I have to say that I have a newfound respect for writers in general- the amount of mental capacity it takes to write a coherent and informative article, let alone an intelligent one, is no mean feat. After pushing out post after post leading up to the Fat Duck, I refused to log into wordpress for a good month because I was sick of staring at the blank box I am currently typing into; whoever said that a blank canvas is the perfect vessel for creativity, clearly did not have as many backdated articles as I do. Moving on…
The Hinds Head is owned by Heston Blumenthal for those who don’t know. Although it is just across the road from the Fat Duck, the kind of food served could not be more different, it essentially serves English classic pub grub, such as chips, pie, and scotch eggs. Since the Fat Duck doesn’t serve Heston’s infamous triple cooked chips, and we did not have a reservation at his London eatery- Dinner by Heston, the Hinds Head was the best chance I had at trying these damned elusive chips. As such, I had the ambitious idea of having dinner at the Hinds Head after our lunch at the Fat Duck.
Well, not right after, I planned it such that we had a 2 hour break in between the meals. What were my plans for those 2 hours? Hmm… I had none. Towards the end of our meal at the Fat Duck, we asked 2 different waiters if there was anything we could do to kill 2 hours in Bray. Both waiters immediately drew blank looks, it looked as though we had just asked the final and toughest question in a “Who wants to be a millionare?” gameshow (Yes waiter, you are answering for tips). As it turns out, there really is absolutely nothing to do in the village of Bray.
We left the Fat Duck at about 5.30pm, stepped out into the freezing cold. I had forgotten to take into account that it would be completely dark by then, and there was no way I could forsee that Bray would have so little street lights, it could easily feature as the set of most murder films.
Wandering around in the darkness, we managed to find our way to The Waterside Inn, Brays other 3 Michelin Starred restaurant. It is run by Alain Roux, who has helped Heston out a lot during the early days of Heston’s career. On a side note, The Waterside Inn is also the first restaurant outside of France to retain all 3 stars for 25 years. Impressive. We stood by the side of the lake where The Waterside Inn overlooks, our main source of amusement were a bunch of ducks/swans wading around in the water, unamused by our presence.
Yeah the water is pretty cold
We eventually got bored of staring at the ducks and decided that we should just head back to Hinds Head and pray that they would give us a table. We arrived at approximately 6.10pm, and were quickly told that the restaurant only opens at 6.30pm, plus there would be no promise that we could get a table, our reservation was for 7.30pm afterall. By this time, the bar area was already buzzing, and we sat down for drinks while waiting for the maitre d’ to arrive. As luck would have it, we were quickly whisked to a table after a few minutes of waiting. We tried to order as much as we could stomach, but don’t forget that we just had lunch at the Fat Duck
Scotch Egg
Such a quintessential British food, but when done right, oh boy is it delicious. This was done with a perfectly cooked quail egg, the yolk still runny so that it gave the dish a luxurious creamy mouthfeel when you ate it. It had a good amount of minced meat that managed to hold onto its juices and survived the fryer nicely, the only criticism is that the meat mixture was quite heavily seasoned and spiced, but thats what the mustard on the side is there for. The coating of breadcrumbs was thin, but very very crisp, exactly as they should be. We had to order another serving of this, no prizes for guessing how well this went down. Good
Pea and Ham Soup
The recipe for this can be found in the “Heston at Home” cookbook. The colour of the soup was beautiful, it just gives you a very vibrant, homely, fresh feel to it. Ironically, frozen peas are used in this dish. The flavor of the soup was phenomenal, pureed till a velvety smooth consistency, slightly aerated with an immersion blender to give it a little bit of froth and lightness right before it is served. It was also more runny, and not as viscous as a normal pureed soup. There were substantial chunks of ham, and more importantly, there was a delicate balance between the saltiness of the ham and the sweetness of the pea, neither overpowered the other, although it did get fairly heavy as you reached the end of the bowl. Good
Hinds Head tea smoked salmon with soda bread
Perhaps I have not eaten much smoked salmon in my life, but this was the first instance where the salmon really highlighted the aroma of the tea perfectly. My impression of smoked salmon is always a very aggressive smoky aroma, heavy handed on the salt, whereas this version was delicate and smooth. As you eat the salmon, once the initial saltiness of the salmon has died down, the aroma of the tea suddenly shines through. Im not sure what soda bread is, but I found it a little dry, with a slight sweetness on the tongue. Easily the best smoked salmon Ive had. Very Good
Shepards pie with pan fried sweetbreads
This was overseasoned for us. It had nice crust on the top which gave a contrast to the soft, creamy center of the pie. The fried sweetbread also added an interesting complex taste without too much of the offal smell(I cant take too much sweetbreads). But overall, it was hard to get past how salty it was. Bad
Triple Cooked Chip
The moment of truth, an unassuming bowl of golden yellow rectangular blocks was placed on the table. Oh how I have dreamt of this for ages. The triple cook chip was the first technique and recipe that Heston truly calls his own, he developed the method through trial and error when the Fat Duck first started out. It was only after he enlisted the help of scientists, that he was able to completely understand why the method works as well as it does. Potatoes(2-3 specific varieties work best) are first boiled to the point where they are falling apart, they are then drained and dried out. Then they are fried at 120C, drained and dried out again, before a final fry at 180C.
The result? Heston proclaims that the texture of this chip is similar to that of glass, it should shatter in your mouth. I think that description is taking it a little too far, but I will say that it is the best chip I have ever eaten- its pretty damn crispy, and fluffy on the inside. Two orders of this as well. Very Good
Quaking Pudding
This is Hestons take on a 17th century English dessert. It literally quakes(wobbles?) when it is served, just to give you an idea of the consistency. It is essentially a warm panna cotta, flavoured mainly with vanilla, with nuances of nutmeg and cinnamon; because it is served warm, it went down a lot heavier than it really was. I was stuffed at this point and I didn’t really care for it. Okay
Chocolate wine slush with millionaire shortbread
I couldnt figure out why I ordered this upon reading about it in the menu, until I returned to Singapore and flipped open my Fat Duck cookbook, its a dessert that has featured in the Fat Duck. The chocolate wine slush was absolutely delicious, the combination of chocolate and that grape-y flavour was delightful, with a slight alcoholic kick towards the end. I dont remember much about the shortbread so I dont want to say too much about it, but I do remember being surprised that the shortbread yielded alot easier than the other shortbread biscuits that Ive had (it was soft and crumbled easily). Now, if only the 7-11 near my house had chocolate-wine slurpees… Good
Its clear that Heston Blumenthal isn’t isolated to a 3 Michelin starred setting, he can put out delicious pub food as well, and its no surprise to me that his Dinner by Heston restaurant is getting rave reviews. If I know that a chef cooks in a scientific manner (Im not talking about using techniques found in molecular gastronomy, Im talking about a chef to takes time to understand why things are done a certain way), I immediately have high expectations for the food, regardless of whether he runs a 3 star restaurant on a bistro. I do believe that exploring the science behind food will inevitably lead to a path that takes food forward, and help to improve upon it, be it by creating new flavour combinations, new textures in food, or new kinds of equipment. Heston is a shining example of someone who has chosen to walk down this path, and he continues to be an inspiration for me, and many other amateur cooks alike.
3 Michelin Stars, 5th best restaurant in the world
Warning, picture heavy post!
The Fat Duck by Heston Blumenthal, there is perhaps no other restaurant or chef in the world I feel this strongly about, finally making a trip out to the Fat Duck was a little bittersweet for me. I first discovered Heston Blumenthal through his “Hestons feasts” series, I completed downloading the series a night before my final exams, and I finished watching all four episodes that night(no points for guessing how well I did for my finals). Since then, I have had somewhat of an obsession with Heston and the Fat Duck, I’ve watched all his videos, even his kitchen chemistry series, where he still sported some hair(not a good look). To date, the Fat Duck cookbook is the only cookbook that I can say I’ve read cover to cover, and was the cookbook that really got me interested behind the science of cooking. Not only do I love his approach to food, but his story is also an intriguing one, a three Michelin chef that is self taught. It’s not often that you come across chefs like that, most of the time you hear a chef declare that he is self taught on top chef, the first thing that goes through your head is ‘Might as well start packing your knives, you’re definitely not going to last long’. Even when I was making my way to El Bulli two years ago, there was a part of me that was more interested to know and try some of the dishes at the Fat Duck. I was a little disappointed that the Fat Duck had dropped to 5th place this year in the St Pellegrinos list, after having spent so many years behind El Bulli in 2nd place; but on the other hand, there was also a part of me that knew I would still have an amazing meal at the Fat Duck regardless of how they ranked.
Heston’s interest in food began at the age of 16, when his parents brought him to a three Michelin star restaurant, L’Oustau de Baumaniere in Provence. Since then, he developed a curiosity for food, and started to cook, using cookbooks as a guide to replicate dishes from famed chefs, as well as making yearly trips to France, dining at some of the best restaurants in order to better his palate, and gain inspiration. Before opening the Fat Duck in Bray, Hestons prior experience in a kitchen had only been a week in Le Manoir, where he lasted only a week because he was led to a mountain of green beans and told to chop of their tops and tails; and 3 weeks Marco Pierre White’s restaurant, Canteen, mainly because he wanted to learn to deal with the kitchen experience of having different diners ordering different dishes at the same time. (Heston got to know Marco through his one week stint at Le Manoir)
Heston had almost opened his restaurant in South Africa, mainly because is was financially what he felt he could afford at the time, it was only when his wife strongly objected against the idea, that Heston starting looking for somewhere he could afford in England. The restaurant, which intially had opened as a pub, had its name chosen because Heston wanted a name that did 4 things:
1) Acknowledge that they were near to the river
2) Involve some kind of food connotation
3) Allude to a spit or rotisserie (Something he had intended to be part of the restaurant)
4) Have a classic pub sign feel to it
Marco Pierre White claims that he used the guidelines to come up with the name, but Heston cant remember definitively who it was that came up with ‘The Fat Duck’. A few days after opening the Fat Duck, he received a letter from the Bray parish council informing him that it ‘would wish to make it known its objection to the choice of name that the new owners have made. Several complaints have been received by this office about the Fat Duck name, which is considered to be quite inappropriate for a village like Bray’. Clearly things were not always smooth sailing as there are now. In fact, up until the Fat Duck won its third star, it was virtually empty on weekdays, which meant that they were struggling and on the brink of financial collapse. Even at the point when Heston won his third star, he had absolutely no expectations beyond hoping that they would keep their 2 star. Bray is the only village in the world to have two 3 Michelin starred restaurants (Fat Duck and the Waterside Inn). Since earning his three stars, the restaurant has been receiving phone calls non stop.
