The Fabulous Game Tasting Menu at The Lanesborough

Name: Céleste Restaurant at The Lanesborough

Where: The Lanesborough Hotel, Hyde Park Corner, London SW1X 7TA
https://www.oetkercollection.com/destinations/the-lanesborough

Cost: The 4-course game tasting menu costs £110 per person, or with paired wines at £190 per person. 

About: Céleste is a restaurant set in the gorgeous Lanesborough Hotel, an Oetker Collection Masterpiece Hotel.  The hotel itself is spectacular, a grand mansion overlooking Hyde Park Corner just a short walk from Knightsbridge’s Harrods, Harvey Nichols, and within a few minutes walk of Park Lane and Mayfair.

The restaurant’s setting could hardly be more sumptuous, with a domed glass roof, huge crystal chandeliers, powder blue walls and a Spode-like frieze of white figurines below the high ceiling.

Florian Favario is Executive Head Chef at Céleste, which is celebrating the award of its first Michelin star in October 2016, which was renewed in October 2017.  Having spent five years working at the 3 Michelin-starred restaurant at Le Bristol Paris, Chef Favario’s restaurant offers a three course menu for £42 per person, or £72 with matching wines, a 5-course tasting menu at £110, or a full à la carte service.  I was there to try their autumnal game menu, a celebration of British heritage and provenance, which is available for a very limited period: from 20 - 30 November 2017.

What We Ate and Drank: We opted for the 4-course game tasting menu (which in fact turned out to be a 7-course dinner), priced at £190 per person with matching wines. The amuse bouche were exquisite: a crispy quail egg stuffed with juniper mayonnaise, a smoked haddock tartlet with squid ink spherified "caviar", and in another example of spherification, a pumpkin and mandarin sphere. Deliciously crusty bread was served with smoked, salted whipped butter.

A second amuse-bouche of game brioche, cleverly rolled in doughnut dough and deep-fried to resemble an egg, was served with a delicate juniper sauce on a nest-like bed of pine twigs.

The first starter was hen pheasant, served with foie gras, black truffle and Jerusalem artichoke terrine, hazelnut oil and Tartuffon white truffle cream. Served with toasted country bread, this was a celebration of the rich, savoury flavours of autumn.

It was paired with a Chinon Philippe Alliet 2015.  A 100% Cabernet Franc from the Loire, this had a stalky nose, and gamey notes with blackberry fruit and fine tannins – a delicate wine but with more than enough structure to compliment the pheasant.

Next came wild duck pie, served in very light and buttery puff pastry with black truffle and giblets,  a wonderfully intense roasting jus and a fresh herb salad. Served daringly pink, the duck was tender and deliciously gamey.

It was served with a glass of Assisi Sportoletti 2012, from Umbria - a "Super Tuscan"-style blend of Sangiovesi with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The wine had a rich nose redolent of ripe red cherries, with violets and vanilla on the finish and soft tannins.

Hare à la royale with foie gras was intensely meaty, velvety and rich, served with a glossy, concentrated jus, and with celeriac and chestnut ravioli glazed in horseradish.

A dish like this needs a powerful wine, and happily the Cheval des Andes, from Argentina’s Mendoza Valley was no shrinking violet. A collaboration between the fabled Chateau Cheval Blanc from Bordeaux and the Argentinian winery Terrazas de las Andes, this was a Bordeaux blend with plenty of black fruit and supple tannins. Massively concentrated and powerful, this was an excellent choice for the hare.
  

A pre-dessert of cucumber and elderflower granite with a green apple cream, topped with a purple shiso leaf was just what we needed to cleanse and refresh our palates after a rich medley of gamey dishes.

To end a meal celebrating all that is wonderful about autumn, what better than a dish of glazed Aubenas chestnuts, fondant chestnut cream topped with gold leaf, crushed pear and blackberry?

The dessert wine was an Austrian Burgenland, Beerenauslese, Kracher 2013. A late-harvest, botrytised Reisling wine, this had luscious sweetness balanced by high acidity, with nutty caramel and apricot aromas, making for a complex, satisfying wine.

