Gauthier Soho – Soho, Wednesday 25th August, 2010

By the end of August, the busiest mid-year period of my day job had finished. I'd been working long hours, unforgiving days and generally very hard. So much so that my bosses were instructing me to take some time off.

When I finally managed to get away from the office on a weekday, the other half and I were lucky enough to reserve a table at Gauthier Soho, Alexis Gauthier's new restaurant. Famed for his work at Rousillon in Pimlico, Gauthier had bought up the former site of Richard Corrigan's Lindsay House. All of a sudden there is a lot to be said for a reservation here - expectations were high. The final point which guaranteed a rush of popularity and press was that they had offered 50% off the tasting menu last August. This was worth a day off work, surely?

The day itself was less the brilliant sunshine-drenched pad about Soho I wanted; it was a dire and drizzly Wednesday when the last thing I wanted to be doing was leaving the house for any reason. We trudged up from Piccadilly Circus in a dampened mood to match our jackets. Combined with the weight of expectation, Gauthier Soho had rather a lot of work to do to impress us. It ought to have been food which could lift us out of any weather-affected funk anyway...

The restaurant itself is nothing to write home about as you first step through the doors. It reminded me of a dentist surgery: a lovely townhouse stripped of any charm it once had and clinically whitened to dreary distraction. But this actually seems to work in Gauthier Soho's favour. Because you're chilled from draughts through the chimney and worried that the ceiling might start dripping at any moment, you start really appreciating anything that gets put in front of you, because let's face it – you're fairly chuffed to be here for food as opposed to a clean and polish.

As I cautiously regarded the uneven floors and old-fashioned windows, we were presented with a little pre-starter assortment which confused me no end. I never expected in a month of French tasting menus that any French tasting menu would serve us chips, but that's what they did (left). The pre-starters encompassed some stuffed cherry tomatoes, continental ham with sauce in pastry nests... and four chips in a shot glass. Crazy. Salty, soft and somehow a pretty compliment to the more traditional canapes. Something told me we were in for a treat.

Our first course proper was about as traditionally French as you would want from the first course of a tasting menu. Pan-fried duck foie gras served with confit apricot and port reduction (right). Throw me to the heavens. This stuff was exactly - but exactly - what I wanted at the start of any meal. Delicate, soft and bold foie gras was perfectly accompanied by the sweet and tender apricot on the side. The port they threw in with it was almost showing off but with a starter like this, you almost want it to melt into your bloodstream and caress your circulatory system into oblivion. Some of the most delectable foie gras I've eaten.

Second up was another classic standard of French tasting menus: scallop. Served with garlic, parsley purée and a handful of mushrooms, it was soft, juicy and rather fresh (left). Variation is important in tasting menus, as is getting the order right. Gauthier Soho were starting with their best foot forward. Stunning, strong foie gras to begin things followed by a slight cool-off with an equally impressive scallop. I appreciate my palate being calmed with good menu construction as opposed to weaker dishes.

Third up was risotto (right). I had earmarked this as a fairly important course the second we took in the menu. You may remember the mishap I had with some truffle and asparagus risotto at Criterion earlier in the summer. It was nearly enough to put me off the stuff for good, and another misstep here could seriously end my relationship with risotto. Hell, I might even be less enthused by truffles... I needn't have worried: Gauthier Soho had fresh truffles and plenty of them. Grated finely on to the thick, parmesan-laced rice, my senses were fully rewarded for the penance I had been made to pay a few months earlier. Almost overwhelmed by the richness of the dish, I was merrily coasting through the menu now.

There were two main courses to savour, both of which were worth their place on the menu and both of which added to the experience in a positive and interesting way. This is important, since interesting is way better than the sort of dull overkill you can sometimes get three or four dishes in. Firstly, we were served sea trout. I do love trout. Usually my favourite treat on a barbecue with a dash of lemon and black pepper, it's a great robust and everyday fish. But I'd never eaten sea trout until now. By heaven I'm glad I did. The most succulent, juicy and delicately cooked fish I've eaten for some time (left). A real triumph, served imaginatively with two shades of soft beetroot and a little ginger-infused sorrel jus left me satisfied with time to spare.