Heston’s method of cooking is very scientific, in the early days, it involved lots and lots of experimentation, it was only after he started actively seeking help from scientists that he started to gain a deeper understanding about the science behind the methodology, it also quickly opened him up to a whole new world of equipment and techniques. He states in his book that the idea of opening a restaurant was largely in part due to the French trips, his obsessiveness, and one book in particular: “Harold McGees On Food and Cooking, the science and lore of the kitchen”. The book claimed at the time of publication(1986) that searing meat does not ‘seal in the flavors’, as many chefs and highly authoritative cookbooks had mentioned over and over again, almost like a mantra set in stone. Instead, the meat generates flavour through browning reactions(like the Maillard reaction), but it had nothing to do with nutrition of juiciness. This new piece of information gave Heston his ‘question everything’ basis when he approached cooking.
There is somewhat of a build up to a meal at the Fat Duck. Standing by your phone, 2 months before the date of your reservation, waiting anxiously with the Fat Duck’s phone number on re-dial, it took me a good 1 hour of non stop calling before I stopped hearing that dreaded engaged tone. You know you’ve managed to dial through when a reading of “Alice in Wonderland” greets you, and a few minutes later, you are through to the Fat Duck. And after 2 months of waiting and anticipation, we were finally making our way to the Fat Duck. Making your way to the Fat Duck is somewhat of a journey in itself, the closest train station is Maidenhead, which is about 45 minutes ride away from London Paddington station. And from Maidenhead station, the Fat Duck is about a 10 minute cab ride away.
As you arrive at the Fat Duck you quickly realise what a quaint little town Bray is, and how Fat Duck doesn’t have any of the glitz and glam that most people associate 3 star restaurants with. In fact, the Fat Duck has no signboard, unless you recognise the infamous utensils with the webbed foot of a duck, its easy to walk right past the restaurant without knowing its there. I felt a strong sense of nervousness stepping into the Fat Duck, something I haven’t felt since dining at El Bulli(Which is by far one of the most intimidating experiences I’ve ever had)
But upon entering the Fat Duck, you quickly feel right at home, the restaurant looks a lot like a cosy cottage that was converted into a restaurant, the tables cramped together in a tiny dining room, sitting a mere 40 diners.(Thats even less than El Bulli, but El Bulli was only open 6 months in a year). This is in part the exact kind of feeling that Heston hoped to impart-
“When I visited Alain Chapels restaurant(in France) I was struck by the balance of old and new, the stone floors and the solid crossbeams, the wooden chairs with wicker seats. It showed that you could create an atmosphere of luxury without making the place unduly formal. This was unusual for a 3 star restaurant and, without even my realising it, was to shape what I looked for in a restaurant, and the kind of style an ambience I eventually tried to develop at the Fat Duck .”
Sitting atop your dining table is a ‘Nostalgia card’ for each of the diners, where Heston writes a short message, talking about how watching the Pink Panther cartoon as an adult brought back all these nostalgic flavours from the Pink Panther chocolate bar he had as a teenager, and encourages the diner to think about what kinds of food make you nostalgic. I personally believe that Heston has one of the best palates of any chef in the world, and his ability to store flavour memories is what has gotten him where he is today. How does he hold on to these flavour memories so well? I can barely remember what I had for dinner 3 days ago, let alone remember what it tasted like. Regardless, I felt that it was a nice way to start a meal, and if you know abit about Heston, you know that he is very passionate about triggering emotions through food. He explains it best in his book-
“Nostalgia card: The initial idea was to at the very least get diners talking and thinking about food, I want to make the diners experience an informal one, I didn’t want the reverential hush in the dining room, nor did I want people to arrive feeling nervous (Didn’t work Heston!), or in fact, anything other than relaxed. I wanted them to feel excited, to laugh and have fun, and the Nostalgia card was great for breaking the ice.“
Aerated Beetroot and Horseradish Cream
This was an off the menu amuse bouche, an interpretation of a classic salad. The beetroot had a the consistency of a baked meringue- a thin, crisp crust, quickly giving way to a smooth, creamy center. The beetroot a pleasant acidity while the horseradish provided a strong burst of heat that didn’t linger on the tongue, both components were intensely flavoured. I don’t usually give much thought to amuse bouche’s, you’re usually distracted by servers bringing you the menu and sommeliers trying to push wines to you, but eating this quickly made me sit up and take notice. Good
The menu is presented to each of the diners, wax sealed in a velvet envelope. And the journey begins..
Lime grove
The origins for the dish began with a memory of toothpaste. Heston has never liked brushing his teeth before going out to dinner(gross). The mint and menthol linger in the mouth and seem to interfere with the food. At the same time, he liked the feeling of sitting down to eat with a mouth that is clean, neutral, and receptive as possible to flavours it is about to experience. Writing down a wishlist for a first course, he came up with
3) Mouthwatering? gets the diner excited(salivating) for whats to come.
Eventually, this is the dish that was formed, egg white mousse infused with either Vodka Lime(dusted with green tea), Gin and tonic(served with a lemon wedge), or Campari soda (dusted with freeze dried raspberries). The mousse is released from a whipping cream canister, into a bowl of liquid nitrogen(-196C). The nitrogen ‘cooks’ the outside of the mousse, forming a crisp shell that encapsulates its soft center. The waitress constantly reminds you that you have to eat the mousse as soon as it is served, “Eat it now please” “Now please” “In one go” “Yes please don’t wait“, whoever knew that being a waiter in a restaurant would involve having to deal with the dangers of liquid nitrogen, I guess I’d be a little worried too. As it is served, the smell of lime grove(Lime blossom, lime zest, lime leaf, developed specifically for the Fat duck by perfumer Christophe Laudamiel) is sprayed into the air.
This was actually the first time eating something cooked with liquid nitrogen for me, and it was a nice, fun way to start the meal. The crisp, cold crust soft of numbs your tongue the moment you put it in your mouth, and for a brief moment, there is a moment of panic as you wonder if there was some residual liquid nitrogen that may have frozen up your tongue, but the meringue suddenly bursts open to flood your palate with a wave of refreshing, creamy, citrus flavour. Unfortunately, I felt that the citrus could have been a little more intense. Okay
Red Cabbage Gazpacho with Pommery Grain mustard ice cream
This dish was conceived from a flavor memory(I’d love to know what goes on in Hestons brain someday, I think it’d be like having a buffet): sharp, fresh, peppery taste of raw cabbage juice. Having read that is it mustard oil that gives cabbage it’s peppery character, Heston began experimenting by simply spooning out Dijon mustard and eating it with a couple of raw cabbage leaves, the results were promising enough to start devloping a dish based on the two flavours. Pommery grain mustard ice cream sits atop a bed of brunoised cucumbers that have been vacuum packed twice to intensify its flavour and give it a denser texture, the dish is then finished off with a red cabbage gazpacho.
The cold gazpacho and the even colder mustard ice cream was a delight. The combination of the red cabbage and mustard work well together, the peppery zing from the cabbage really shone through, and the sweetness of the mustard balanced the raw earthiness of the gazpacho. There were times when you scooped some of the gazpacho alone, and you were getting such a strong mustard flavour, that the line between the two ingredients started to blur and it got a little confusing. The cucumber reinforced the refreshing theme of the dish, as well as providing a dense, melon-like consistency to the dish. Another interesting thing to note is that it is the only dish on the menu that has remained unaltered after all these years. Good
Jelly of Quail, Crayfish cream, Chicken liver parfait, Oak moss, and truffle toast, with dry ice releasing the scent of Oak moss
The first of the multi-sensory courses, it begins with the diner placing a strip of ‘oak moss listerine’ on the tongue, as the waiter pours a mixture of oak moss essential oil, alcohol, and hot water, straight into a bed of actual oak moss, with dry ice hidden underneath; thus releasing cold vapor carrying the smell of the woods around the table. You are meant to see, taste, and smell the forest. The presence of the truffles in truffle toast act as a link between the oak(since you get truffles in the woods), and it served to cut the very salty quail jelly and very rich langoustine cream. Unfortunately I found the quail jelly overseasoned and the langoustine cream too intense, even the layer of pea puree at the bottom was completely lost in the other two layers. Without the tiny slice of toast, which disappeared in three quick bites, I was struggling to finish the rest of the dish. It was the only dish I struggled with during the meal. Bad
Snail Porridge, Iberico Bellota Ham, Shaved Fennel
Possibly Heston’s most famous dish at the Fat Duck, the dish was first conceived when Heston received his first shipment of snails to the restaurant, and on the same day he had a conversation with his head chef who had just returned from Chinatown in New York, who mentioned that he had eaten fish porridge. This led to the development of the dish, but the unappetizing name and texture of a snail porridge needed something to set it apart and make it taste amazing- the inclusion of one of the main ingredients: parsley, was initially to make the dish seem more palatable, by combining it with the familiar combination or parsley and garlic, it would have the flavour profiles of a traditional escargot.
