August the 7th, 2009 – our 10th anniversary! Who would have thought it eh? To celebrate this day I proposed that we should do some more fine dining, as it had been a while, and I wanted to tick-off “Le Gavroche”, Michel Roux Jr’s restaurant in London. The actual day of the 7th was a Friday, so we popped a couple of champagne corks at home to mark the occasion (now the other funny thing is another couple we know, who are great friends of ours, share exactly the same day and the 10 years – and way too many other similarities with us so let’s not even get into that discussion!)

So, Saturday the 8th August. We head upto London mid-afternoon, check into the Hyde Park Hilton and have a couple of hours to while away before our meal (which was booked at 945PM). We took a lovely stroll through Hyde Park toward Oxford Street. It was a lovely, sunny day, temperatures must have been around 25′C with a nice cooling breeze here and there. I know it probably sounds odd, but the parks in London are brilliant, a real escapist area from the hum-drum and noise of the city. Each time we goto London we always try to now take a stroll in the different parks – if you’ve never thought about doing this I highly recommend it.

The walk was about 2 miles, give or take a foot, and we made a beeline for Selfridges. Why? Well, (1) they have a lovely little bar on the mens floor which make great cocktails, and (2) mini-me wanted to buy a “man bag” that he had been espying for some time. We had previously visited said store and bag a couple of times before, obviously having a couple of drinks whilst there, and this time I decided that this said bag must be purchased, so we can find another item in a different store to stalk. So, £160 lighter later (well that was just the bag, we had drinks and nibbles so a further £40 or so) we headed back to the hotel.

Hilton Hotels are our normal base level of hotel of choice, primarily because we have Gold VIP Membership, courtesy of American Express, and this allows us to get free upgrades (if available) and sometimes a breakfast thrown in etc. London hotels, in my opinion, are never as good “value for money” as those outside, obviously due to the high cost of land etc within the capital. The room was fine, albeit the bed wasn’t anywhere near the size of our usual one, and I didn’t really sleep that well, or was that because I was still excited from dinner??

“Get on with the review of Le Gavroche” I hear you shout – OK! OK!

So, Le Gavroche, a 2* Michelin restaurant with Michel Roux Jr at the helm. Situated in a small side road off of Park Lane. You would probably walk past it without even knowing it’s there. The entrance is made up of a small number of stairs, leading to a large black door. So, doors normally open inwards yeh? Well, not this one, as I found out when the receptionist noticed us coming up the stairs, and I had to pirouette to avoid being knocked back down the stairs! Got in without incident thankfully. After checking our booking we were ushered into the bar / waiting area. Very classical decor, dark reds and greens. After ordering a drink each we were presented with the menu’s, but had already decided to have the tasting menu “Menu Exceptionnel” it was an easy choice. Not wanting to have a whole bottle of wine, we spoke with the Head Sommelier David Galetti, and asked him which “wines by the glass” he would recommend. He pointed out some that were not on the menu, which were a mixture of red and white (I can’t remember the names, must make a note next time!).

After ordering our dinner, we were presented with our Amuse Bouche, which consisted of Gravlax Salmon (lovely) and a tapenade style pastry.  After finishing these, we were lead downstairs to the main dining area. The room was reminiscent of something you would see in a “film noir” production, again very classical, low ceilings, low-level lighting (but not so dark you can’t see), a really welcoming environment. There were about 20 or so tables in this part, and I am guessing this was half of the area as there appeared to be an adjoining corridor. The tables mainly sat groups of 4, with the 2 seaters along the far wall looking out into the restaurant. Behind our chairs small alcoves were filled with fresh flowers, and now and then you got a lovely waft of lilies – not overpowering mind, just pleasent.

So, first off. The staff – these were some of the genuinely friendliest people I have had waiting me. Very professional, attentative, not in your face or fluttering around, and not showy – just doing what they should and doing it well. The tables were a good size, plenty of room for 2 with various plates etc, and each table had a bronze figurine, ours was a frog, others were ducks;bulls;chickens etc. Checking these out on the website showed you can buy them, our frog was the second cheapest, £1500! I think the most expensive was around £6000, so I decided (a) not to pilfer it, or (b) not to buy one so I could re-live the experience at home

Right, here goes the food and my comments!

Saumon Mi-Cuit au Paprika, Pointes d’Asperges et Vinaigrette de Truffes
Rare seared Salmon with Paprika, Asparagus and Truffle Dressing

The salmon was presented with a “sail” of fish skin, making it look like a small boat. The fish was cooked beautifully and the skin was lovely and crisp, and salty (I am not a fan of strong fish, normally steering clear of salmon fillets, but this was perfect). The truffle dressing didn’t overpower at all, which is something I thought it may have (one good shard of truffle floating on the asparagus – yum)

Soufflé Suissesse
Cheese Souffle cooked on Double Cream

This is the signature dish of the restaurant. It arrived in a flat dish with side handle. The souffle was floating on the cream, like an island. Before delving it I lightly prodded the souffle, and it was as light as air. Each spoonful consisted of about 2450 kCals, but it was wonderfully sublime. The cheese lingered in your mouth for just the right time, and the cream just coated everything to help it on it’s way

Coquille St Jacques “à la Coque”, Parfumée au Gingembre
Scallop baked in the shell, flavoured with Ginger

This, I think, was my favourite dish. The 2 scallop shells were bought to the table by one of the servers (most courses had the tray-boys bringing the food, whilst the more senior staff put the food onto the plates) and the serving waiter then picked one up at a time, trimmed away the pastry which was used to keep the shell shut during cooking (looked great) and then flicked the shell open, plated and tidied them, and then presented them to us. The aroma was appetising and fresh. The scallop itself had been sliced and then put back into the shell, with an accompanying liqour infused with ginger, and some julienned leek and carrot. The scallop literally melted in your mouth, I could have easily eaten another 10 helpings, a lovely bit of dinner theatre too.