Of course, the main affair of most any tasting menu - certainly a French one - is going to be a meat course. I was somewhat fearful by this point that I couldn't really handle more food of any serious substance. Fortunately, the excellent construction of the Gauthier kitchen was on hand again to serenely usher me to meats. "Crispy and soft piglet" is just the sort of semi-macabre description I want to be seeing on the menu, presented semi-stunningly on my plate (right). Needless to say it was delicious: varied textures, the softest of which was a melty, creamy white meat underneath a delicately soft crisp top which was nowhere near overcooked or too thick. Thin leek and carrot on the side with cherry reduction and pig jus added up superbly. ("Pig jus"?! Monseuir Gauthier, with these descriptions you're really spoiling us...) All pitfalls avoided, I was ready to wave goodbye to mains and all other courses and move right on to desserts.

Next up was cheese. And I'm not much of a cheese fan. It certainly has its merits when wedged into a formal French eight-courser like this, but it does take a bit of work to really enjoy it. A trolley was wheeled over to the table where we were patiently guided through the types of cheese on the board before making our choices and doing our best, armed with crackers and dried fruits. I would be lying if I said I really enjoyed or even needed this course, but when it's served so generously, so graciously and so unpretentiously, I will gladly sit there and politely eat with a grin on my face. They're just so nice about it all.

On to desserts proper and we were starting to flag somewhat. I can eat desserts until the cows come home but I was a little wary of what two more courses were going to do to me. Before our desserts arrived, I realised that the whole townhouse chic of Gauthier Soho had won me over. Of course that had a lot to do with the exceptional courses we'd eaten and the adequately pleasant service, but there really is something in this solicitors' office conversion that makes you feel welcome. Comfortable, even.

Desserts proved to be the downfall of the menu. Had they matched the standard of the preceding courses, I would most probably be describing my best meal of 2010 to you. As it is, the last word was not a good one. First up was an assortment of cherry, in the form of two fruits and some jelly. A small, dry chocolate cake on the side, the whole lot flavoured with unseemly champagne and messy presentation (the lines thing isn't going to work on every course, guys) added up to the first inconvenient course of the day.

I hoped for better as we were presented with a dark chocolate Louis XV - essentially biscuit covered with chocolate. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that there was praline in this. If you like nuts, I'm almost certain the pud would've done something for you, but I was unmoved and slightly frustrated by this glorious looking yet empty-tasting effort. I did finish as much of it as I could (thinking back, it might've been the whole thing) because you don't want to waste chocolate this good, but I wouldn't want to eat it again. I learned since that this is apparently Gauthier's signature dish, but I just don't get it.

Petit-fours were another unneccessary waste of space - more nuts - which left me thinking they could've done away with all the dessert courses and chanced their arm with another meat dish. But I'm being facetious: you will know by now how much I really enjoyed this lunch time adventure at Soho's most exciting new restaurant.

You can get a real mixed bag in Soho, from the dodgiest, seediest restaurants (and in Soho you need that sort of stuff) to some serious high-end cuisine. Gauthier Soho is a perfect middle ground. Their tasting menu was outrageously good value at half-off but their current standard price of £64 for eight courses is by no means unreasonable. They also offer a five-course a la carte for £55, four-course for £45 and three-course for £35. It is potentially a winning pricing system for a restaurant that just gained its first Michelin star.

Gauthier Soho will do more than pass the test of time in its Lindsay House home. As long as the floorboards don't splinter, the ceilings don't cave in and the windows don't crack, it'll be a Soho institution for some time to come. Yes, I'm writing this in a biased slant since it's just the sort of food that I love, but that's the point: they did it wonderfully. Please visit here if you get the chance: they deserve to thrive and we deserve to enjoy it.



Gauthier Soho

Michelin Guide 2011 – London Restaurants

Amidst a howl of derision from some (Jay Rayner in particular) and a whoop of jubilation from others, the latest Michelin Guide has been published. The full UK list is here, but as usual it is London's achievements I intend to focus on.

The biggest news is that Hélène Darroze has obtained a second star for her restaurant at The Connaught. Good for her, I say. I ate there a while back and had a wonderful time. Of course, prices will duly increase and I'm sure it will now be taken off Toptable, but good-o all the same. On a personal point, this now makes Marcus Wareing's restaurant the only Michelin two-star venue in London which I have yet to eat in. (Reviews are following for a few of these...)

On the topic of Marcus Wareing, a few people were rather surprised that he didn't get his much-coveted third star last year. That he has missed out this beggars belief (apparently). What may gall the Ramsay protege even further is that Ramsay's re-launched and much-maligned Pétrus has been awarded one star also. This is a real surprise, and some welcome news for Ramsay Holdings after what has been a tough year for the loud-mouthed Scot.

