Tag Archives: fine dining

Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons

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A restaurant that I have been waiting to goto for some time. The last time we attempted to go I had to cancel due to illness. We finally got to go on Saturday the 7th August, with a couple of very good friends, with all of us celebrating our 11th anniversaries!

After  seeing the venue on the TV show, “The Restaurant” I kinda had an idea of the grandness of the whole place. Turning right into the main driveway you immediately get a feel of how classic this establishment is. After parking the car we walked to the main entrance, through a lavender edged path that cut through some immaculate lawns – one was set for croquet and the other for boules.

On entering we were kindly greeted by the front of house staff, and then ushered to meet our friends who were having a drink in the lounge area. Very nice room too, and comfortable furnishings (which is always good to relax). The menu’s were already on the table, and as our table was booked for 9PM we decided to go for the  Á la Carte which consisted of 3 courses. One thing that initially struck me was the price of the dishes, but this was a 2* Michelin restaurant so hey, it goes with the territory.

I ordered the following:-

Plancha-seared Cornish lobster, warm Jersey Royal potatoes, Oscietra caviar, cardamom; red pepper jus for Hors d’oeuvres, followed by Slow-roasted aromatic Cornish turbot, scallop and citrus fregola for the main, and then finally a selection of cheeses for dessert.

Apart from these 3 courses, we had an amouse bouche with our drinks (I can’t remember what they were – but one thing I did note; there were 4 of us, but only 2 of each choice which was a bit poor as that meant you couldn’t try each one yourself. There wasn’t anything here that was amazing….this was going to set the tone of the meal, which I didn’t realise at first)

Before the first course we had a free course, a small pot of spring vegetables with flower petals in a broth, in a cup about the size of an espresso. This was light and refreshing. The selection of breads were good, and the types I chose were very nice indeed.

So, the first course was delivered, and to be honest, seeing that this was the a la carte option, I thought the portion size was a bit mean. This dish alone cost £42, and I had 1 piece of claw meat, and a few smaller parts of the tail. I was expecting half a lobster for that price! The dish was very tasty, the lobster perfectly cooked, and the little potato pieces deep with flavour.

The main, for me, was the strongest dish of the night. Another perfectly cooked slab of turbot this time, with a flavoursome broth poured over it. Very appetising, but I really should have asked for a spoon as a knife and fork isn’t that great for scooping up sauce!!! Even now, I’ve been to a fair few Michelin restaurants and still not 100% of the etiquette for asking for other things!

For dessert I opted for the cheese board, and what a great trolley and a well versed waiter who knew his cheese! I was asked to choose 5 different pieces, and ended up with a real plateful of cheese, and no skimpy cuts but good portions (pity the other courses weren’t the same eh!). I liked 4 of the 5, and again I didn’t jot down all the names (rubbish I know), but I had 2 blue, 1 hard and 2 others. 1 I remember was a Welsh Cow cheese, which was nice. One of our friends, Dean (a bit of a cheese connoisseur) mentioned about having honey with blue cheese, so we got some and it really works! Make a mental note to try it yourself!

Of the 4 of us who were dining, only Dean and I were drinking, and we had wine by the glass, 1 with each course. I had an Alsace Riesling 2007, Grand Cru Saering, Dirler-Cade (I asked the waitress to write these down) and a Chassagne Montrachet, Les Masuves 2008, finished with a 1985 port with the cheese.

Overall I felt a bit disappointed with Le Manoir. Why? Well I think for the costs of the courses the portions could have been bigger. Each course was well cooked and presented, but I didn’t have one “WOW!” moment in the whole night, which is quite uncommon when fine dining, even with or without a Michelin star. And this place isn’t cheap – the bill came to about £640 between 4 (including a tip) and I personally think the food at “The Royal Oak” tasted better, and cost about £150 for 2 people.