The moment they waiters and waitresses lift the lid of the porridge, you are hit with this wonderful earthy, almost savoury aroma from the parsley, garlic, and ham. I think this was one of the best smelling dishes I’ve ever had. Your first bite is quite a shock to the tastebuds, there are a lot of flavours going on at the same time. The snails, braised for hours before a quick sauté in butter, were perfectly cooked, it had a nutty aroma with a tender center. The parsley and garlic gave the dish an earthy, meaty taste. The ham shone through with a burst of savoury flavour. The individual oat grains had a distinctive bite but soft enough so that it didn’t overpower the rest of the dish. The fennel providing freshness and a faint aniseed taste, as well as a textural crunch. The dish was so rich it got a little heavy towards the end, but I would willing eat a lot of this, despite knowing that I’d feel sick afterwards. Good
Crab biscuit, Roast foie gras, and oyster vinaigrette
The foie was soft enough to wobble but had a nice crisp exterior(cooked sous vide before being blowtorched), the braised kombu was a revelation, it packed so much briny and meaty umami flavor that complimented the foie wonderfully, even though I’ve never had the two paired together before. The crab biscuit was wonderfully sweet, for those who live in Sngapore, it actually tasted a lot like the traditional snack, fried cuttlefish tossed in sugar, but with a much subtler flavor. The barberry sauce on the side didn’t really need to be there, it was a little hard to work it into the dish, because the combination of the kombu, the foie, the toasted sesame, and the crab biscuit was devastatingly good on its own. This dish, although vastly changed from the original, was his first signature dish. Very good
Mock turtle soup
A cute card is presented to you, explaining the history of the dish, an indication that you are about to have tea with the Mad Hatter
“Welcome to wonderland!” A waitress opens up a jewellery box holding 4 gold watches, presenting them while explaining our roles in this tea party. “You have to take the golden watch, and place it into this empty teacup” She then proceeds to pour hot water over it, “Now, stir the tea to dissolve it, just like the March Hare did in the story!” The watch quickly dissolves into a perfectly clear beef consomme, with edible gold flakes swirling around. The dish is then completed as the consomme is poured over a bed of pork cheek, pickled turnip, black truffle, and mock turtle egg (Which is turnip mousse with a sweet gel, topped with enoki mushroom)
The pork cheeck was perfectly cooked, it added a nice unctuousness to the dish. The soup was nothing like I’ve ever tasted before, it had an intensely complex flavor to it, predominantly savoury, with a slight acidity and tartness to it, as well as a sweet aftertaste. The faux egg had a texture so similar to that of an egg that I was starting to question my sanity. Pickled cucumber and turnip added a fresh contrast and acidity to cut the rich pork cheek. Good
Sound of the sea
This was perhaps the dish I was most looking forward to. I’ve heard of diners who have broken down and started crying because of the emotions this dish triggered in them, that’s powerful. Most of the time when a dish makes me cry, its never for good reasons. This dish took 3 years to conceive. The inspiration for the dish stated with Professor Charles Spence, who invited Heston to crunch on pringles in front of a microphone while wearing headphones. While he crunched, Spence adjusted the volume level and the higher frequencies of noise and played it back to Heston. The crisps had become much crunchier- manipulation of sound had dramatically altered the eating experience. this eventually gave birth to one of the Fat Ducks most famous dishes- sound of the sea.
My mum, who knows nothing about the dish(there is no description of the dish on the menu, apart from its title), actually managed to guess at the beginning of the meal that they would be giving us a seashell to listen to the sound of the waves crashing, the waiter whom she was talking to at that point was suitably impressed
The edible sand is a mixture of tapioca flour and fried sardines, a texture that took months before being able to perfect the right texture and flavor, the end result was so convincing that one of the development chefs had declared, ‘This is the sand of my homeland,Velezuela.’ Months later, a package arrived at the fat duck, it was 25 kilos of sand from the Venezuela shoreline. The chef had asked his father to ship it over, and till today, it is still used as the sand served beneath the dish.
The seawater foam brought the dish together for me. It looked a little unappetizing initially because of how similar it looked to seawater foam, the kind you get when seawater washes up on shore, but I guess that is the exact intended effect. Despite the dish being inspired by the sea, the dish wasn’t overpoweringly ‘fishy’ or too briny. The sand was incredibly delicious, adding a sweetness that seems like it would stick out like a sore thumb in the dish, but it integrated itself well with the fish. The actual fish components comprised of a piece of yellowtail, mackerel, and halibut; they were wonderfully fresh. As gimmicky as it may sound, the iPod really added to the dining experience, it drowned out the background noise and really made you forget where you were, allowing you focus on the dish. It kind of put you in a very private and intimate place with the food you were eating, I found it to be quite a personal experience that I’m struggling to accurately describe. To say that it transported me to a beach was a little bit of a stretch for me, but I can understand why people get emotional when eating the dish. There is a multi sensory aspect to this dish, and if you have a strong enough memory of being close to the ocean, it’s very easy to latch onto it while having this. The moment I pulled out the iPod from my ears, the intensity and flavors seem to suddenly dip. One of the best damn things I’ve tasted. Superb
Salmon poached in a liquorice gel. Artichokes, Vanilla Mayonnaise, golden trout roe
Interestingly enough, the basis for the dish was not the combination of salmon and licorice, it was actually the fact that asparagus and licorice have a compound in common- asparagine. The asparagus component has since been replaced with artichokes, I’m not sure if there is a scientific reason behind why artichokes were chosen as the replacement. I was prepared to dislike this dish, licorice is not a flavor that I particularly enjoy, but the flavor of the licorice gel was actually fairly subtle, and the texture of the gel seemed to blend well with the mi cuit(In between rare and cooked) texture of the sous vide salmon, you can’t have a lot of the salmon and gel without starting to feel a little bloated and sick, but the portion was perfect. The vanilla mayonnaise was what gave the fish a nice creamy mouthfeel, it was a little surreal for me because right as I was about to taste the vanilla mayonnaise, my brain couldn’t quite figure out of I should expect a savoury taste(Because its mayonnaise), or a sweet one(Vanilla). Heston talks a lot about how we perceive vanilla to be sweet, when in fact is isn’t sweet at all, could this be the him playing a trick on his diners? It tasted fairly neutral, but had a slightly sweet aftertaste. The golden trout roe, marinated in soy sauce, gave the dish encapsulated bursts of briny, salty flavour. Good
Saddle of venison: beetroot soubise, risotto of spelt and umbles
This is hands down the best cooked piece of meat I’ve ever had(the youtube video involves me trying to capture the texture of the venison). This is the kind of texture that I imagine sous vide should be about. Incredibly tender while still retaining a lot of it’s natural juiciness. The beetroot puree was incredibly smooth, so much so that looked like it was made syntheticly. There were small cubes of incredibly sweet candied chestnut that really brought the dish to life. The risotto of spelt and umbles was an interesting side dish. Umbles are basically the liver, kidney, and offal of a deer, The ‘Risotto’ is actually spelt(a kind of wheat) cooked in a risotto style, and it is topped with more spelt, but this time dehydrated, fried, and glazed, to provide a sweet and crisp contrast to the dish. It is topped off with a fried sweetbread. It didn’t have as strong a taste as I thought it would, considering that is basically a risotto of offal, it was surprisingly easy to eat, and although Im not going to pretend like I understand everything that was going on, I could tell like there was a lot of thought that went behind making the offal of deer so palatable to the average diner, I actually enjoyed the risotto more than the venison. Good
Hot and Iced Tea
The secret behind the dish is that fluid gels can be make to a consistency that passes for a liquid(although to be honest, part of the magic is not knowing how it works). I don’t want to delve too much into how it is achieved, but the dish is quite magical in its own way. You begin drinking the citrusy Earl Grey tea, one side of the tea is completely hot, and the other side is completely cold. I was not expecting this, I had initially thought that we would start with the hot portion and then transition to the cold, but it was served such that you got both temperatures at the same time(I just checked with other diners, this was done intentionally). The surprise drove my mouth crazy, having hot tea on the right side of your mouth, and cold tea on the left, coming from the same cup, its so surreal that you cant quite believe its happening, its like a little voice in your head is screaming out “wtf is going on? WHATS GOING ON? THIS DOESN’T MAKE SENSE”
I eventually turned to drink the hot side first and it magically transitioned to cold, that was a much better experience for me. When I was staying in Cesky krumlov(In the Czech Republic), I had a sink with two antique looking brass taps, one for hot water and one for cold, but the water that came out of it when you had both taps turn on was not well mixed together into one steam with a consistent temperature, there was of course an average temperature, but every once in a while there would be a burst of cold water, and sometimes a burst of warm water, the change was always surprising because you never knew when it was coming up. Hot and iced tea had a sort of similar effect on me, despite what I knew about the dish, it still held a lot of magic for me. Palate cleansers should be fun like this was. Good
Heston seems to be very proud of this dish, having mentioned that he had worked on it for over a year before it finally made it’s appearance on the menu. Clearly the technique here is impeccable, sheets rolled out so thin they would make Kate Moss proud, each sheet precisely cut to the exact same dimensions. The presentation was superb but overall the flavors in the dish felt a little out of balance for me. The dish had too many sour components that overpowered the rose cream and caramelized apple, the citrus gel was incredibly strong, and the blackcurrant reinforced the sour notes as well. Most of the dishes at the Fat Duck seemed to have a personality, even the one that didn’t taste good to me(Jelly of quail), but the Taffety tart was very forgettable. Okay
The BFG
A dish from his in “search of perfection” series, as the dish is served, the smell of kirsch is spritzed into the air, a precursor to what is, hands down, the most delicious dessert I have ever had. Let’s start with the ice cream, which is one of hestons first obsessions, how he managed to get the ice cream to such a smooth, matte consistency, is beyond me. The ice cream released a burst of kirsch flavor that was assertive yet did not intrude on the palate, so that you could enjoy the star of the show, the BFG. I did not take a photo of the cake, but a quick google search will quickly explain just how complicated the construction of this cake really is (click here), the result? Absolutely delicious. The cake is one of the softest I’ve ever tasted, the cream one of the lightest, contrasted beautifully with the cold, shaved chocolate, which added a subtle crunch. The sourness from the cherries, reinforcing the flavour of the cherries from the kirsch alcohol, balanced out by the bitter-sweetness of the chocolate, It was a truly fitting end to an amazing meal
Bacon and egg ice cream
Well, the BFG would have been a fitting end to the meal, but I had to request for the infamous bacon and egg ice cream(since been taken off the menu), and they willing obliged with two portions. The waiter greeted us with a cheerful “wake up, it’s time for breakfast“, before pulling two eggs out of an egg carton, cracking them into a pan, and telling us that he did not have any gas, which would mean that he had to use liquid nitrogen. How inconvenient. If you watch the video below, the moment he mentions the need for liquid nitrogen, you can hear a suspicious “hmmm….” coming from my mum. As the liquid nitrogen is added, the eggs sounded like they were ‘sizzling’, thus completing the illusion of cooked eggs. A while later, when he couldn’t stir the frozen eggs anymore anymore, it was spooned out onto a piece of pain perdu(french toast) and a slice of ethereal candied bacon, so crisp and thin it looked like glass.