The two three-star institutions in London remain as before - though many in more sophisticated quarters than I questioned why Alain Ducasse ever got one for The Dorchester in the first place - in both Ducasse's hotel restaurant and Ramsay's flagship on Royal Hospital Road.

Two restaurants - Nahm and Roussillon - lost the one star they had, but plenty of restaurants were awarded a first star. Seven Park Place, Gauthier Soho, Galvin La Chappelle, Petersham Nurseries Café, Viajante and Kitchen W8 were all recognised when previously they hadn't been. I have been to some of these and others are very much on my 'to do' list.

Overall, a good Michelin year for London and a very good one for the UK, with more stars being awarded here than ever before. We may not yet be up there with Paris or Tokyo, but the times are slowly changing.

The full list of Michelin-starred restaurants in London for 2011:

Three Stars:
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester

Two Stars:
Pied à Terre
The Ledbury
Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley
Hélène Darroze at The Connaught
Le Gavroche
Hibiscus
The Square
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon

One Star:
Hakkasan
Club Gascon
Rhodes Twenty Four
Harwood Arms
River Café
La Trompette
St John
Rasoi
Tom Aikens
Kitchen W8
The Glasshouse
Bingham Restaurant
Petersham Nurseries Café
Viajante
Galvin La Chapelle
Chez Bruce
Amaya
Apsleys, A Heinz Beck Restaurant
Pétrus
Zafferano
Benares
Galvin at Windows
Greenhouse
Kai
Maze
Murano
Nobu
Nobu Berkeley St
Semplice
Sketch
Tamarind
Umu
Wild Honey
L'Autre Pied
Locanda Locatelli
Rhodes W1
Texture
Seven Park Place
Arbutus
Gauthier Soho
Yauatcha
Quilon

Two Contrasting Restaurants: Imperial China & Pearl - Soho & Holborn, Saturday 14th August, 2010

During 2010, I realised that I (and usually the other half as well) had started getting rather carried away with eating out. Not content with a couple of restaurants in a week, we even would occasionally eat out twice in the same day. Indeed on one occasion toward the end of 2010, we ate out twice in one evening. Having just got through the end of the year, I am convinced that 2010 was indeed the year of indulgence.

A sunny Saturday back in August was indeed one such occasion. We were even so carried away we spent the time in between meals shopping. In truth, I am not well-off enough to be living such a lavish lifestyle and halfway through the day I had a minor personal financial crisis. Still, what is life without enjoyment and the occasional splurge?

We began the day with a little dim sum for lunch with a few friends in Chinatown. I love dim sum - it's just about the best way to eat Asian food in my opinion. Provided you find somewhere with a bit of authentic flair (or you splash out ridiculous money on high-end Chinese as we did at Hakkasan some time ago), you are usually in for a treat.

Imperial China is one of the better restaurants in Chinatown. You will often find a lot of consumer traps and cheap imitations here, similar to Brick Lane, but there are always a few diamonds in the rough. Imperial China is one such diamond, especially during lunch or tea time.

Dim sum lunch was a fairly typical affair. Five of us tucked in to a variety of dishes, the highlights of which were some pretty delicious egg tarts, some slightly salty and spicy duck noodles, the usual pork buns and long, silky pork dumplings. Unfortunately a little tofu was ordered which was a waste of the plate it was served on, let alone our money.

I can't really say too much about Imperial China you haven't heard me bleat about before. I love dim sum so much that as long as it's reasonably priced and tastes reasonably good I will eat until I realise I've eaten too much. Roughly the same as the kind of dim sum you can expect at a branch of Royal China, I was happy before moving on to spend more money on clothes I didn't need.

The evening took us on a walk from the west end to the other side of Holborn to sample Jun Tanaka's popular restaurant, Pearl. Jun Tanaka is something of a veteran of London restaurants now, having started his career at Le Gavroche many years ago. Pearl has been a fixture of the higher end of London's eating scene for some years and I'd heard consistently good things about it. The other thing I appreciate about Tanaka is that he really does work in the kitchen still. I saw him pace across the restaurant not long after we had sat down.

As we arrived, one thing immediately stood out: the restaurant is huge.The building is the former site of Pearl Assurance, some banking company or other, and in 1999 it was transformed into The Renaissance London Chancery Court Hotel. Firstly: what a stupid name for a hotel. Secondly: this place is too big. I mean uncomfortably so. Why anybody would look at a hulking banking building and decide to put a high-end restaurant in it is beyond me.