Overall score? 4/10

Eating in America (to the tune of "Living in America!" James Brown…)

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As you may or may not know, I got into this blogging malarky a bit later than most people. It’s a thing that I tend to do in many areas of my life – is this a bad thing? It’s worked for me so far, but this isn’t my physciatric blog, so on with what I started off with (again another theme in that I normally wander around different subjects whilst trying to talk about one, does this mean I have a low attention level? Who knows…)…..”Eating in America”…I just have to say that in a James “Godfather of Soul” Brown styleeee – and I know you will now be doing the same thing! See, 113 words in and I still haven’t got onto what the blog is about…

This will be my second time to the US of A, and I really want to start doing some proper reviews of places where I eat. I am going to be buying, or maybe even receiving as a gift, a decent notebook that I will use as my witness to the deliciousness that is food, and a record of what I have inhaled, I mean eaten. You may also know, obviously you do as you read all my blogs right?, that I have also re-ignited my interest in photography. Food and photos – they go together like tea & jam, fois gras & fine dining and fish & chips. I have never actually taken tasting notes before, and with the onset of old age and poor memory this does hamper my recollections of the last meal, and also means I forget half of what I ate, and what I thought about it.

For this up and coming visit to Las Vegas and San Francisco I want to try out at least 1 fine-dining experience in Vegas, and also re-visit a fantastic eatery in San Fran. “Picasso“, contained within the behemoth that is “The Bellagio” hotel and casino, is a 2* Michelin and AAA 5 Diamond award winning venue that looks really nice, both from an asthetic approach and quality of food. I can’t really say much about it at this time as I’ve not experienced it, but keep an eye out for the blog on my return!

“Boulevard” within San Francisco is where we ate on our first visit, back in 2008. Myself, mini and 2 other friends do enjoy fine dining, and with the help of Google and some tour books we discovered this place. The entrance is on the corner of the main building, and initially it looks quite small. Once you get in you then see acres of wood and space, the place seems to go on forever. I can’t remember (quell surprise!) exactly what we ate, but I do remember that every course was excellent, and this really was GREAT value for money. The £-$ exchange rate was about $1.90 – £1, so that helped, but even then it was “cheap”. Champagne on arrival, glasses of wine with each dish, then brandy etc..I think it worked out about £60 each, bargain!!!!!!

So, apologies for not giving that much with this blog, I hope I have whetted your appetite sufficiently, and I look forward to telling you all about it, bite by bite, gulp by gulp!

Pied à Terre

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So, as a surprise for my 40th birthday, Mark organised a table at the 2* Michelin restaurant, Pied à Terre in London. As those who have already read this blog, they will see that I have the “Top 40″ restaurants (as per the Good Food Guide) as an entry, and “Pied à Terre” is at number 10 in this list and also voted ‘Readers restaurant of the year – London’.

Initial impressions of the restaurant were very good. The eating area was modern and airy, with mirrors and a skylight and in no way pretentious. The staff were all friendly, and mainly French (or at least they had a good French twang when they spoke to us!)

We had the following from the a la carte :-

canapes
* pumpkin mousse with crystallised ginger, pumpkin oil and black sesame seeds

the pumpkin was good and strong, although I personally thought the ginger was too prominent

* foie gras parfait in a poppy seed filo crisp

not that great – fois gras was miniscule but the crisp had a nice taste


* Crispy polenta with soft poached quail egg, tomato fondue and lardo de Colonnata

This was amazing, considering how small it was. The polenta was like a mini hash brown!

starters

* Roasted Veal Sweetbreads, Honey Turnip Fondue, Curly kale, baby Turnips, Almond and Vanilla Infusion

Sweetbreads melted in your mouth, and the accompanying vegetables really added to the taste


* Pepper Seared Yellow Fin Tuna, Chive Essence, Crushed Potatoes, Baby Rocket, Black Olive and Shallot Vinaigrette

(MK) Best looking tuna we have seen – perfectly seared and deep colour to the inner flesh. Perefectly balanced with the  vinaigrette. The potatoes giving a nice additional texture.

