London Meals
We had two spectacular meals in London, besides the joy of returning to YMing, our favorite Chinese restaurant.
The night that Jason was to head up to Cambridge we first trekked out to Notting Hill for dinner at The Ledbury. I didn't take notes at the time and it's been long enough now that our memories are spotty, which is sad because it was a phenomenal meal. It reminded me significantly of Menton, which is high praise from us, and I was sorry in retrospect that we chose the four course prix fixe over the seven course tasting.
They started us off with three amuses bouches:
- salt-cured sea bass wrapped in granny smith apple - this was a perfect bite, served on a square of salt, balanced between sweet and savory, crisp and chewy
- sunflower cracker with garlic cream and toasted sunflowers - the sunflower was a nice surprise of a flavor and the contrast between the textures was lovely
- steamed brioche bun with bacon and onion - this is one of their signatures and unfortunately didn't quite work for us, the brioche being too chewy in comparison with the pork bao that clearly inspired it
Neither of us can remember our first courses, though I'm quite certain that they both involved fish of some kind. Jason's second was the flame-grilled mackerel with pickled cucumber, Celtic mustard and shiso--that's another signature dish and on their sample menu--while I had the quail, about which I remember only that it was delicious.
For our final savory course I had the hogget, which I learn is juvenile sheep older than lamb and younger than mutton. It was perfectly rare and full of flavor. Jason had the breast of pigeon, which was looked remarkably like the hogget, but with its own distinct flavor.
They gave us a palate cleanser of gin and grapefruit sorbet and then Jason had the brown sugar tart with stem ginger ice cream, which gave the impression of a deconstructed creme brulee, while I had a marvelous raspberry tart with red currants and raspberry ice cream that Jason described as the single most raspberry-tasting thing he'd ever eaten.
Usually when we order different things, one of us will "win" each course--it's not competitive, just a recognition that while one may be good, the other is fabulous. In this case, there were no winners because every single course was fantastic and I would happily have eaten a full portion of any of them.
In chatting with our captain, he asked where else we were planning to dine and when I mentioned The Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs, he demanded to know how I'd gotten that reservation (the answer: booked it two months earlier), which made me even more excited about it.
Bubbledogs is a trendy little spot, crowded with young things even on a Tuesday night, that serves primarily hot dogs and champagne. But if you go through the leather curtain at the back, you find yourself in an entirely separate kitchen with a bar all around it. This is The Kitchen Table.
The menu is scrawled on the blackboard, one word for each course. You have a choice of twelve or seventeen and since this was probably our one experience of the place, we went with the seventeen. This time I did make notes shortly after the meal, so I can recollect them in order:
Radish
fresh radish with smoked cod roe dip, with shaved Meyer lemon zest, Tellicherry pepper and smoked mullet roe
The best radish I've ever eaten, with a wonderfully creamy dip, but almost too salty for Jason--I might have skipped the mullet roe and upped the lemon zest.
Oyster
East Anglia oyster with Meyer Lemon preserve and lychee frost
We can't remember ever before being served a sweet treatment of oysters and now we know why.
Pig
house-made lardo with pine oil mayonaise and fennel pollen on a sourdough cracker
This was fine, the pine oil mayo and fennel gave it very fresh, green notes.
Chicken
crispy skin with rosemary cream cheese and bacon jam
This was exactly as tasty as it sounds, though I regretted the entire bite being cold.
Tomato
fresh cherry tomatoes and perfectly ripe canteloupe in tomato water with fresh shiso leaf
Tomato water is one of my favorite things, but this was insufficiently salted and lacked the mouthfeel of a rich dessert wine that the best (Clio's) has.
Scallop
raw scallop with pickled ginger mayonaise and shaved scallop roe
This was delicious, one of the highlights of the evening.
Sardine
English charcoal grilled Cornwall sardine with own-made yogurt, pine oil, and cauliflower puree with florets and toasted almonds
Easily the best sardine we'd ever tasted, in a dish of lovely contrasts and complements.
Truffle
house-made macaroni pasta with shaved Italian summer truffle and champagne truffled butter sauce
This was only ok and when Jason, who was still recovering from a 24-hour stomach bug, declined to finish his, I didn't take it up.
Lamb
seared lamb liver with 3 kinds of roasted onions in a roasted onion jus, served on damson preserves
Liver and onions is not a favorite of ours and the portion seemed overlarge. But the deconstruction of the traditional dish was whimsical and the damson preserves were lovely and gave a good sweet note to the dish.