That said, it is a good location for a decent hotel, and decent hotels need decent restaurants. Another saving grace is that Tanaka and his design team have decorated the place remarkably well. Sheets of utterly non-invasive glass, streams of glass pebbles and the most delicate lighting you could wish to see do help when you're dealing with such a massive room which is clearly in need of help. Though I do think it smacks a little of childish word association to have thrown quite so much soft pink and glass at the place. What used to be here? Pearl. What shall we call this place? Pearl. What shall we decorate it with? And so on...

When we were seated, I realised that no matter how gloriously you light a restaurant (and it was probably still too dim - the bar lighting was better than the restaurant), if it's this big it's too big. And Pearl remains a vacuous monstrosity. I felt as if I were about to be run over by a docking jet as we hunched around our table.

When food came, I was almost tempted to ask the waiter where the rest was. I'm not referencing there being paltry portions or pretentious servings, but when you serve a long plate of appetisers which are so clearly for one person to two people and expect them to share, it smacks of either gross incompetence or the stingiest cost-cutting. The trough of pre-starters we received actually tasted pretty decent, but I don't really understand how two people are supposed to share one stuffed tomato (left).

One more slight inconvenience to get through before food was the chilled cucumber soup with ricotta. I wish they had stayed true to form and only bought one bowl of this bland excuse for an appetiser so we could've got through it sooner. Depressingly thin and lifeless.

The menu (we were dining from a limited £40 for three courses deal) was designed to be modern and simplistic. Each course was headed by the main ingredient ("TOMATO", "LAMB", etc...) before explaining what came with the dish. Something about even this approach didn't quite sit right with me. Surely in a building such as this it should be simple all the way? Then again, all these pearly fixtures suggest opulence of the highest calibre... There is definitely a clash of styles afoot here.

Starters proved to be something more to write home about. It seemed as if they were upping the game when they needed to by presenting us with some light and well-dressed Pollock brandade - a mixture of salted fish with cream and seasoning (right). I'd never knowingly eaten this before and I have to say it was lovely: very smooth and packed with salty punch. Served superbly with smoked haddock crisps, quail eggs coated in breadcrumbs and parsley, suddenly I didn't really care that they couldn't count guests at the table or serve worthwhile soup - this dish really warmed me up.

The quail starter on the other side of the table wasn't quite as amazing, even though it looked lovely (left). Presented with figs, burrata cheese (creamy, mozzarella-esque stuff) and crisped ham, it was a little dry and didn't quite hit the mark the way the Pollock had.

Unfortunately, main courses weren't up to the same standard as the starters had been. The "SALMON" turned out to be some meagre fillets needlessly sprinkled with almonds, propping up broccoli and baby sweetcorn. This is the sort of thing you might find charming at a friend's dinner party but was nowhere near the standards Pearl should be setting. Likewise, the roast saddle of lamb with trimmings - despite what the menu would have us believe, they were merely trimmings - just wasn't what you would hope to be eating in somewhere with a reputation like this (above right). Cooked rare but cloyingly fatty and cruelly under-supported by the strong garlic and non-existent mint jelly, it was so far away from the sort of stuff we'd eaten at Corrigan's Mayfair that it didn't merit the price we were being charged.

Desserts proved to be showiness for showiness's sake (left). Some panna cotta which was listed as "PEACH" on the menu turned out to be an almond and lavender affair. Confusing description and confusing flavours for sure. The combination did not work, even with the peaches and peach coulis it was served with. They also decided littering the top with some kind of granola was the the way to go too. I can tell you It wasn't.

Slightly better was the strawberry and champagne jelly which was packed into a pot with some lemon and almond sponge. The interesting part of the dish was in the vanilla foam which sparkled and crackled in the mouth as you ate. The flavours were a bit tricky to pick out though, which made the whole thing rather unimpressive and quite disappointing after how good the stuff looked.

Desserts were a good representation of not only the meal, but of Pearl in general. It's big, full of promise and looks good. Unfortunately, the food and the ambiance leave you feeling exactly as the restaurant feels: empty. Jun Tanaka is clearly one of the most pleasant and charismatic men in the cooking public eye, but his restaurant leaves much to be desired. He has attempted to incorporate elements of cuisine from the top chefs he has worked under and has consequently been caught in a middle ground which is a bit of a mess.