The dish lacked the complexity of both the previous desserts, it didn’t feel like a complete dish, but it was certainy whimsical and fun; the pain perdu, which was smeared with tomato jam, was absolutely delicious. The sweet decadence of the caramelized french toast cut with the savoury, meaty taste of the jam. The ice cream provided a burst of intense egg flavor that really made you feel like you were eating a delicious breakfast. Okay
Whisk(e)y Gums
A picture frame with the map of Scotland, and a tiny portion of the United States(Tennessee) were presented to us at the table. 5 gummy sweets in the shape of a whiskey bottle were stuck onto it. It represented the 5 regions where the different whiskeys were made, 4 from Scotland, and 1 from Tennessee. I’m not exaggerating when I say that if you had about 10 of these gums, you would be feeling tipsy is no time. No chewing was required, the warmth of your mouth melted these soft gums down into what was in essence, pure whiskey. Fine whiskey is a little lost on me, so I can’t accurately comment on how good or bad this was, but one whiskey in particular- Laphroaig from Islay, had an intense smoky aftertaste. Okay
Sweet Shop
Before you leave the Fat Duck, no actually, before you are presented with the bill, a candy bag full of wonderful surprises awaits. A tiny card that reads:
“Like a kid in the sweet shop” menu Smell me!
Take a whiff of the card and you are immediately hit with the scent of a candy shop. It’s been 3 weeks since my meal at the Fat Duck, I’m currently smelling the card as I type this; it still smells delicious, I’m almost tempted to try eating it, but I shall refrain myself
Aerated chocolate. Mandarin jelly
The process for making this is quite interesting, if you’re interested in the technique, you can find it here, I’ve actually tried making this at home, but I had a hard time trying to get the chocolate to set right. Im not going to lie, this was basically a high end version of the Aero chocolate bar, made with much better chocolate, and the air pockets in Heston’s version were also significantly bigger. The mandarin jelly was surprisingly intense and was a nice addition. Okay
Coconut Baccy. Coconut infused with an aroma of Black Cavendish Tobacco
I don’t really have a good picture of this, but the brown strips at the bottom of the photo are the Baccy. It was fun to chew on, but overall this was a little lost on me. Bad
Apple Pie Caramel(No need to unwrap)
I am not a huge fan of caramel sweets in general; this had a nice punch of apple flavour, but I didn’t quite get the overall taste of an apple pie. What impressed me most was the edible wrapper, it had the exact same texture and feel of those plastic wrappers used for sweets, right down to the crinkling sound that plastic makes when you crush it. Okay
Queen of hearts (she made some tarts)
Tucked away in an envelope, sealed with what looked like red wax(turned out to be chocolate), this was easily the best of the 4 sweets. Its not hard to figure out that Alice in Wonderland is Heston’s favourite book, the queen of hearts playing card is printed on a slab of white chocolate, the detail and sharpness of the print is amazing. And in the center lies an ever so thin layer of raspberry compote and crushed up shortbread. The layers were tiny, but the flavours they carried were strong, I was surprised that I was tasting more of the raspberry and shortbread than the white chocolate. Very good
So how was the Fat Duck? I can’t say that it was the best food I’ve ever eaten, but overall it was the best dining experience I’ve ever had(so far). The pacing between each course is spot on, we left the Fat Duck feeling full but not bloated. Service is impeccable, even the ghoulish looking sommelier had a sense of humour. The waiters and waitresses engaged the diners with their playful banter, and were able to lay the foundation for a whimsical dining experience. There is definitely a distinct connection between the interaction that a diner makes with the front of house staff, as well as the interaction the diner makes with food produced in the kitchen, they both seem to be playing the same tune, in the same pitch, and the conductor is King Heston himself.
Despite all the build up to the meal, I was not disappointed at all. You often hear so much about the dishes served at the Fat Duck, and to be able to actually taste his snail porridge, to experience the sound of the sea, to smell kirsch as you cut into the Black Forest Gateau, it gives you so much more appreciation to the food being served. In that sense, the meal was inspiring to me in so many ways. I refuse to believe Im done with the Fat Duck, it doesn’t feel like I can be done with it. I need to return here someday…
I’ve never been much of a squeamish or fussy eater, but I’ve never really given offal much of a chance either until recently, and I realised that I have taken quite a liking for it. Ever since the resurgance of head to tail eating, led by head chef Fergus Henderson, St John has long been on my radar. Having convinced my family to do a quick stop in the UK, St John was the first meal I had reserved. My initial reservation was at St John bar and restaurant, as the name suggests, it is more of a restaurant setting, meaning bigger plates with more food. I eventually found out about Bread and Wine, a more tapas style of dining, smaller plates, with more sharing involved. I started asking around for opinions, and I didnt seem to get much additional information, most couldn’t choose between the two- the general concensus was quite simiar, the food is great at both places. I ended up deciding on Bread and wine, it would give me the opportunity to try as many dishes as I could possible handle. The only downside is that the infamous bone marrow toast isn’t served at Bread and Wine. Oh well, you can’t have the best of both worlds.
Pigs head stew & radishes
The collagen from the pigs head really gave the dish a unctuous, rich, meaty mouthfeel, yet the vegetables cut a richness down a tough. The pigs head was not overlooked and had a really soft texture. Strong flavours, very hearty. Good
Potted duck
This had a surprisingly smooth, creamy consistency, but still had the chunky separation and definition of meat. The pickles were amazing, brined for the perfect amount of time, enough to provide a refreshing burst of white wine vinegar, but not so much as to make it biting on the tongue. Good
Blood cake and duck egg
My favorite starter of the night. A very rich, complex blood cake combined with the creaminess of the duck yolk, which helped to mask the slightly dry interior of the cake, made for delicious eating. Edges of the cake were crisp, interior was soft, there was no pungent smell from the blood. Very good
Smoked mackerel, chichory and sorrel
The taste wasn’t as intense as I thought smoked mackerel would be, to be perfectly honest, it tasted a lot like tasted a little like a high end tuna spread. Not my fav. Okay
Foie gras and duck liver toast
Very creamy foie(spread like butter, soft to the touch), contrasted nicely with toasted bread. Tiny pickles balanced the rich foie. Okay
Lentils, butternut squash, yoghurt
Really filling dish, lentils were a little too heavy and rich when cooked together and eaten with the squash, but the presence of the yoghurt really served to bring the richness of the lentils down. The lentils were nicely cooked, it had a softness to it but wasn’t overcooked, so that every lentil still had definition when you bit into it. I was close to bursting at this point of the meal. Okay
Mallard, swede, pickled walnut
This was the only main that we had on the night. The duck was very lightly cooked, the enormous amount of swede puree made the dish a little too sweet for my liking, completely overpowered the sauce. Confit(thighs) were a little dry and the meat was stringy , while the breast was lightly sauteed and left very rare, not for the squeamish about those who like their meat rare. Bad
Ox heart, celeriac, mustard
The heart had a deep, rich complex taste, with a chewiness akin to that of a steak, despite being so thinly sliced. Celeriac strips in mustard served to cut that richness, and did so perfectly. One of the best starters of the night. Good
Celeriac soup, snails, trotter
A very rich, hearty soup. The trotter was cut into strips and deep fried, which added a nice contrast to the dish. Snails were a little lost in the sweetness of the celeriac soup. Okay
Queen of custards
Custard bottom, fruit compote center, topped off with meringue.I only managed two scoops, but it was too sweet. The meringue was good though, it had a thin, crisp crust, but the center was creamy and light. Bad
Everyone was completely stuffed after the meal, even the waitress made a comment about how we had done very well with the menu. I felt like my center of gravity was a few inches closer to the ground after the meal. Overall, I wasn’t disappointed with St John despite having fairly high expectations of it. The dishes made from the ‘lesser cuts’ of meat were all delicious, but it was the ‘simpler’ components that surprised me- The pickles, the celeriac tossed in mustard, a lot of thought was put into the supporting cast, and the results show when you eat the dish as a whole. I can see understand why people speak so highly of St John, it’s a place you have sit down in a comfortable setting, speak loudly with friends, have a good time, and still manage to get your hands on some very decent food without spending too much cash. I cannot wait for the day that I get to have a meal at St John Bar and Restaurant, its only after I get my hands on that bone marrow toast that I can confidently tell people, “I’ve eaten at St John.”
Our plans for Le Chateaubriand were initially to walk in for the 9.30pm 2nd sitting, which takes no reservations. But we had arrived at 6+pm in the area and quickly realised that it would be impossible to kill that much time in the area because, well, there’s not much to do or see in the area. We decided to take our chances and started heading over to the restaurant to check if we could get a table for the 7.30pm sitting, which, from the information I gathered online, is their reservation only sitting.
We arrived at the restaurant at 6.50pm to see a scruffy looking chef standing outside the restaurant, having a smoke and speaking to someone else. We must have been staring at him awkwardly because he quickly approached us to ask if there was anything he could do for us, before we could even finish the sentence, “We want to have dinner but we don’t have reservations….”, he had already popped into the restaurant to check with the front of house staff, he came back out a minute later and told us today was our lucky day, but made sure to let us know that we had to come back at 7.30pm, no earlier, because the staff would be having their dinner before that. Awesome, culinary fist pump to the air.