Beef
grass-fed Dorset beef with beef demi-glace, fresh English peas rolled in mint oil and served with pea blossomns, with Bearnaise made with peapod stock
Chef came around with the raw steaks to show us the beautiful yellow fat of grass-feeding. This was delicious and again, a fresh and fun take on the traditional dish.
Ricotta
small batch Italian ricotta with English cherries
Very nice.
Strawberry
English strawberries with sweet cream and pineapple weed
The staff pick the weed up on Hampstead Heath--I'd never seen it before. It gave an original note to the traditional pairing.
Peach
roasted peaches with mascarpone, honey and lemon thyme
This was another highlight, with the lemon thyme adding a delightful green taste to the sweet fruit and creamy cheese.
Gooseberry
house-made yogurt parfait with unripened almonds, pine blossom, and freshly juiced gooseberries
The gooseberry juice on its own was too tart, but perfectly balanced with the other flavors. The finely chopped pine blossoms (or, as Chef called it "Christmas tree") was interesting and worked well here.
Caramel
E: caramel pudding with chopped candied walnuts
J: salted caramel ice cream robed in dark chocolate, topped with candied walniuts
Both delicious!
Fudge
Madagascar vanilla fudge with sea salt
Phenomenal.
Sloe
toasted sloe-preserve marshmellow
A fun treat to finish things off with the fruity sloe flavor kicking it up a notch.
As you can perhaps tell from the notes, the food here was slightly more interesting than good. We got a lot of good food along the way, but often found ourselves whispering the need for more salt, or less sweet, or the like. But this was easily the best chef's table experience we've ever had. We were at one of the plating stations and the staff were eager to talk with us about the ingredients, techniques, food culture, etc. We had nice conversations with Chef James Knappett and got to meet his girlfriend and his dog and feel that we really got to know them all a bit, so overall I'd recommend it as an experience more than a meal.
So, two great and very different meals. One thing we found notable is that neither place offered wine pairings--it seems not to be a thing in London. At The Ledbury we asked and the sommelier was happy to accommodate the request with half-glasses per course, but at Bubbledogs their wine list was more limited and it just didn't seem plausible. This seems like a real missed opportunity and I wonder why they don't do it.
We've always enjoyed dining in London and it was a real treat to try a couple of the new entries on various Best Of lists.
The night that Jason was to head up to Cambridge we first trekked out to Notting Hill for dinner at The Ledbury. I didn't take notes at the time and it's been long enough now that our memories are spotty, which is sad because it was a phenomenal meal. It reminded me significantly of Menton, which is high praise from us, and I was sorry in retrospect that we chose the four course prix fixe over the seven course tasting.
They started us off with three amuses bouches:
- salt-cured sea bass wrapped in granny smith apple - this was a perfect bite, served on a square of salt, balanced between sweet and savory, crisp and chewy
- sunflower cracker with garlic cream and toasted sunflowers - the sunflower was a nice surprise of a flavor and the contrast between the textures was lovely
- steamed brioche bun with bacon and onion - this is one of their signatures and unfortunately didn't quite work for us, the brioche being too chewy in comparison with the pork bao that clearly inspired it
Neither of us can remember our first courses, though I'm quite certain that they both involved fish of some kind. Jason's second was the flame-grilled mackerel with pickled cucumber, Celtic mustard and shiso--that's another signature dish and on their sample menu--while I had the quail, about which I remember only that it was delicious.
For our final savory course I had the hogget, which I learn is juvenile sheep older than lamb and younger than mutton. It was perfectly rare and full of flavor. Jason had the breast of pigeon, which was looked remarkably like the hogget, but with its own distinct flavor.
They gave us a palate cleanser of gin and grapefruit sorbet and then Jason had the brown sugar tart with stem ginger ice cream, which gave the impression of a deconstructed creme brulee, while I had a marvelous raspberry tart with red currants and raspberry ice cream that Jason described as the single most raspberry-tasting thing he'd ever eaten.
Usually when we order different things, one of us will "win" each course--it's not competitive, just a recognition that while one may be good, the other is fabulous. In this case, there were no winners because every single course was fantastic and I would happily have eaten a full portion of any of them.
In chatting with our captain, he asked where else we were planning to dine and when I mentioned The Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs, he demanded to know how I'd gotten that reservation (the answer: booked it two months earlier), which made me even more excited about it.
Bubbledogs is a trendy little spot, crowded with young things even on a Tuesday night, that serves primarily hot dogs and champagne. But if you go through the leather curtain at the back, you find yourself in an entirely separate kitchen with a bar all around it. This is The Kitchen Table.