It's hard to know what will happen to Pearl. I doubt a Michelin star is in the offing which, let's face it, is what any restaurant serving food like this is after. Having said that, they have been in this huge building for a good few years now and clearly they are making money. Personally, I would recommend Tanaka sells up and re-launches himself in a more moderately-sized venue, takes things back to basics and remembers what makes French food great. You can only pull off high-end French cuisine with twists and gimmicks if the quality is exceptional. Pearl are charging moderately exceptional prices without the pay-off.

Looking back on this Saturday some months ago, it's clear which restaurant I enjoyed more and which restaurant I'm likely to go back to. Now there's some knowledge that would've saved us some money if we'd had it at the start of the weekend.



Imperial China

Pearl

Restaurant Michael Nadra - Chiswick, Friday 13th August, 2010

Finding a new restaurant is a joy. Particularly one you really fancy trying the second you take a look at it. Back in August, a friend insisted we try the relatively new if re-vamped Restaurant Michael Nadra. Formerly the Fish Hook, Mr. Nadra overhauled his old venue last year having decided that exclusively serving seafood was not quite rewarding enough. (Well, naturally...)

When researching this article (or trying to jog my memory after around five months), I had a quick look at Michael Nadra's past endeavours and achievements. Whenever you see a chef's name on something (Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley etc...) you tend to immediately recognise the chef, the brand and the aura which surrounds the restaurant. Not so with Mr. Nadra. Until you read his list of achievements. He's worked at Petrus (in its former St. James glory days), at Gordon Ramsay's flagship and done stints at Chez Bruce and La Trompette. Something of a veteran of the London scene, I suppose such a man can put his name on anything.

One thing attracted me to the place instantly: the price. The six-course tasting menu - at dinner - cost only £42 which is some find in London. Six courses isn't bad going for around £40, as long as the quality is good. Indeed, quality, it seems, is one of the premier expectations of Michael Nadra's restaurant. Focusing on seasonal and local produce (well, I suppose you'd have to if you're a new European restaurant in London these days), there was enough to suggest to us in the pre-meal excitement that we might just be in for a treat.

Fortunately for us, the tasting menu was more about good food than amusing irrelevances. Three of us went, ordered the tasting menu and had a good old time. One of my friends chose the matching wines option (at only an extra £25), which he was most satisfied with.

The amuse bouche was some seafood tempura or other with a little sauce. This was far from unnecessary and did exactly what a pre-course like this should do: whet the appetite in preparation for the main event. The main event, in general, was worth the whet. Our first course was a distinctly light and summery mix of Bayonne ham (not that local then... Maybe he bought it at Borough Market) with tomato, mozzarella and consommé (left). Essentially, a very thin soup with a very minimal salad. It was actually just the sort of refreshing kick one needs to set up a tasting menu in August. Served with a slice of crisp dried bread and punctuated with sweet basil, I was pleased enough. This was a classic example of letting simple, distinctive flavours speak for themselves, but importantly tying them all together perfectly with a consommé.

The second starter was clearly Nadra harking back to the days of the Fish Hook, showing adept seafood skills in serving up an Asian-themed trio of seared tuna, crab tempura and seafood dumpling (right). Asian mimicry (or indeed homage) in restaurants which are distinctly European usually fills me with anything other than hunger or anticipation. It usually means they're either trying to cast a wide net to impress anyone with a spare tenner, or they don't have any strengths in the kitchen. Happily, this is not the case with Michael Nadra. Delicately presented and perfectly cooked yellowfin served on top of a correctly piquant oriental salad (i.e. fresh, raw, tart and slightly bitter) was flanked with a creamy dumpling and some chewy, soft and sumptuous soft-shell crab. As I have alluded to before, tempura makes things taste great. Especially when there is a whole crab within.

We had two main courses with the set menu deal. Now, usually these sorts of dish are scaled-down versions of the usual menu's dishes. Little teasers of what you can eat here if you choose to go a la carte. I have to say that generosity seemed to be the order of the day here. The monkfish we received was bigger than some similar main courses I have sampled in other restaurants. A hearty combination of fish with shrimps, new potatoes, leeks, truffles and a spot of cauliflower purée for good measure. A mouthful in every sense of the word - it was filling but enjoyable. I think there might have been one ingredient too many in there (I couldn't really pick out the truffles), but the layered top-to-bottom presentation was interesting, the fish was very well cooked and the whole thing nearly finished properly.