Likes: Every dish and matching wine was worth savouring, for the high level of skill and the excellence of the ingredients. The setting is elegant, perfect for a celebratory meal.  

Dislikes: None.  

Verdict: The game tasting menu at the Michelin-starred Céleste Restaurant in the Lanesborough Hotel is available for a few more days, until 30 November. It is a celebration of all that is rich and plentiful in autumn, and in the hands of the Chef Favario, is an exquisite variation on a flavourful theme. Very highly recommended.

Galvin at Windows - A Korean Tasting Menu by Head-Chef Joo Won

Name: Galvin at Windows

Where: 28th Floor, London Hilton on Park Lane, 22 Park Lane, London, W1K 1BE, http://www.galvinatwindows.com/

Cost: The 6-course Korean tasting menu costs £115 (or with wine pairings at £169, or including wine pairings and a welcome cocktail at £189)

About: Entry to Galvin at Windows could hardly be more dramatic. Situated on the 28th floor of the famous Hilton Hotel on swanky Park Lane, the lift whisked us from the hotel's lobby in a matter of seconds, to be greeted by a spectacular view over Hyde Park to Knightsbridge, Kensington and Bayswater.

Opened in 2006, Galvin at Windows, at the top of Park Lane's Hilton Hotel, was awarded a Michelin star in 2010. Korean Head Chef Joo Won has been at the restaurant since the start, and has made his way through the ranks from Commis to Head Chef, which he achieved in 2013.

Now for the month of October 2016, Chef Joo Won is presenting a special Korean menu featuring some classic dishes from his home country. We were there to try his Korean inspired 6-course tasting menu.

What We Ate and Drank: We opted for the Menu Degustation Deluxe, which included a Korean Soju Sour cocktail. With apple juice, cucumber, a drop of bitters and egg white, this was strong and refreshing, with crisp acidity from the green apple.
  

With the cocktail we enjoyed a couple of amuse bouche – they were chilli spiced chicken and some light and delicately flavoured kimchi arancini. To follow we also had a clear, flavoursome fish soup with clam, tofu, spring onion, chilli and radish.

The first starter was raw Orkney scallops served with soy bean puree, confit ginger, crushed peanuts, chilli and nori powder. Cleverly conceived, this had great texture and heat from the crunchy peanut and chillies against the delicate raw scallop.

It was served with a glass of Bekseju, Kooksoondan, Korea. This blend of aged rice wine, ginseng and herbs was aromatic, with a herbaceous and vegetal nose, with oxidised overtones which reminded me of a Sercial dry madeira. I thoroughly enjoyed it by itself, but its flavour profile was transformed by the pairing with the scallop, taking on rich and complex caramel-like notes.

The salad of raw crispy vegetable was next - we loved the the combination of raw and tempura vegetables with sweet, chilli and herbaceous sauces (chilli dressing, sweet soy and seaweed emulsion) and with an excellent balance of texture and flavour. The salad had a mix of different ingredients including baby carrot, onion, cucumber, radish, Padron pepper, mushroom, tempura-style spring onion and glazed fig.

With it, we were served a glass of Vouvray, Domain Champalou, Loire Valley, France 2015. Made from the Chenin Blanc grape, this was a well-made, off dry wine, with quince and pear on the palate.

The seared foie gras, served on toasted brioche, with mushroom fricassee, red wine jus, elderberries and blackberries had kimchi as the Korean touch. Delicious as it was, I did not feel the creamy foie gras was a great match to the spicy kimchi.

To partner the foie gras, the menu matched a glass of Soju- Hwayo 25% and home-fermented plum juice. This had quite an alcoholic burn, but was rich and semi-sweet. I enjoyed it as drink, but with the foie gras, the combination was noticeably greater than the sum of the parts.