We entered the restaurant at 7.30pm on the dot, and there was already a couple seated inside. The restaurant has a quaint decor with tables close enough to eavesdrop any tables surrounding you, there’s a relaxed and fuss free air about the restaurant. We started off our meal with
Gougère with Gruyere cheese
The choux pastry for this particular gorgere was light as air, and there was quite a substantial block of gruyere encased within it that delivered a nice punch of flavor(All Gougères should be made with gruyere imo, not comte and not emmentaler) . Poppy seeds had a warm nutty roasted taste that tied together well with the cheese, toasting them gave the dish a subtle crunch, everything came together nicely. Nice start to the meal. Good
Shot of Ceviche water
What was this? A dish turned inside out? Instead of the fish being the star of the show in a traditional ceviche, here, the ceviche liquid is the main component and the fish takes a backseat. It really comes across as such a humble dish, served on an unassuming metallic tray, yet there is an elegance and charm about these little shots. The ceviche liquid was very tart and citrus-y but somehow wasn’t acidic to the point where it made you wince; perhaps to make it a little more palatable, the ceviche water was incredibly aromatic and it went down surprisingly well. There was a small nugget of fish ‘cooked’ in the ceviche acids, and the natural oils of the fish seemed to cut the acidity of the water very quickly, bringing back some much needed balance. Interesting way to whet your appetite and get it going. Okay
Shrimps & passion powder
Tiny, uber sweet prawns, tempura battered and deep fried, served with a dusting of passionfruit powder. I had a seafood platter with similar prawns for lunch the day before this meal, but mine were boiled with their shell on, and getting trying to eat them with their shell on takes a bit of getting used to. Tempura style works perfectly for these prawns because it makes their shell much more palatable, and it makes them a fun finger food. The passionfruit powder was first a little sweet, then you started to get the taste of the tart passionfruit. It really complimented the natural sweetness of the prawn well. Only criticism was that it could have done with a better coating of passionfruit powder. Good
Razor clam, Oxalis flower, tapioca pearls
The tapioca pearls were cooked in a fish stock that took on the flavor of the stock very well. It wasn’t overcooked either, soft and gelatinous on the outside with a slight bite at the center, akin to an al dente consistency. The salty, fishy taste of the pearls elevated the sweetness of the razor clam perfectly, a combination of flavours set in the nature. The Oxalis carried a woody aroma that felt a little out of place for me, but the onion ‘leaf’ sitting atop the dish was lightly pickled and didn’t overpower the rest of the dish, giving it a nice refreshing jolt to the taste buds. Good
Foie gras with vegetable consommé
If we are being technical, the consomme was far from being as clear as it should be, but the taste of it was phenomenal, very earthy, and it had the taste and sweetness of root vegetables, but the seasoning was just right, keeping the natural sweetness of the vegetables in check so that it stayed overall savory. The coffee bean was what made the dish for me. You begin drinking the soup and you’re getting the taste of this warm, earthy, savory broth, when all of a sudden you catch the coffee bean in your mouth and it immediately fills your nose with the aroma of coffee; you then bite into the coffee bean and you get the most intense burst of coffee flavor, mixed with the roasted bitterness of the bean. But you continue drinking and you catch a tiny cube of foie gras, which melts into this sweet, rich, unctuous cream, which aids beautifully in the silky smooth transition from bitter to sweet, then as you continue drinking, the familiar saltiness of the consommé washes the flavors down. It was one of those dishes that deceptively simple but seems to have a timeline of its own, evolving as you eat until it eventually comes full circle. Superb
Scallop, mustard, white cheese, watercress
The scallop was perfectly fried on one side, crisp enough that I can call it a crust, I’m not sure how the rest of the scallop was cooked, but the other side did not have a raw consistency at all, I have a feeling it was lightly poached. Most of the greens on the plate were quite bitter, which allowed the natural sweetness of the scallop to shine, it was tied together to the scallop with a dusting of wakame powder. I can’t quite describe how good the pairing of the scallops and the greens were, I’ve had much better tasting and fresher scallops before, but the combination of eating them together really made the scallops taste amazing. Every few mouthfuls or so, a tiny dollop of mustard would provide a peppery zing that dissipated quickly in the mouth, I found this pretty surprising because I find mustard to have quite a lingering taste on the tongue. The white cheese added a creaminess that tasted very similar to what mascarpone does for pastas dishes. A lot of balance going on in the dish. Good
Cod, raw mushrooms, pork jus
The pork jus was made from iberico, and I just need to go off on a tangent for a while- a lot of chefs seem to love using iberico jamon in recent times because its the new ‘hip’ ingredient, but iberico has an incredibly intense flavour that can overpower the whole dish very quickly if it isn’t used correctly; this dish needed that strength to counter that overpowering earthy taste that raw mushrooms have. Even my sister who absolutely hates raw mushrooms, found herself enjoying the dish. Raw mushrooms crumbled when you bit into it, giving the dish quite a peculiar contrast of textures, and the cod was lightly poached and had a clean flavour. There were 2-3 nuggets of walnut that filled your mouth with this wonderful aromatic nutty oil, and it was in fact the walnut that brought the whole dish together for me. This is exactly the kind of risky and delicious dish that defines Le Chateaubriand for me. Very good
Beef, cabbage, Thai sauce
The Thai sauce was actually made with predominantly lemongrass, but there was also a very distinctive jasmine rice aroma that I kept getting when I was chewing on the beef. The beef was very quickly seared on each side, leaving the center bleu. I enjoyed the texture of the beef, but I didnt quite get the seasoning, it was the dish I struggled with most that night. Bad
Buttermilk ice cream w herbs and burnt caramel
The subtle tartness of the buttermilk made the ice cream taste very similar to a mild but very milky yoghurt. The herbs were lightly dressed in olive oil and seasoned, and the ice cream ensured that the bitterness and peppery taste of the herbs did not overpower the dish. Eating all the herbs kept giving me the impression that I was eating a salad, but the presence of the Buttermilk ice cream seemed to bring this dish back to a dessert. The burnt caramel added a welcome sweetness and crunch. There were a lot of flavours going on, the bitterness from the herbs, sourness from the ice cream, salt from the seasoning, and sweetness from the caramel, but it came together nicely. Okay
Chocolate, beetroot and pears
Th chocolate was very intense, it tasted like it was pure melted chocolate thinned out with very little cream so as not to dilute its flavor. There was a raw earthiness from the beetroot that threw the dish off balance for me, it felt like it was a flavor component that didn’t belong at all, I ended up trying to get in as much chocolate as I could to mask its taste. The addition of the spices were a great idea but they were a little lost in the thick chocolate. Bad
Pineapple w Marsala
This is one of the most intelligent and surprising things I tasted this year. The toasted Marsala would have overpowered any other raw ingredient, but pineapple had the strength of flavour and acidity to pull it off, the pineapple toned down the harsh spices and the spices masked the sharp acidity of the pineapple. After you swallowed the pineapple, the majority of the pungent spice had already dissipated, so all there was left was the wonderful pleasant aroma of the Marsala and the lingering sweetness of the pineapple. There was also a refreshing menthol effect that came from one of the spices (Cumin seed? Coriander seed?). Deceptively simple but devastatingly and delicious. Very Good
The restaurant at 9.30pm, already a long line has formed
I did not expect much from Le Chateaubriand, it certainly wasn’t at the top of my list of restaurants I was most looking forward to visiting, but it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable. Many of the important French chefs have named Le Chateaubriand as their favourite restaurant, including pastry superstar Pierre Herme. It’s an unpretentious setting serving food of an incredible standard, and its importance in the culinary world cannot be understated; head chef Inaki Aizpitarte is already in the big league, brushing shoulders with Redzepi of Noma, Aduriz of Mugaritz, and Ferran Adria, but does Le Chateaubriand deserve to be the best restaurant in France, the 9th best restaurant in the world(As it is currently placed on the Pellegrino list)? No, probably not. But Le Chateaubriand is an important statement, that diners want to be served delicious food, in a well thought out menu, without having to dress up, or sit through a 4 hour dinner.
The service is far from being close to three star, but it is that sense of seeing people not in suits that puts you at ease, at the end of the meal, the chefs popped out of the restaurant for a quick picture with me(throwing rice on my head in the process), and you really get the feel that all of them are a close knit bunch that really have fun with what they do.
Inaki himself says it best, “I just hope people can understand what I am trying to accomplish each time, and that by having fewer and fewer flavours, the essential becomes more distinct”, the food doesn’t have too many components, everything on the plate is there for a reason, and the diner doesn’t have to scratch his or her head trying to tie it all together. My sister says about the food, “It looks so unassuming that you often forget to even take a photo of it, but it’s only after you’ve dug in and realized how good it tastes that you regret not taking a photo so that you preserve the memory”. And that’s what the basis of the food is about, it’s simple, but delve a little deeper, and you quickly realize that even within the simplicity, there is a tremendous amount of complexity beneath the surface.
We arrived at Guy Savoy’s eponymous restaurant in Paris, dressed in the most formal wear we had brought on the trip. They say that there is a new wave of French cuisine taking place in Paris, one that goes against the idea, the concept of Michelin stars and fine dining; the rise of the brasseries, the bistros, and the possible decline of the fine dining restaurants. If anything, Guy Savoy is part of the old guard that finds himself being attacked by this new wave of French Cuisine. Being the youngest chef in a group of reknowned chefs who pioneered “Nouvelle Cuisine” in France, where there was a shift away from the rich, heavy sauces, thickened with copious amounts of butter, towards a more balanced, delicate approach to a menu, it would be interesting to see how he reacted with his food. We were expecting to have the lunch menu at Guy Savoy, what we did not realize was that the lunch menu was only available to those who made reservations online. Once we were seated, the set menu(without the lunch) and a la carte menu was presented to us. I was starting to get a little worried because they had already served us an amuse bouche before the menu had even arrived, and it seemed impolite to walk into the restaurant, gobble up an amuse, and decide we didnt want to have the set menu. Plus we had already told them we were from singapore, and he had my name through the reservation, what if he hunted me down on facebook and publically shamed me for dining and dashing?
When I enquired about it, the maitre d was quick to explain to us the system of their menus, and asked if we had made online reservations. I honestly did not know, and a trip planner had made our reservation for us, which meant everyone had an ‘umm…. (looks around nervously)’ look on our face, the maitre’d quickly caught on to this, because he quickly explained that he was willing to make an exception for us, but not without giving us a mini lecture on how lucky we were(Very very uncomfortable at this point)
Toast with foie gras and truffle
Quite the epitome of luxury. The toast was thinly sliced and lightly toasted, leaving a nice nutty flavor that complemented the truffle, which in turn complemented the very very creamy foie gras. My description of the foie isn’t doing it much justice, because it was soft to the point where it was almost like a butter. A nice statement of intent by the restaurant. Good
Pumpkin soup and crab tartlet (No Pic)
Another smart little amuse, the pumpkin was light but rich in flavor. Crab tartlet had some acidity to cut the richness of the soup but the tartlet itself wasn’t very good. Okay
At this point we were approached with a tray of about 8 different kinds of bread, along with recommendations for bread pairing with our respective appetizers. I’ve never had a bread pairing before, but it seems like quite a good idea, why don’t more restaurants do this?
