a higher level of happiness.

However, those dishes were still good on the eyes and on to the full blown positives, the langoustine was utterly divine all round – such soft, fresh and lovely combination of flavours making everything in the world right again. The cod was immaculate and it was also a testiment to the restaurant that they were able to accomodate the beef wellington which was a swap on the menu. The wellington itself was a work of art and virtually faultless (but if there was one thing I thought was marginal it was the foie gras in the centre which, needed something to make less bitter). The crêpe suzette cooked at the table, flambéd twice with brandy and grand marnier was not only a lovely touch as I think cooking at the table is a lost art and not seen much anymore and were frankly out of this world. It was hard to fault this and this course has actually entered the pantheon of the greats.

And if that wasn’t enough, the strawberry dessert done multiple ways was also genuinely a delight. The only problem being that at the end of the meal I was absolutely overloaded. I can accept that French cooking and occasions like this and that had at Le Gavroche will need doing a half-marathon before hand to reduce some of the calorific damage, but I was utterly stuffed at the end, border line undably bloated and that was leaving some dishes unfinished. Perhaps we should have been careful not to ask for the beef wellington, but having one slice of this would have been better as the two were virtually a meal in itself as that was a lot of protein on a plate(!). I have had 19-24 courses at 3 Michelin starred venues and not felt too packed and that is where the difference lies.

That said, my conclusion of finally getting here is that it was a genuinely pleasing experience with warm service. I still don’t like the chairs as they look as if they haven’t changed since the 70s and are as outdated as the stipulation for the tie. But, I thought the food was easily 1 Michelin starred – without a shadow of doubt. In fact, I cannot see why the guide has historically avoided awarding a star here to this venue. A great food show – make sure you don’t forget your wallets and best rags when coming and probably save the visit for a special occasion and you will be very well looked after here.

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