The main course was marinated Iberico pork bulgogi, with barbecued chilli squid and cucumber salad, served with flaxseed rice, soy and spring onion. The pork (pluma cut) was soft and rich with great marbling (though a tad overcooked, the best way of eating Iberico pluma is medium rare in my opinion), the squid was however tender and spicy.

The pork was paired with a deliciously silky glass of Pinot Noir Jubilee, from Hugel, Alsace, France 2009.

Pre-dessert was a Greek yoghurt sorbet with pine nut, blackberry and shiso granita. The sorbet was refreshingly light, and the shizo granita delicate and herbaceous.

We finished with a magnificent Korean dessert of white chocolate and deonjang cremeaux (made from soy), with Castella sponge (ultra-light Portuguese sponge cake, much loved in Asia), caramelised red bean, pomegranate and pumpkin ice cream. I am not a dessert person but for me this was the highlight of our meal – light, creamy, and not overly sweet, it had a great combination of unexpected flavours and wonderful textures.

To accompany it we had a glass of Korean Myungjak Bokbunja, Kooksoondang. Made from fermented raspberry and wild strawberry, this was 13 per cent alcohol. To my palate, it was a naive drink - fresh and very fruity, but devoid of acidity, complexity or interest. 

Likes: Our favourite dishes were the crispy vegetable salad, the Orkney scallop and the magnificent Korean dessert. Service was excellent.

Dislikes: None. 

Verdict: We thoroughly enjoyed chef Joo Won’s cooking and his refined Korean-French tasting menu, dishes were well conceived and faultlessly executed. If you would like to try his Korean tasting menu at Galvin at Windows, you will need to hurry, as it is only available during October 2016. Recommended.

Christmas Afternoon Tea at Grosvenor House

Words & Photography by Felicity Spector and Luiz Hara

I was dashing, literally, straight off a flight from California where the sun shone low over the Pacific and my lunch was heirloom, heritage and 100% organic. London, by contrast, was freezing and frenetically busy, but there was the promise of Christmas in the air. And afternoon tea, in Mayfair.

The Grovesnor House, right on Park Lane, was bedecked with festive decorations and a veritable forest of Christmas trees. A five star hotel, it was awarded the Guild of Tea award of excellence in 2013, a true mark of quality and consistent standards.

Thankfully out of the cold, there was a warm welcome inside: getting off to a grand start with a glass of Piper Heidsiek champagne and another containing a refreshing mix of mango juice and tiny cubes of tropical fruit.

There was a good selection of leaf teas, although many came with a £3 supplement: we were happy with our choices of Lady Grey, heady with citrus and bergamot, and a light, fragrant White peony.

Our excellent waitress ferried over a tiered stand of finger sandwiches and little cakes: a festive collection on offer over the Christmas period. The sandwiches were freshly made if a little conventional: prawn, egg mayonnaise, smoked salmon, ham and cucumber - and one with home smoked turkey and a touch of cranberry sauce.

While we waited for scones, we tried some of the patisserie. The red velvet macaron was squidgy and well made, and we also enjoyed the gingerbread white chocolate mousse and a shot glass of whisky pannacotta with plum compote.

A basket of warm, light scones arrived with a choice of jams, which was a nice touch: we chose gooseberry, rhubarb and ginger and raspberry - and it all came with a vast bowl of clotted cream which can only be a good thing.

We were pretty full by this point, but there was a whole table of larger cakes to choose from too: the Red Velvet came highly recommended, and we couldn't resist trying a slice.

A good move, as it turned out: the cake was moist, light and not too sweet, with a generous layer of cream cheese frosting.

The Christmas afternoon tea is available for £39.50 per person, or £50.50 with champagne, reflecting the prices in this part of town. It's a comfortable room with wonderful service - if only the food was a little more adventurous, we'd have come away even happier.

Grovesnor House
86-90 Park Lane, London
0207 499 6363
Afternoon tea can be booked here. 

JW Steakhouse Revisited (And It is Still a Treat)!