Ice poached oysters & 2 new preparations (served w seaweed bread)
The cold trio of oysters was plump and sweet, and it was encapsulated in sea water gelee(I personally believe fresh oysters should be eaten w it’s natural seawater and nothing else). The salt level of the gelee was toned down quite a bit to let the natural sweetness of the oyster shine. The acidity in the dish came from the salad, which drew its link to the trio of oysters when it was finished with an oyster vinagette. When both the salad and trio of oysters were finished, a single warm poached oyster was served, it had spherical crispy pops(not sure what they were) that added an interesting contrast to the oyster. The warm oyster had a much more meaty texture to it, and sitting below the oyster was an egg custard that I can only describe as being very close in texture to chawanmushi. Overall there was a lot going on in this one appetizer, possibly even too much, I enjoyed the oysters but the salad was quite pedestrian. Okay
Artichoke and black truffles soup served with buttered brioche (Served w traditional baguette)
One of Guy Savoys signature dishes, incidentally, artichokes are also his favourite ingredient, and it’s not difficult to see why. An artichoke soup with shaved black truffle and Parmigian cheese; I hate artichokes with a passion, but the sweetness of the artichokes and truffles came together to form a really warm, creamy, very earthy, almost rustic(with a tad bit of extravagance, just a tad) soup. It tastes and feels like a very rich soup in your mouth, but there is enough balance that you don’t get bloated from consuming a large bowl of this. The mushroom brioche was soft and buttery, reminds me a lot of my bread experience in Per Se, and to take things over the top, it is cut in half and buttered some more. As he was buttering the brioche, the maitre d commented, “do you know why we butter the brioche? Because butter makes everything better.” I have to say I agree. Very good
Line-caught whiting w salmon eggs, Dublin bay prawn tartar with lemon jelly (5 bran)
I’m sure this dish was a little lost on me, but I did not like it at all. It was very very intensely fishy, I’m not sure if this was the intention of the dish, but the tartar and lemon jelly were completely overpowered and unable to hold up to the taste of the whiting, and it left your mouth with a very unpleasant lingering fishiness. You can basically make this dish at home by poaching a piece of fish in Thai fish sauce (Sorry Guy Savoy :p, but I’m only kidding, not that you’re ever going to read this). Very bad
Salmon ‘frozen’ on ice, scalding hot consommé, lemon pearls
I choose this dish because it sounded the most interesting of the lot. And I was 90% sure that lemon pearls were spherification, which was a little surprising because spherification has seemed to lost it’s appeal among many restaurants. But I was completely wrong about the pearls. Anyway, back to the fish. It’s basically a salmon that has been ‘cooked’ on a piece of dry ice, during which you actually get to see the flesh of the salmon begin to turn whitish-pink, like how it would if you cooked it normally over heat. It’s served on a very hot plate with very hot vegetable bouillon, chervil agar agar, and the lemon pearls are actually from a tiny fruit with pulp that has the size of caviar, and a taste of a grapefruit but also very tart, almost as acidic as a lime. The ‘pulp’ had a membrane that had a bite to it, very similar to that of a pomegranate. I’m beginning to make this sound like some sort of genetically modified mutant fruit, but it really was quite interesting and pleasant, it was mixed with lemon pulp to reinforce the lemon portion of the dish. It felt a little gimmicky but the wide contrast in temperatures made the dish quite enjoyable, although when the entire dish came to an equilibrium temperature, the dish quickly lost its pizzazz. I really didn’t care fo the chervil agar, I dislike the consistency of agar in savory dishes, but everything eaten together really had a nice balance to it. It was actually the lemon pearls that really brought the fish to life and the whole dish together. Good
It’s time for another installment of ‘Best things I ever ate’, and this was the best chicken I’ve ever eaten. Another of Savoy’s signature dishes, I’m a little happy that this wasn’t done sous vide, because if it was, my circulator would be turned on all day and I would be responsible for a lot of dead birds. The chicken was placed in a pouch and left in the oven to steam, it had the moisture similar to that of a sous vide chicken; I find that sous vide chicken tends to mash the fibers of the meat together quite a little, this had none of those issues, the meat was more ‘defined’ and firm, but maintained all of its wonderful tenderness. The lemongrass actually complimented the chicken very well, without overpowering its delicate flavours. Very good
‘Foie gras and radish’, just fried turnips and ‘roasted caramelized duck’
I didn’t have enough of this to make a fair assessment, but for all your drooling pleasure
‘multicolour’
A dessert whose primary ingredient was figs. Again, didn’t have enough of it to make a fair assessment, and there was a lot going on in the dish
Mille feuille pastry w vanilla pod made to order
Shouldn’t everything in Guy Savoy be a la minut? Regardless, the pastry in this was texturally so flaky and soft, it was like eating air, the vanilla cream wasn’t overly sweet and had a very strong vanilla taste. Okay
All black (Noir)
A very dense chocolate cake sitting below one of the darkest and most bitter chocolate ice creams I’ve had. It was refreshing to be able to taste bitterness in a chocolate ice cream, not the most complex dessert, but simple and very satisfying. Okay
Grapefruit terrine w tea sauce
Another of Savoy’s signature dishes. The tea sauce was beautiful, the level of sweetness was just about enough to bring out the aromas of the Earl grey tea, it also balanced the tartness of the grapefruit terrine. The vanilla wafers gave welcome crunch to the dish, and it was only then that you got the vanilla aromas, which didn’t overpower the taste and smell of the Earl Grey at all. I would have never thought that Earl grey and grapefruit works so well together, it’s hard to describe to describe how good this tastes, because it’s hard to imagine the two flavors combining. So just trust my word in this, it was delicious. Very good
Vanilla mousse. Didn’t particularly enjoy the texture. Bad
Raspberry, avocado puree was a little lost in the raspberry. Okay
Chestnut- intense chestnut mousse, crisp meringue played off the mousse beautifully. Good
Earl grey sorbet w custard sauce. Black pepper
Perfect end to the meal, the sorbet was the best sorbet I’ve had. I’m not even that crazy about tea, but this had the perfect amount of tartness that we really needed at this point of the meal. The custard added a creamyness back into the sorbet, but not in the context of a deconstructed ice cream, black pepper was pretty mild and provided very faint residual heat. Intensely refreshing, and the sorbet perfumed all your senses with the smell of Earl Grey, even after the sorbet was long gone. V good
Chocolate, hazelnut, raisin
Choc muffin w raisin
What had started out a slightly awkward lunch turned out to be a delightful experience. The food at Guy Savoy is excellent, but I am fairly certain that most 3 star restaurants in France would serve excellent food as well. It was the service that surprised me the most. The maitre’d was very chatty, charming, funny, witty, challenging but never to the point of coming off as rude. You could tell that he knew what he was doing, and he did his job brilliantly, it really goes to show how much front of house staff really adds to the experience of the meal. Im not entirely sure if it is a conscious effort by the 3 star restaurants to want to shake off the image of being pompous and arrogant , by hiring friendlier and more engaging waiters and waitresses, but if it is, its a step in the right direction
3 Michelin stars, 19th best restaurant in the world (2011)
When I first brought up the idea of having a meal at L’Arpege to my sister, she quipped, “Whats so special about the place?”
My reply, “The chef, Alain Passard, cooks and dedicates the menu around vegetables” was met with a look that comprised of both disgust and confusion, she had assumed I was joking, but clearly I wasn’t. My justification that L’Arpege should be on my shortlist of restaurants to visit in Paris was based on the fact that any restaurant that has a menu constructed around the use of vegetables, by choice of Passard himself, and still maintains 3 Michelin stars, must be doing something right. To say that he doesn’t serve meat isn’t completely true, there are dishes with game, poultry, and seafood on the menu, but red meat seems to be completely eradicated.
The choice turned out to be a wise one, our copious consumption of meat in the Czech republic, Hungary, Austria and Germany was on the borderline of being gratuitous, at the end of every heavy meal, I looked forward to the fact that our first meal in France would be at L’Arpege.
We arrived in Paris at approximately 10am, with a reservation for lunch at 1230pm. Our driver gave us a quick tour of the sights in the area before dropping us off at the corner of a quiet street.
Tartlets from the garden: Turnip mousseline, carrot w oranges, beetroot
Perhaps a very accurate indicator of the direction Arpege takes with it’s food, very raw, earthy ingredients, simply but perfectly cooked to bring out their natural flavour. The turnip was a little bitter overall in taste, but when eaten in succession with the beetroot(intensely sweet without the overpowering earthiness that beet seems to have) and the carrot w oranges(sweet but you were able to discern between the citrusy sweetness and the more earthy sweetness of the carrots), it seemed to balance itself out. Okay
Bread was had a nice stretchy texture to it, very moist and had a nice sour tang to it. Im not particularly crazy about bread/butter courses, but this butter was amazing, it was soft, with a very intense but pleasant creamy/milky taste to it, with a smoothness that I’ve never quite experienced before. Very good
“Soft boiled Egg”
I requested for the ‘famous L’Arpege egg dish’ the moment I noticed that I couldn’t seem to find the dish on the menu, the maitre’d immediately nodded with a smile and told me that it would not be a problem, like she had some sort of telepathic understanding for my need to make sure that we were going to have this. Sat at the bottom of the shell is an egg yolk(No white), very lightly poached till it has the consistency of the yolk in a soft boiled egg, then topped with chives, clove, nutmeg, white pepper, and ginger, then covered with some creme fraiche with aged Jerez Vinegar, maple syrup, and sea salt.