Filet de Bar Poêlé, Coulis de Poivrons Rôtis, Polenta, Croûtons à la Tapenade et Rouille
Seared Sea Bass on a soft Polenta, Roasted red pepper coulis, Olive and Garlic croutons

This dish was bought in covered with a silver cloche, and both plates were put down onto the table, with 1 member of staff each side, and both cloches were lifted together in unison. I must admit I think this was one of the weaker dishes. The portion of sea bass was a bit on the small side, and I really don’t get polenta! Its just like wet couscous but without any flavour. For me, the coulis was the star of the show. Only a few spoonfuls drizzled around the plate, but man did it kick with flavour – fresh, vibrant, pungent. The crouton was failry nice, a bit too salty for my palate.

Escalope de Foie Gras Chaud et Pastilla à la Cannelle
Hot duck Foie Gras and Crispy Duck Pancake flavoured with Cinnamon

The idea of a duck pancake being served with fois gras seemed a little odd to start with, but when it turned up and my first bite of the pancake soon got rid of this idea. It was simply a good chunk of shredded duck in a pancake! It may have been thought of as heavy, but I liked it. I also picked up on the cinnamon, just a little background taste. I hadn’t remembered all of the dishes from the menu, so I asked the waiter if I was right with the cinnamon, and thankfully I was! The Fois Gras was a huge chunk, probably the biggest portion I have had in a fine dining restaurant. It was beautifully seared on the outside, to give it a little texture when biting into it, but inside it was still soft and again just dissolved onto your tongue, very yummy.

Carré d’Agneau Rôti, Beignets de Fleur de Courgette, Jus à l’Estragon
Roasted rack of Lamb, Courgette Flower Fritter and Tarragon Scented Jus

This dish too was served under a silver cloche. When the lid was lifted it showed a wonderfully cooked single rack of lamb, with a courgette flower fritter, skinned broad beans and asparagus tips. The jus was poured by our waiting staff. Well, the lamb simply dissappeared when you bit into it – it had a lovely taste and texture, and initially I thought “hmm tarragon and lamb” but it fitted together brilliantly. This my first taste of a Courgette flower fritter, which was crispy, light and dry – great idea and would be nice to eat as tapas. Broad beans are one of my favourite beans anyway, so can never fault these (especially as they were also shelled)

Le Plateau de Fromages
Selection of French and British Farmhouse cheese

This again was a first for me. Normally the cheese course is an additional selection, and cost, with most tasting menus. Throughout the night we could see this trolley being transported around the floor, with the various wafts of the different cheeses. I think there was about 50-60 different cheeses (I didn’t sit there and count). They ranged from goat to cheddar, stilton, camembert etc etc. You could choose 4 types, and you got a cut of each one, accompanied with some ultra-thin olive bread, which was really nice. With this course, and for the dessert, I ordered a dessert wine (again I can’t remember what it was, crap eh!) and this really went well with the choices I made.

Sable Breton aux Fraises, Glace a la Banane et Rhum Brun
Shortbread biscuits with Strawberries, Banana and Rum Ice cream

One big, fat juicy strawberry that looked like it had been macerated or steeped in some liquid as it was oozing, sat on top of a light shortbread biscuit, unfortunately only one mouthful! The ice cream came with a slither of dried banana, very nice flavour, rich and creamy.

Cafe et Petits Fours

So, toward the end of the meal, I was thinking how this compared to others we had been lucky enough to enjoy. I was hovering around the 7/10, 8/10 mark, including the service, quality of the food, ambience, surroundings etc. But something happened which changed this to a 10/10.

First off, during the initial courses I look up at a figure with chef whites on, and it’s only Michel Roux Jr himself! He asked how the evening was going, not a massively long conversation, but nonetheless, this was a first for us, having the Chef/Patron come out and chat. Hands up, I was star struck and like a kid in a toy store at that part – it really made my night…..then something else happened.

During the evening, whilst chatting etc, I did comment that sometimes the staff, or maître d‘ must have overheard me when I mentioned nobody had asked “oh and what brings you along tonight”, so I could then say “10th anniversary, bottle of complimentary bubbly would be nice”. So, when the desserts came, and placed in front of us, they had gone to the trouble of hand-writing, with chocolate sauce “Happy Anniversary”. Mini thought I had arranged this, but I hadn’t, and it really made us both up. Now that is what I call attention to detail and delivering a service, I still get goosebumps thinking of that moment.

So, if you haven’t been then I would strongly recommend it. The tasting menu was £95 each, which I think is good value. Along with drinks on arrival, 6 or so glasses of wine, and one of Michel Roux Jr’s books (yeh yeh I know, but hey he said hi and the service was great) the total came to about £310 (including service charge etc). Cost doesn’t really matter when celebrating certain events, but I thought I would put it in, so you can get some kind of idea as to how much an evening like this is going to cost.

Oh, and one last thing. Because I failed to note what was actually on the menu, I emailed Le Gavroche for a breakdown. They sent out a signed menu in the post, delivered the next day, again impeccable service (and I was only expecting an email with the food!)