The menu is scrawled on the blackboard, one word for each course. You have a choice of twelve or seventeen and since this was probably our one experience of the place, we went with the seventeen. This time I did make notes shortly after the meal, so I can recollect them in order:
Radish
fresh radish with smoked cod roe dip, with shaved Meyer lemon zest, Tellicherry pepper and smoked mullet roe
The best radish I've ever eaten, with a wonderfully creamy dip, but almost too salty for Jason--I might have skipped the mullet roe and upped the lemon zest.
Oyster
East Anglia oyster with Meyer Lemon preserve and lychee frost
We can't remember ever before being served a sweet treatment of oysters and now we know why.
Pig
house-made lardo with pine oil mayonaise and fennel pollen on a sourdough cracker
This was fine, the pine oil mayo and fennel gave it very fresh, green notes.
Chicken
crispy skin with rosemary cream cheese and bacon jam
This was exactly as tasty as it sounds, though I regretted the entire bite being cold.
Tomato
fresh cherry tomatoes and perfectly ripe canteloupe in tomato water with fresh shiso leaf
Tomato water is one of my favorite things, but this was insufficiently salted and lacked the mouthfeel of a rich dessert wine that the best (Clio's) has.
Scallop
raw scallop with pickled ginger mayonaise and shaved scallop roe
This was delicious, one of the highlights of the evening.
Sardine
English charcoal grilled Cornwall sardine with own-made yogurt, pine oil, and cauliflower puree with florets and toasted almonds
Easily the best sardine we'd ever tasted, in a dish of lovely contrasts and complements.
Truffle
house-made macaroni pasta with shaved Italian summer truffle and champagne truffled butter sauce
This was only ok and when Jason, who was still recovering from a 24-hour stomach bug, declined to finish his, I didn't take it up.
Lamb
seared lamb liver with 3 kinds of roasted onions in a roasted onion jus, served on damson preserves
Liver and onions is not a favorite of ours and the portion seemed overlarge. But the deconstruction of the traditional dish was whimsical and the damson preserves were lovely and gave a good sweet note to the dish.
Beef
grass-fed Dorset beef with beef demi-glace, fresh English peas rolled in mint oil and served with pea blossomns, with Bearnaise made with peapod stock
Chef came around with the raw steaks to show us the beautiful yellow fat of grass-feeding. This was delicious and again, a fresh and fun take on the traditional dish.
Ricotta
small batch Italian ricotta with English cherries
Very nice.
Strawberry
English strawberries with sweet cream and pineapple weed
The staff pick the weed up on Hampstead Heath--I'd never seen it before. It gave an original note to the traditional pairing.
Peach
roasted peaches with mascarpone, honey and lemon thyme
This was another highlight, with the lemon thyme adding a delightful green taste to the sweet fruit and creamy cheese.
Gooseberry
house-made yogurt parfait with unripened almonds, pine blossom, and freshly juiced gooseberries
The gooseberry juice on its own was too tart, but perfectly balanced with the other flavors. The finely chopped pine blossoms (or, as Chef called it "Christmas tree") was interesting and worked well here.
Caramel
E: caramel pudding with chopped candied walnuts
J: salted caramel ice cream robed in dark chocolate, topped with candied walniuts
Both delicious!
Fudge
Madagascar vanilla fudge with sea salt
Phenomenal.
Sloe
toasted sloe-preserve marshmellow
A fun treat to finish things off with the fruity sloe flavor kicking it up a notch.
As you can perhaps tell from the notes, the food here was slightly more interesting than good. We got a lot of good food along the way, but often found ourselves whispering the need for more salt, or less sweet, or the like. But this was easily the best chef's table experience we've ever had. We were at one of the plating stations and the staff were eager to talk with us about the ingredients, techniques, food culture, etc. We had nice conversations with Chef James Knappett and got to meet his girlfriend and his dog and feel that we really got to know them all a bit, so overall I'd recommend it as an experience more than a meal.
So, two great and very different meals. One thing we found notable is that neither place offered wine pairings--it seems not to be a thing in London. At The Ledbury we asked and the sommelier was happy to accommodate the request with half-glasses per course, but at Bubbledogs their wine list was more limited and it just didn't seem plausible. This seems like a real missed opportunity and I wonder why they don't do it.
We've always enjoyed dining in London and it was a real treat to try a couple of the new entries on various Best Of lists.