Name: JW Steakhouse

Where: The Grosvenor House Hotel, 86 Park Lane, London W1K 7TN

Cost: An average of £75 per person plus service. From the standard dinner menu, starters range from £8 to £27, main courses from £16 to £44 (for the Tomahawk rib eye steak), and desserts from £7 to £14 (for the fabulous cheesecake).

About: Having visited JW Steakhouse in October 2013 (reviewed here) and thoroughly enjoyed my meal there, I looked forward to returning a couple of weeks ago to try their new seasonal menu.

JW Steakhouse opened in 2010 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair's Park Lane, and is one of the few restaurants of its kind in London featuring grain-fed American USDA certified beef from Creekstone, as well as grass-fed Aberdeen Angus from Macken Brothers of Chiswick.

The menu, not surprisingly, is focussed on steak. The restaurant is situated on the ground floor of the hotel, which opened in 1929, and after extensive renovation was opened as a JW Marriott hotel in 2008.

Despite its fancy location on Park Lane, the restaurant has a rather casual and laid-back feel about it akin to an American Steakhouse. It is frequented by hotel guests and Londoners alike and on the night we were there, the place was full.

The restaurant has one of those super-duper Montague Legend Radiant Grills that sears meat at 650°C, giving a perfect and even seal and juicy steaks with fantastic flavour.

What We Ate: I rarely mention a restaurant’s bread basket in my restaurant reviews but I could not let the JW Steakhouse’s Parker House Rolls go unreported. These feather-light, buttery rolls with a crispy shell and crusted with sea-salt were utterly delicious. They date back to the 1870s when they were invented at the Parker House Hotel in Boston, where they are still being served.

Knowing that we would be having a very meaty dinner, we opted for the Seafood Platter for 2 (£28) to get things going. With a selection of rock oysters, jumbo shrimp and lump crab, this was a delicious and refreshing starter, accompanied by a delicately sweet Mary Rose sauce made from tomato chutney and mayonnaise.

For the main course, we decided to compare grain-fed American versus grass-fed British beef. We chose the American USDA Porterhouse Steak (£59 for 800g – a serving for 2) that came with a very well-made Béarnaise sauce. The steak was excellent, thick but tender, well-marbled and richly flavoured, the meat was cooked rare just as requested. This was a fantastic steak.

We ordered the British Rib-eye (£32 for 400g) with an optional topping of Oscar lump crab, asparagus and Béarnaise (£8 extra). This was again very good and beautifully cooked, but in my opinion, it lacked the richness and intense savoury qualities of its American cousin. We would have been completely happy with the British Rib-eye had we not just tried the USDA Porterhouse though.

The magnificent lobster mac ‘n cheese which we had at our last meal at JW Steakhouse (and probably one of the reasons for our return visit) was unfortunately not available on the night. Instead, we shared a Cheddar Mac 'n Cheese (£6). The texture was just right - neither watery, nor too dry, and with plenty of nutmeg.  The only pity was that, for my palate, the cheese used to make the sauce could have been a bit more robust.

We also had the Iceberg Wedge with Blue Cheese and Crispy Bacon (£9). This was delicious, with salty blue cheese & bacon contrasting so well with the refreshing lettuce.

With our steaks, chips were just too tempting to miss. So we ordered a portion of Fries with Truffled Salt (£5). These were excellent and crispy although the flavour of truffle was not totally obvious to me.

For dessert, there was no doubt in our minds but to go for the restaurant’s signature Cheesecake (£14). Described in their menu as “the best cheesecake this side of the pond”, this is indeed no exaggeration. This heavenly creation is a must-have I remembered from my previous visit. It is magnificently creamy and rich, but also light due to the use of soured cream that gives it a refreshing acidity. The cheesecake is for 2 people although it is far too much to eat in one sitting. The staff are well used to that and have specially designed carriers for diners to take the cheesecake home safely to enjoy for breakfast.

What We Drank: We shared a bottle of Paul Jaboulet Crozes Hermitage Les Jalets 2010 (£38).  This was a very good match for the beef, with powerful blackberry fruit flavours and plenty of tannin. Given that it is available from The Wine Society for £15, a mark-up of only just over 2 fold for a Park Lane hotel seemed very good value. The entry-level red wine is £34.