Mains

* Loin of Mid Devon Venison, Roasted Red Onion, Ventreche, Pomme Soufflé, Bacon Powder and Beetroot Reduction with a gateau of swish chard, venison and bacon powder

venison was plentiful – the potatoes lovely and soft, but for me the star was the gateau – a small slither (about .5cm wide and 8cm long) which packed an almighty taste punch!

* Steamed and Roasted Anjou Pigeon, Salsify and Potato Dauphinoise, Shallot Fondue, Dates and Port Sauce

(MK) The steamed pigeon was served in a cabbage leaf – almost the texture of a sausage and a light taste. The roasted portion was deep tasting. The dauphinoise was not as rich as some we have had, but was perfectly complemented with the sauce.

Pre-dessert

* Rhubarb veloute, Apple Mousse with yogurt Crumble dessert

a deconstucted dessert, in a small bowl, but it tasted like a family-size portion of home made crumble, incredible.

Dessert

* Bitter Sweet Chocolate Tart, Stout Ice Cream and Macadamia Nut Cream

I think this dessert is the best so far for me. It has all my favourite things – beer, chocolate and Macadamia nuts!! The ice cream was deep, the Macadamia nut cream was lush (along with the sugared Macadamia nuts) and the tart just filled your mouth with its gooeyness. Divine.


* Blood Orange Jelly, Crème Fraiche Mousse, Pistachio Meringue, Citrus Filo Pastry and Mandarin Sorbet

The blood orange was lacking in gusto, the filo was perfect – acting as a case for the other ingredients. The sorbet was the star – light, refreshing and zingy.

The Waterside Inn, Bray

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Back in October (2008) we decided to give “The Waterside Inn” a go as I had always wanted to try this restaurant, and a friend celebrated a birthday there, which I unfortunately missed.

Upon arrival outside, we were met by the valet parking – first time we had ever had this option and was the first time Mark had driven his new A class. The car park looked quite small so thankfully these valet guys knew where the best spaces to park were.

We ate in the main dining room; a round room which looked out onto the river (that evening it was stormy so we could only see some very black clouds and lightening!). My initial impressions were ok, but nothing great.

We chose the Le Menu Exceptionnel. Each course was very well cooked and presented, especially the duck which was carved at our table. This dish is also Michel Roux’ signature dish. The duck was cooked to perfection and melted in the mouth.

The only downside, in  my opinion, was the overall ambience of the dining area. It was “overly” busy with waiters bustling around, on the go all the time. Far too noisy and manic for my liking – I think it was more of a show rather than a requirement.

Take a look here at what we ate.

The Vineyard, Stockcross, Newbury

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At the start of December (last year now) I decided that some fine dining was needed, as we hadn’t indulged for some months.

I always try to book via our American Express Concierge service, and it worked well this time! I originally wanted to book a table at “The L’ortolan” restaurant, which we have visited about 3 times previously. The concierge assistant tried in vain to get a table at such late notice (I wanted a table for a Saturday night and was trying to book on the Thursday of the same week). After calling me back, the Amex concierge put forward a suggestion for “The Vineyard” – one I had not heard of upto then. I decided to book the table and then took a look at the website. First impressions were good – nice menu, fantastic wine list and a 5* hotel to boot.

Saturday evening came and it was freezing! We eventually found the place, halfway down a VERY dark lane. Driving in we were greeted by a large pond with floating fires on it. We parked the car and walked in. Straight away you could feel the friendly atmosphere and we were taken to the lobby to sit down, take a drink and browse the menu.

After placing our order, we were escorted to our table. The restaurant’s main dining area is on 3 levels, which is really good as you have larger open areas, smaller private ones etc. At the highest point (which is about 10ft above the lower floor) was the pianist who was playing lovely tunes all evening.

The waiting staff were very friendly and the whole place was relaxing and very congenial.

Read my online review!!