After the filling fish, I was slightly apprehensive of what a steak course was going to do for me. Quite a bit, as it turned out. As filling as much of what had preceded it, the dish was superbly presented, deliciously slathered in pepper sauce and served with some delightfully crunchy (if scalding hot) chips (left). The sheer size and richness of the dish smacked of overkill, but I was so full and happy I didn't really care.

Pre-dessert was one of those rare courses you sometimes find in tasting menus: one which confounds all expectation of the most overdone and excuse for a 'course' of food you'll ever lay eyes on. No, the pre-dessert was a flavour- and texture-perfect mixture of raspberry, vanilla and yoghurt sorbets. Exactly what we all needed after some fairly gut-busting main course efforts.

Similarly, desserts were a rather downbeat affair but I was glad of the respite. A small but nicely formed trio of crème brulée, tarte tatin and some ice cream was just about right for the end of the meal. If there had been any more I might've been in serious danger of not finishing it, so I would say they just about wrapped it up in time. Unfortunately, there was one token tasting menu gesture of smudged indifference at the end of the piece: a tall shot-glass of useless fruits did nothing for anyone.

I was enthused enough by my summer visit to Michael Nadra to try it again before the end of the year. Frankly, that's about all you need to say. It was great value, good fun, nicely varied and generous in the extreme.

Il Portico – Kensington, Wednesday 4th August, 2010

If you walk down High Street Kensington looking for somewhere to eat, there is a trend that sticks out: Italian restaurants. There are about six within five minutes of each other on the bustling high street, so the chances are if you want to eat out around there, you'll be trying a little Italian.

We popped into Il Portico (one of the more highly-rated eateries in the area) back in August last year with suitably high expectations for a pleasant local Italian meal. What we wanted from the visit was a little rough around the edges charm coupled with some real quality. I don't think that's too much to ask from a restaurant in a swanky part of town that comes with a recommendation.

A small group of us (including Mike and the other half) tried a few dishes at the restaurant and unfortunately we weren't massively enthused. The good parts of the evening were some rather fresh pasta with chilli and clams, some good chicken escalope and a decent creme brulee for dessert.

Rather unfortunately, the rest of the meal was not really up to much. Dry lamb, average saltimbocca, profiteroles which didn't do anything interesting and prices which were way too expensive lent little to the evening. We all had a nice time, as a group of friends in a busy restaurant should, but the food at this place is overpriced and generally middling.

Clearly they are doing something right, since the overall popularity of the place remains suitably high and good for business. They are branded as "London's oldest family run restaurant" which is certain to attract local know-it-alls and a healthy crop of tourists. Despite the brimming atmosphere and friendly staff, I found that both the food and the prices were not much to write home about.



Il Portico

Aspleys, A Heinz Beck Restaurant – Knightsbridge, Saturday 31st July, 2010

I must begin my first review of 2011 with a message of apology for any readers at my lax updating of the blog last year. That I have to begin 2011 with a review almost five months late is pretty shambolic, but I must remind that this is not my day job (yet). Professional and personal commitments have limited my input in recent months, but there is a lot of business still to cover from 2010, including some excellent shopping, the longest I've ever spent in a restaurant and perhaps the best meal I've eaten. Anyway: happy new year!

On the last day of July, the other half and I went to see Toy Story 3 in 3D at the IMAX in Waterloo. It remains the best film I saw all year and became an instant favourite. We went for a morning showing, finished by lunch time where we headed to Knightsbridge for lunch and it felt like we'd blown through an entire evening by mid-afternoon.

Apsleys – a Heinz Beck Restaurant, to give the place its full name, is a fairly recent addition to The Lanesborough hotel in Knightsbridge. When we visited, it had only been open for about a year. I must just express my distaste for the name of the place before we go on though: what is the point of such disjointed, long-winded labelling? There are several better names you could call the place, but we must make do with what we have.

The other half and I strolled into The Lanesborough right in the middle of a power cut. At least an intermittent one. Others might have taken this as a sign from above and wandered off, but we persevered and made our way into a rather impressive dining room. Gently lit with the natural sky's light coming in from well-placed windows in the ceiling, the sandstone-coloured walls and ostentatious pillars weren't as imposing or overly Romanesque as they might be in a less high-profile restaurant.