Likes: Excellent quality USDA and British beef, expertly cooked. The most delicious cheesecake I can remember. Great wine selection, with a very reasonable mark-up.

Dislikes: Having a TV constantly showing sporting fixtures was the only downer. Prices are on the steep side.

Verdict: Top notch steaks, a fantastic wine selection and excellent service make JWS one of the best steakhouses in London. A perfect meal for me here would be their USDA Porterhouse steak, the lobster mac 'n cheese, followed by the signature cheesecake - all unmissable. Very highly recommended.

Laurent Perrier Champagne Afternoon Tea at The Dorchester

Words & Photography by Florentyna Leow and Luiz Hara

Name: Afternoon Tea at the Dorchester

Where: The Dorchester, Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K1QA

Cost: Afternoon tea is priced at £45 per person, £55 with a glass of Laurent-Perrier Brut NV Champagne or £59 with Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé Champagne.

About: Afternoon tea – the mere mention conjures up women in frilly dresses on a garden patio, tiers of little cakes and sandwiches, and the sound of tinkling teacups. Never mind that afternoon tea for most Brits is usually a mug of builder’s tea, and if you’re feeling posh, a rich tea biscuit. In any case, afternoon tea is one of those quintessentially English things that you have to experience. So I was delighted to have the privilege of experiencing the Laurent Perrier Champagne Afternoon Tea at The Dorchester. You can’t get much posher than that!

Thankfully, afternoon tea at The Promenade is far more relaxed than its opulent surroundings would suggest – no ties or suits required, and there were guests in jeans and polo shirts. The 2 ½ hour window is ample time for guests to enjoy a leisurely afternoon nibbling on endless rounds of finger sandwiches and buttery scones.

What We Ate:  The finger sandwiches, made with artisanal bread, were impeccably made. When the waitress arrived with a tray and asked us if we wanted seconds, we couldn’t say no to more chicken and mustard, smoked salmon, and tomato-mozzarella sandwiches. If we hadn’t had dinner waiting for us, thirds, even fourths, would definitely have been possible!

Next was the cream tea – warm, crumbly, buttery scones which we smeared with generous dollops of Cornish clotted cream and their homemade jams, including a very seasonal rhubarb and angelica jam.

We were also presented with a selection of adorable French pastries. In general, these were top-notch examples of patisserie, but two in particular stood out for me.

One was the vanilla panna cotta with a tangy rhubarb centre, which was incredibly light and fresh, almost cloud-like. The other was a passionfruit chocolate tartlet, unexpectedly tangy and delightfully mousse-like.

What We Drank: I tried two Laurent Perrier Champagnes. The Brut NV is delicate in style, with notes of apples, lemon and slight toast, a really elegant wine.  The Brut Rosé comes in a beautiful embossed bottle, and is one of the few rosé Champagnes still made by the traditional but (for the vigneron) hair-raising saignée method which involves leaving the skins of the red grapes in contact with the wine until it is precisely the right shade.  If it is left a few hours too long, the whole batch turns red and has to be discarded.  But the benefit is that the wine keeps a highly expressive bouquet. Made from 100% pinot noir, it has intense notes of red berry fruit and black cherries.

Besides the Champagne, they also offer a generous selection of teas. There’s a tea for everyone: single estate, house-blended, black, caffeine-free, Chinese and Japanese teas. We tried their house-blended Darjeeling and their Paris blend. Both were wonderfully fragrant and delicious.

Likes: I was very pleased with the selection of teas, and the variety of pastries on offer. Service was friendly and attentive. The Champagne was superb, particularly the rosé.

Dislikes: None.

Verdict: This is one of those rare animals – a delicious afternoon tea in a beautifully posh yet relaxed setting, whose pleasure is optionally heightened with a glass of lovely Laurent-Perrier Champagne. Highly recommended.