Flavour wise, it was one of the most complex dishes I have ever eaten, the creme fraiche had a lightness that carried the taste of the spices beautifully, the yolk was the foundation of the whole dish and added a creamyness and richness to the dish. The maple syrup seemed to cut through this richness very quickly and brought some balance to the nutty and smokyness from the nutmeg and clove. Towards the end of the dish when everything had amalgamated together into a cream, you could still taste the distinct components of the dish. The flavours seemed to work well separately, and then as you continued eating, it evolved, and even then, the flavours still worked well together. Very Good
Carpaccio of scallops, radishes, and horseradish
Scallops were in season when we were in France, and you could really taste how fresh these were. The sweetest scallops I’ve had; so sweet they would’ve been good on their own. Not wanting to alter the natural taste of the scallops, or introduce too much to the dish, the dressing was simply olive oil and lemon juice, with radishes added a textural crunch, but sliced thinly enough so that it never intruded on the scallops. The horseradish gave the dish a nice peppery, spicy zing, but was grated fine enough that it never lingered for long. Green tea powder added a hint of bitterness to tone down the sweetness of the scallops, and gave the dish a slight umami boost. Very good
Onion confit, gratinated with Parmesan cheese, with candied lemon and a salad
This dish blew me away, it looks simple but tasted devastatingly good. The onion was sweet to the point of being indescribable,and had the taste of all the complex flavours brought about by the Maillard reaction, but the strange thing about the dish is that there was very little browning and no caramelization on the onions at all, it just carried those flavours, there was also no smokyness from onions at all, I can only assume that the onions were cooked on a very very low temperature for a long time. The candied lemon seemed to hide itself in the confit and would hit you when you least expected it, giving you a nice citrus burst, but it was candied at a very close sweetness level to the onions so it amalgamated itself perfectly into the onions, and didn’t intrude on the dish with any sudden jolt of sugar. The Parmesan was sparsely grated, which was good because any more would have taken away from the sweetness of the onion, it also gave the overall dish a luxurious, rich, silky mouthfeel. It got very heavy from the intense sweetness towards the end, and the refreshing and well dressed salad cut the sweetness of the onions expertly. Superb
Red pepper veloute finished with an iberico foam
You could taste quite a lot of cream in the veloute but it never tasted heavy. The natural taste of the sweet grilled peppers complemented the intense, ham, smoky flavor of the foam amazingly. The foam was also served cold so it was the first thing that hit the roof of your mouth, then the foam collapsed and ‘melted’ into the warm veloute, but you could distinguish between the two different flavors, possibly because the taste of the iberico was bounded by fat(whipped cream?), which has slow flavour release properties, either way, the pairing was a good one. Good
Poached egg served with emulsification of parmesan and salsifis
Im gonna admit that this was the most perfectly cooked poached egg I have ever eaten, despite all the hoo-ha about sous vide eggs, I personally believe that SV poached eggs yield the perfect yolk, but not the perfect white(I like my whites more set). I know it probably had a lot to do with the quality of the egg, since many bakers swear by the superior quality of French eggs, but damn, the texture of this was surreal. The egg whites were firm enough to hold it’s shape, but when pierced, immediately showed how soft it was when the walls of it collapsed to leak out a perfect, creamy yolk. The parmesan foam was delightful and surprisingly intense, the lightness of the foam really emphasized the delicacy of the egg, but the root vegetable (salsifis) had a very pungent earthy, woody smell that threw everything off balance for me. Most at the table didn’t finish the roots that were on their plate. Okay
Vegetables from the garden, served with semolina, sausage made with vegetable
This looked almost like a garden on a plate, and in essence, thats what it was. A variety of vegetables, as fresh as produce gets, all very deftly cooked, either lightly blanched or grilled to maintain most of its bite, so as to showcase the quality of their natural flavours. It sounds cliche, but you could really taste the freshness and earthiness of the dish, the semolina had a similar consistency to ‘al dente cous cous’(is the such a thing? If not, dibs on the term), and gave the dish a nice slightly ‘chewy’ textural contrast when eaten with the vegetables. The faux sausage tasted quite surreal, it had all the flavors of a choritzo, but the consistency of stewed root vegetables. Good
Cod served with green tea, celeriac puree, sorrel(added later)
Remember I talked about a really nicely cooked piece of fish in my Steirereck post? Well this is it. The most perfectly cooked piece of fish I have ever eaten, hands down. I’m not sure if you can see this from the close up photo, but the meat of the fish was opalescent, almost translucent, flaking apart with just the slightest nudge with the back of your spoon. The fish was very nicely seasoned and the green tea added a nice meaty, rich mouthfeel, but did not overpower with bitterness. The sweetness of the celeriac puree toned down the overall saltyness of the fish, a classic combination of flavors, but it works. The onion was caramelized expertly, probably very quickly deep fried, but wasn’t burnt despite some very thin exposed layers of the onion. The sorrel tried to balance the overall dish with some sharp acidity, but i felt it was a little too acidic for my liking. Very good
Next, the maitre d brought out a cheese course, and we opted to have a sampling of everything they had. I eat and appreciate cheese quite a bit, but I am by no means an expert, my sister knows her cheeses far more than I do. Most of the cheeses were nice, one of them was absolutely shite(my sister described it as ‘this is what horse piss would taste like if I drank horse piss’), I agree with her, not that I know what horse piss tastes like. And the end of all the cheeses(we were told to eat it in a specific order) was a 2-year old aged gruyere. I have to say from the bottom of my heart that tasting this was like a revelation, it was incredibly complex, sweet, nutty, salty, slightly bitter, a little acidic on the tongue, all these flavors came in waves and when all of it was melted in your mouth, every flavor came together to form the most intense and amazing taste, then it was quickly gone and you just kept wanting more. Yes, a lot of ‘this was the best ___ I ever ate’ in this meal, but this really was the best cheese I’ve ever tasted. The maitre d seemed to agree because she happily told us that it was her favorite as well
Apple tart with caramel sauce
The tart was as delicious as it was a thing of beauty. My sister just informed me that this tart is one of Passards signature dishes as I’m typing this(I’m not the pastry guru in the family), but even I could take appreciation to the amount of detail they put into it, rolling puff pastry to resemble a rose, with a single cashew nut at the center of each rose. The pastry was supremely crisp and separated into its ‘individual buds’ with ease. The caramel sauce lent moisture to the pastry without being too sweet, so you could taste the freshness of the apple. Very good
At this point we were rushed out of the restaurant by our tour guide/driver because we were already late for our tour at the Eiffel tower, a beautiful tray of petit fours consisting of a tomato macaron, quince macaron, dark chocolate bonbon with lavender, white chocolate bonbon with thyme, a nougat, were all quickly gobbled up by me. By gobbled, I really mean gobbled, it wasn’t surprising to see disapproving looks from surrounding Frenchmen in suits, but sorry guys, when you gotta bounce, you just gotta bounce. I enjoyed the nougat and the macarons best, but it would’ve been nice so savor the desserts properly.
This was one of the best 3 star meals Ive had, the food is not overworked and there is an underlying philosophy behind the food cooked at L’Arpege. Letting the natural, raw flavours of the ingredients shine is a mantra that has been repeated over and over by many chefs, but at a 3 Michelin level, chefs constantly feel the need to raise the game, to elevate the ingredients to their maximum potential, and this can easily mean overworking a dish; L’Arpege does not fall into this trap
The food is pretty as it is delicious, intensely flavoured while maintaining a lightness about it, there is a lot of balance in each dish that most diners will find easy to appreciate, whether or not you choose to scrutinize each dish. Service is top notch and all servers, even the ones who weren’t fluent in English, were more than happy to answer our questions and requests(The driver had asked them to push out our last 2 courses quickly and they were happy to oblige). The Maitre’d walks around the restaurant, ensuring that any needs are swiftly attended to, all this being done with no air of pompousness about the place. There are many 3 star restaurants in Paris that I’m sure are worth visiting, and I haven’t visited them all, but I will definitely be revisiting L’Arpege the next time I’m in Paris again.
Heading out from our train station for Munich in search for a nice dinner, we ended up at Augustiner Keller, a biergarten(2nd largest beer garden in Munich), but of course, we were a little late for Oktoberfest so noone was seated outside. The place was quite packed and we were lucky we went there with a reservation
Schmankerlplatte: mixed compound, Suckling pig, grilled sausages, pork knuckle, piece of roast duck, sauerkraut and veg
This was probably the best meat platter we had on the trip. None of the meats were overcooked, not even the duck. The knuckle was surprisingly not as fat as I thought it would be(still soft though), but the suckling big was melt in your mouth fatty goodness. Good
Roast pork w dark beer gravy, potato dumpling, and red cabbage
the roast pork was one of the leanest we had this trip, it was slightly dry, but the dark beer gravy gave it life, with a hint of lingering bitterness in the mouth. The potato dumpling was also different from anything that we have had so far, it had an almost kueh-like consistency(sorry for all you non Singaporean readers, I can’t seem to think of a western food with similar consistency), which meant that it didn’t taste of potato all that much. The red cabbage(Not pictured) had an incredibly off putting taste that I couldn’t discern. It tasted almost metallic to me, with a very intense and pungent aftertaste. My sister seemed to love it though, go figure. Bad
Bread crumbed schnitzel of veal saddle w roast potatoes, mixed salad
The first time having veal schnitzel on the trip, although we didn’t really have a lot of schnitzel on the trip. The veal didn’t have as intense a taste as pork and I think its too delicate a flavor to be battered and deep fried. The crumbs protected the schnitzel well and the veal kept it’s moisture pretty well. Okay
2 Michelin Stars, 22 Best restaurant in the world(2011)
I had been looking forward to this meal the whole trip. Service had been a little rough in the Czech Republic and in Hungary, I was sure that our experience at a 2 Michelin starred restaurant would be nothing short of excellent. I was a little nervous about this meal because I honestly did not know much about the place, other than it has won many awards and been regarded by many as the best restaurant in Austria. To top it off, this was the first Michelin starred restaurant I would be stepping into since El Bulli, no pressure though, no pressure…
The menu at Steirereck is interesting, there are a la carte choices, and the degustation menu has 2 choices for each course, and you have a choice of a 6 or 7 course menu. Ingredients are sourced around the area and the food is quite modern in presentation and flavour profiling, but at the same time staying true to its roots in national and regional Austrian cooking. The restaurant is apparently named Steirereck because it is the name of the town where Heinz Reitbauer hails from, at least, thats what the waitress told us. Googling the name, however, this is what I found from Reitbauer himself, “Steirereck was opened in 1970 on the corner of two streets: Weissgerber Lände and Rasumofskygasse in Vienna. Because of the location and the fact that my parents came from Styria they named the restaurant, “Steirereck”, which translates as “Styrian corner”. Apparently I was lied to… Regardless, on to the food:
Wheat crackers
A little on the oily side, but nothing special. Okay
Celery marinated in verjus(Juice from unripe grape), served with vermouth salt (sugar, salt, vermouth, reduced and dehydrated)
The salt was actually quite interesting. Very tart but without being overpoweringly so, the celery was quite a letdown, the grape marination didn’t seem to do much for the celery, and there was a taste of lingering celery rawness that I dislike. Bad
(Some berry) on elderberry shallot powder
Unfortunately, I didn’t quite get the name of the berry served, but it had a mandarin orange(kumquat) taste with a very meaty, almost fleshy texture. The shallot powder had great depth, elderflower was a little faint but the powder had a nice caramelized onion sweetness and a slight burnt, smoky flavor that was very pleasant, it balanced the freshness of the berry well. Good
Young fermented wine ‘marshmallow’
It was actually more of a frozen whipped egg white consistency that had a sticky consistency after it melted down in the mouth. Fruity and refreshing, but wasn’t strong enough to make an impact. Bad
Homemade roasted chestnut w chestnut mousse
A warm, roasted, crisp, paper thin chestnut shell encapsulating a cold intensely sweet chestnut mousse. Interesting contrast of textures and temperatures. This was technique wise, very interesting, managing to not only create such a thin crust, but to mould it into a shape of a chestnut was quite amazing, the lightness of ingredients made everything disappear on the tongue, but the flavour release was quick and intense. Good
Pork loin with elderflower, and avocado
The loin was nicely cooked, with a hint of pinkness and good moisture, the pairing of pork and avocado was new to me, but it really worked very well together. The elderflower was too weak to make its presence felt in the dish. Good
Sour Cream butter(top), and sweet butter(Lines drawn on the cold slab)
I appreciated the unique presentation of the butter, and I have never had butter that had a texture akin to finely grating it. I greatly preferred the sour cream butter over the sweet
Bread server kinda looks like Mr Bean, but he was one of the more friendly ones of the night
Porcini mushrooms with seaweed and marinated Foie gras
The wakame lent the dish a deep briny sea flavor that went beautifully the deep, earthy, slight bitterness of the mushrooms, the foie didnt overpower with its sweetness and stayed in the foreground while the primary flavours still came from the wakame and the mushrooms, it was the creamy foie that actually binded and brought the dish together in the mouth. It’s a dish grounded in Umami flavors, and it all came together very nicely. This was my favorite dish of the night. Very good
Gillardeau oysters with Quince, butternut squash and black walnuts
It was an interesting combination of ingredients, but it didn’t quite work for me, The oysters seemed to lose its connection to the sea after being cooked in the butternut squash, the taste of the oyster was a little lost in the sweetness of the squash, the addition of quince threw the dish off balance for me as well. Bad
Sweetcorn and uhudler grapes, Vanilla, Shiso and leek
I’m not sure how this was made, but the corn kernels had their top ‘dome’ structure trimmed off and were somehow binded together to form a circular round. Within the round was a corn and tomato puree, the tartness of the tomato and sweetness of the corn balanced each other very nicely. I’m not sure why, but the dish felt a little over processed, although the grapes brought it back a notch. Good
Confited Tench with white radish, nashi pear, lemon and almond
Tench(A firm, lean fish with a nutty flavour) was soft and well cooked(Not the best fish I’ve had on the trip, but we ate very well, more of that to come later). The pear was cooked down to a point where it didn’t deliver an overpowering sweet punch when eaten, just a subtle sweetness with the fragrance of the fruit, it fit very nicely into the light savory note of the dish. It was the foam(Almond and bean spout) that re-invigourated the dish and brought it to life. Radishes have a nice crunch to the other soft ingredients. Good
Braised veal tongue
Tongue was nicely cooked, and didn’t have an overpowering offal taste, the texture of the crispy lentil puffs with Mangalitza bacon complimented the tongue perfectly, but he strong acidity of the blanched fennel threw the dish a little off and overpowered the rest of the ingredients. Bad
Pheasant w chestnuts, Chard, Rowanberries
Pheasant, like most of the cooked meats in the menu, was nicely cooked, it had a similar texture to sous vide chicken and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was cooked that way. However, the steamed chard w bread felt a little out of place on the plate and I feel like some form of textural contrast would have elevated the dish, the rowanberry jelly and water chestnut brought a strong but welcome sweetness that balanced the pheasant nicely. Good
Braised lamb shoulder with Chervil root, Bok choi, Beechnuts and buckthorn
The lamb shoulder was falling apart but was a little dry on the inside, the roasted beechnuts gave a nice crunch to the dish that didn’t seem to intrude on the texture of the shoulder. Bok choi is usually cooked with strong Asian sauces like soy sauce or oyster sauce to mask this intense woody, herb-y smell(not as delicate as herbs) and its bitterness, using it as a sauce just didn’t work for me at all. Bad
Salted almond ice cream w physalis, Cantuccini, Spaghetti squash
Ice cream was delightful, strong taste of the almond with small nuggets of salt flakes giving frequent bursts of saltiness with every scoop. The squash wasn’t overcooked and had a nice crunchy consistency to it, although it seemed to dilute the flavor of the ice cream quite a lot and didn’t seem to taste very good with the ice cream either. Because of the sheer volume of squash served, I ended up having to finish it without any ice cream, and I quickly I was struggling to eat the physalis on it’s own because it didn’t taste very good. The physalis on the other hand, was delicious, cooked in a compote style with apple and pumpkin juice with star anise. Bad
Iced Cornell cherries with warm vanilla custard, Pomegranate and chioggia beets
A beautifully put together plate of good with beets, cornell cherries, and cornell cherry sorbet mashed together and disguised. Every dollop of sorbet had a cube of pomegranate jelly within it that seemed to burst in the mouth and fill it with pomegranate liquid when eaten. Sweetness from the cherries ensured that the raw earthiness of the beets didn’t overpower the dish. Good
Java Coffee with yellow dates, plums, and Cinnamon Flowers
I didn’t have enough of this to make a fair assessment of the dish, but I had enough of it to tell that it was the best tasting dessert of all. Finely ground Java coffee and bitter chocolate filled with a Java coffee creme. Tell me that doesnt sound good.
Credit where its due, Steirereck serves some very good food with intelligent, well thought out flavour combinations. We had no complaints about the food, but many about the service. For a two Michelin starred restaurant, service was very erratic. Most of the waiters and waitresses who served us didn’t seem to have a very good grasp of English, which isn’t a big issue, but they seemed hurried and impatient when serving, and any questions were quickly answered with a mumble before trotting off. Maybe it’s a pet peeve of mine, but I hate it when table side presentations are done with no explanation whatsoever. More so, some of the ‘finishing’ of the dish was a little sloppy, with sauce dripping all over the place at times. It doesn’t sound like a big issue, but these are the details that separate a 2 star restaurant from a 3 star restaurant.
We were one of the first few tables at the restaurant, but towards the end omf our mains, the restaurant was starting to fill up(it looks to be a very very big restaurant), service got extremely sluggish. We spent way too much time sitting idly between the mains and dessert, and since there was no palate cleaner, so there really isn’t much of an excuse there. There was a course where not everyone was served at the same time, and there were a few bones in the Tench of one of our dines. Again, these don’t seem to be a big issue, but they damped the overall dining experience for us, which is a shame because the food really is quite good.
Our last stop before heading over to Vienna was at Central cafe, and old and traditional cafe with a great central location within Budapest, serving up a wide range of coffees as well as pastries
Poached egg w goose liver, crispy onion rings
The eggs were not poached as advertised, but were instead scrambled. They look overcooked in the photo, but were actually quite moisy. The crispness and sweetness of the onion rings complimented the soft goose liver, but the goose liver did not have the complex and rich flavours of French foie gras. Okay
Baguette w homemade mangalitsa/mangalica ham
I was surprised by how savoury the ham was, it had a strong flavour, almost on par with iberico or serrano varieties, but it lacked… balance, all you tasted was overwhelming saltyness after a few bites of this. Okay
Chocolate croissant
I had seen croissants all over Budapest but I was holding off from eating any because my justification that any croissant eating should be done in our next stop, Paris. I later learnt that croissants actually originated from Vienna, the only saving grace I had was that the French managed to perfect it(Or so they claim, but I dont doubt it). This Hungarian version turned out very good, there wasn’t alot of chocolate involved, but the pastry had a nice crisp crust on the outside, and soft, velvety layers on the inside that were deeply satisfying. Good
We were drawn to La Nouzi based on the recommendation that they specialize in game, we first tried walking in during dinnertime and were quickly chased out by a less than happy old man, with the words “no reservation, no dinner” ringing in our ears. Refusing to give up, we returned a day later during lunchtime and spotted empty tables, surely he couldn’t refuse us now. We were quickly seated inside and served by the same man, looking a lot less menacing but still as grumpy.
Goose soup
The soup carried the game-y flavour of the goose well, hearty, well seasoned. Good
Roast pork knee, potato dumplings, cabbage
This was one of the leaner pork knees that we had, the meat was nice and soft, but the dumplings and pickled cabbage fell flat. Okay
Fried Roquefort
When we set out to Prague, finding fried cheese was one of my sister’s top priorities, she had seen it on Bourdain’s No Reservations show and had to have it. We eventually tried one at a street store, in the form of a burger, but the cheese used was edam, which didn’t have a very strong taste at all, although it melted very nicely. This version uses fried blue cheese, and was overall a better experience compared to the Edam. It had a nice sharpness and acidity, but lacked it lacked the unctuousness of a melted cheese. Okay
Trout of our grandma style. Potatoes, butter, lemon garnish
I believe this was a freshwater fish, but did not carry any muddy or murky smell that freshwater fish are sometimes associated with. It was crisp on the outside after being fried, but unfortunately the meat was a little too dry. Okay
Carp with fried garlic
Again, the fish here was overfried, but because it was much cut into thin slices, there was little to protect the meat from drying out even more. The garlic was also not cooked through and carried an unpleasant pungency that didn’t sit well on the tongue. Bad
Beef with camembert and blueberries
This was one of the more interesting dishes we had in Cesky, I found the combination of the beef, cheese, and blueberries to be quite interesting and pleasant, the melted camembert didn’t overpower the beef, but unfortunately, the blueberry compote did. There is definitely something about this dish that is worth working on.
Fruit cake: poached pear slices on cake
I was not expecting much because this was called “Fruit cake” on the menu, but it was more of a pear crumble, the crumble base was very moist, and the poached pear was not overcooked, which gave it a nice bite. Good
Blueberry dumpling:
My dad decided to order this despite violent objections from my sisters, our overall experience with dumplings was not a good one, but this was one of the more palatable ones. The dumpling was of course, very dough-y and heavy, but the blueberry compote(probably the same one used for the beef dish) carried a strong enough flavour to match up to it and keep it moist while eating. Okay
For all the anticipation building up to having a meal at La Nouzi, I think we were disappointed with the food overall. Papa’s Living Restaurant was a much better experience, both food and service wise.