Heinz Beck's franchise arrived in London with considerable prestige. The owner of three Michelin stars for his famed La Pergola in Rome, he specialises in Mediterranean flavours and does a fine job working with them. Branded as simply an Italian restaurant, I felt the place already had a tough billing to support: upmarket Italian food is not easy to deliver at a high standard. Still, never one to avoid a chance to scoff down some food and scoff at it, I delved in with regular gusto.

We started things with a little bread and oil: just what one needs at an Italian restaurant (left). I have to say I was impressed with this as a start. The variation was immense, and the bread in general was delicious. A mixture of dry, soft, salty and sweet was on offer and I think we tried most variations over the course of the meal. The highlight for me was the paper-thin affair pictured. I've no idea what it is called (research has yielded nothing), but it was deliciously crisp and unlike any bread I've eaten to date.

Moving through to slightly more complex matters of the menu, we agreed that we could not justify splashing out £60-£70 per person on the a la carte (especially for lunch), so the £28 set menu sufficed. Still, we got some lovely pre-starters with the deal (right). Full marks for presentation, and parts of the assorted parmesan dumpling and smoked salmon were rather worth the effort as opposed to a pre-meal inconvenience.

The starters were excellent. Some thick and creamy pea soup with ricotta gnudi was precisely what I wanted to eat on a summer afternoon (left). A mixture of Mediterranean and English - what could be more English than pea soup? - and presented quite exquisitely, I slurped, guzzled and swooned.

On the other side, we had the interestingly named fagottelli pasta, coloured by black squid ink and served with fish and peppers. A lengthy description that rivalled even the restaurant's name couldn't distract me from wanting to try this, even for curiosity's sake, so in we plunged. It was an astonishingly vibrant and lively dish (right). Fagottelli, it turns out, is like a sort of silky and ribbony ravioli. Delicious smooth textures combining with a hint of good old Italian roughness make it a wonderfully contrasting foodstuff. The sauce was right on the money: fresh, potent and delicately balanced.

Main courses were less impressive than the starters, firstly due to presentation, secondly due to taste. Quail with dried fruit and wild mushrooms sounded delicious but looked like a right mess (left). As we all know, combinations are essential to great food. However, the painful tendency of modern chefs to simply get together the ingredients and chuck them onto the plate is not good enough. The quail was nice, but there was no need for the ham, the various bits of dried fruit that were scattered across the plate or the haphazard nature of the dish. However, it did not taste as messy as it appeared. Ultimately, meat this good will always come through. It's just a shame it looked so naff.

Looking far classier was a superbly colourful risotto of peach, veal and celery (right). Now this was an interesting dish to me because I'd never heard of this combination of ingredients. The construction of the dish was incredible: all the textures were perfect. One problem with risotto is that it can often be very claggy and stodgy, with distinctive flavours hard to pick out. It can also look like porridge, gruel and more or less anything but special or appealing. This particular risotto was an explosion of colour and form, but sadly lacking in the tastes that I expected from such beauty. No real punch from the veal, not enough spice from the apricot and not much of anything from the celery. Almost there, but annoyingly a dish which should've been better.

One thing I did appreciate about this set deal at Aspleys was that they didn't hold back with the extras. We were served both pre- and post-dessert courses at the end of the meal. The former was a mix of raspberries and strawberry with some nougat (left). Yet again rather pretty and far from inconsequential. The after-dessert was a typical array of petit-fours which looked lovely and were a sweet and comfortable finisher (right).

By the time we'd got around to the main dessert (before the amazingly artistic post-dessert), we were already fairly full so we shared a peach zabaione, which is very close to the French sabayon; a sauce made from egg yolks and sweet wine (left). The dish, yet again, looked a picture. (This is why, incidentally, I've been keen to show pictures of everything we ate during this meal: the presentation is amongst the best I've ever seen.) It was a refreshing, fruity dessert where the addition of fresh peach and peach sorbet lent a real sharp quality to sit alongside the smooth cream. A lovely finish to proceedings.

Aspleys (I refuse to type that ridiculous name again) was a great set lunch. The waiting staff were humble, polite and attentive, the food looked fantastic and was generally rather tasty and the deal was good value for money. For the room, the staff and the presentation it's worth trying. The food is almost there and I would be tempted by the a la carte menu some time in the coming months. Heinz Beck has pedigree alright, and there is ample evidence that it's shining through in a fairly special dining room overlooking Hyde Park.

Aspleys, A Heinz Beck Restaurant