Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
If there's one restaurant that has stood out to me for some time it's Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. I have to admit after seeing head chef Clare Smyth on MasterChef the Professionals I was in complete awe of her talent in the Kitchen and the stunning food. So this year when faced with the question of what to do for my Birthday, there was one place on my mind, and what better occasion to go to such a prestigious restaurant than for a celebration!
So firstly I secured a table in advance, it's lucky that my birthday is on a Monday as Restaurant Gordon Ramsay is only open weeknights. Then came the waiting, I'm sure I had reserved a table two months ahead of time! but luckily the wait was extremely worth it.
From the moment we arrived we were welcomed into the restaurant and greeted by smiley faces and we were led to our table. When I booked I requested a table with a view and we were not let down, we were led to a table by the window so we could look out and also have a view of the whole restaurant.
So now faced with the menu we decided to go for the Seasonal Inspiration menu which included the following:
Pigs’ trotter, black pudding with heritage apple and walnut salad
Cannelloni of langoustine and Pèrigord truffle with langoustine consommé
Fillets of lemon sole poached with parsley milk,winter purslane and beurre noisette
Venison loin with smoked pork belly,roast pear and truffle braised celery
Baked vacherin with Pèrigord truffle, charred potatoes,pickled onions and mustard seeds
Green apple and lime sorbet with shiso, avocado and eucalyptus
Smoked chocolate cigar with blood orange and cardamom ice cream
Alongside this we all went for the wine pairing, it is something we love to do as we got to try some fantastic wines, the sommelier was incredibly knowledgeable and passionate he seemed truly passionate and happy to tell us all about the wines he had chosen to pair with our dishes.
So now I am going to let all the food do the talking;
The truffle char sui buns were sublime, this really stood out as it was unique and a lovely taster to start the dinner. Alongside this there was an array of freshly baked breads, I went for the bacon brioche bread it was perfect and the bacon wasn't overpowering, I had to hold myself back and decline a second one when offered to save myself for the main dishes that were to come next.
Much to my delight there was no shortage of truffle for the venison dish which oozed flavour and balance, it certainly stood out for me with the use of delicate ingredients. The poached lemon sole delighted the taste buds with its rich flavour and such a delicate and smooth texture.
In the top left corner of the photo above you can see the baked Vacherin cheese topped with Pèrigord truffle, this really was a treat the creamy flavour and the slight acidity was just heaven in every mouthful there was no escaping the unique and heavenly flavour.
After the cheese it was time for a palette cleanser and I can't even explain how refreshing and delicate the flavours in this sorbet were, it was stunning.
Following this the desserts appeared and as you can see above, a beautiful Caramelised tarte Tatin of apples with Tahitian vanilla ice cream which we shared, the pastry was crisp and the apple was sweet what could be better?!
On the a la carte dessert menu we saw that there was an option to have all of the desserts, so for my sister and I couldn't bear the thought of only trying one! so we asked the waiter if we could select all of them, they kindly warned us that this may be a bit too much but we were committed to trying everything the restaurant had to offer so we went for it and the desserts were all brilliant so it was worth doing, but I think the waiters may have been shocked when we actually managed to eat our way through them all, as I think we may have been the first to do this after the Seasonal Inspiration menu.
So as you can see we got to try a lot of desserts that evening !!!
In the above image are the:
Lemonade parfait with honey, bergamot and sheep’s milk yoghurt sorbet
Smoked chocolate cigar with blood orange and cardamom ice cream
Bitter chocolate cylinder with coffee granité and ginger mousse
English peppermint soufflé with bitter chocolate sorbet
If I had to choose my favourite out of the four desserts in the above image it would have to be the lemon parfait, it was certainly a show stopper dessert for me.
This led nicely onto the finale dishes of the evening, more cheese and a combination of petit fours.
So after all of this you wouldn't believe that there was still more to come, but as you can see above my sister and I couldn't help but try out some of the cheeses between us.
This led nicely on to the petit fours, this included white chocolate coated strawberry ice-cream, chocolate truffles and squares of turkish delight.
Following all of this the waiters presented me with a little chocolate treat and sang me Happy Birthday !!!
After around four hours of sinking our teeth in all the delights Restaurant Gordon Ramsay could offer us, we then had the chance to see the kitchen and meet Clare Smyth herself, there couldn't of been a better end to the evening.
There are no words that can do this restaurant justice, for me it wasn't just an exquisite meal but an experience of shear delight, executed to the highest standard. I can't wait to go back !!!!!!
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