Number One: The Ledbury – Notting Hill, Monday 18th October, 2010

And so it came to pass. If spring and summer's ventures to unchartered and glorious culinary waters were the proverbial cake and St John and The Square contributed the icing, then going to The Ledbury was the cherry on top. A fortnight after it was named best restaurant in the UK, I was taken for dinner there. That's right: taken. A very good friend of mine was generous enough to offer a meal out for the two of us and made the mistake of saying "wherever you like".

When I reported on The Ledbury's promotion to the top of the UK list, I made the foolish assertion that I would report back before the end of 2010. Of course this did not come to pass and once again I humbly apologise. However, one excuse worth throwing out there is that I did have some un-planned ankle surgery in November which somewhat curtailed my writing progress.

Again, I will start by saying that the tone I have set out with is one I will most probably finish with: The Ledbury is a wonderful restaurant. Not perfect but wonderful all the same. It's one of a fairly exclusive group of restaurants in London with two Michelin stars and its popularity soared in the wake of the press it gained from being declared best restaurant in the United Kingdom. Evidence of this was that we could only get a table on a windy Monday night in October. This place ain't easy to get into these days.

There is a lot to admire about the Ledbury, right down to its uncomplicated and unpretentious head chef Brett Graham. An Australian with three years at The Square behind him, he opened The Ledbury under owner Philip Howard's supervision. The place itself is pure class: delicately lit, comfortably-sized tables, unobtrusive spatial apportionment and lovely staff.

On to the matter of food, there was heaven on a plate and there were touches of showy pretence which I could've done without but overall I really enjoyed myself. The foie gras tartlets to kick things off were just what I wanted after stepping inside after a walk from Ladbroke Grove: fatty, smooth and satisfying.

My starter was a raviolo (big ravioli to you and me) of calf sweetbread, which came with a velouté of toasted hay (left). Anything that contains toasted hay is fine by me because let's face it; toasted hay?! It was creamy, rich and almost imperceptibly fresh. It wasn't that you had to look for the freshness per se, more that you had to take a moment to fully register the amount of joy you could get from offal inside pasta. It was impeccably constructed and, whilst failing to soar to the heights of the seafood ravioli (should that have also been raviolo?) at Gordon Ramsay the month before, it was lovely.

My (very generous) companion had not been as exposed as I to high end restaurants like this before and was determined to throw himself in and enjoy it as much as possible. It seemed appropriate therefore that he had a go at foie gras for the first time in his life (after the tartlets that is) and ordered the terrine with cooked and raw apple in Sake (right). The Japanese liqueur didn't really register with me but the paté was spot on, combined with the sharpness and contrasting textures of apple. I suppose if you're going to serve something as predictable as liver paté in a posh London restaurant, you darn well better find a way to make it interesting. Top marks on that front.

My main course was something that would drag you in off the street if you were walking past and happened to spot it on the menu. During autumn in England, one should be eating game. Venison surely fits the bill. But at The Ledbury they're making it look uber-trendy by calling it roe deer - after all, that is what it is. They're also serving it with bone marrow, beetroot and malt. And they're baking it in Douglas Fir (left).

Being a huge Twin Peaks fan, I was pretty convinced by the fact that they were baking anything in Douglas Fir, but given that they were essentially throwing in a load of well-suited bits and pieces with the deer, my mind was made up. The meat was, predictably, fabulous. Smoky, rich and a divine deep red. Strangely though, as great as all the combinations were together, the dish looked slightly haphazard and rough, which disappointed me a bit.

My friend chose some lamb. And this really was 'some' lamb. Best end (what else?) and shoulder, served with - wait for it - "an aubergine glazed with black sugar and garlic". Crazy. But tasty, as we soon discovered. With combinations as laughably pretentious-sounding as this, one ought to be wowed. Fortunately we were. He described it as the best lamb he'd ever eaten and upon tasting it, I was nearly as bowled over. Not quite dish of the year material, but worth trying.

The desserts were a really interesting part of the evening. I had hoped to be utterly blown away by pudding, but I wasn't. Having said that, there was certainly something in the dessert to be impressed by, because the memory and taste of it remains vividly imprinted in my mind. You might say I have been haunted by it. In a good way. Maybe...

It was a spiced bread and eucalyptus honey soufflé with thyme ice cream (right). Now that really is getting a bit ridiculous in terms of posh-o nonsense and whilst I was quite right to expect the moon from this one, I assuredly did not get it. The texture of the soufflé was perfect but the taste was so biting and unnecessarily bold that I lost a lot of the light joy one desires when eating a well-formed pudding such as this. The taste, however, was quite extraordinary. I still can't quite shake it from my taste buds to the day, which has to count for something. Despite it being overly sharp and excessive, the originality of the dessert was worth it in itself.

My friend went for the slightly less risqué choice of a brown sugar tart with some ginger ice cream. We were both a little underwhelmed by this one, since it didn't deliver any sort of fireworks, good or bad, in the taste or presentation. Not unpleasant of course, but not quite worth the price of the a la carte.

So there we are. The Ledbury is apparently the best restaurant in the country, but I have to say I believe that is more down to the philosophy and general fashionable nature of the restaurant above anything else. Not for one second am I suggesting the food is bad or even average, but it is a little below what one expects from the number one venue in the UK.

I would definitely go back to The Ledbury. Graham clearly knows his ingredients and has the right uncompromising approach to good food. This may all depend on when can I next afford to go (or if my friend is feeling generous enough again), but it's somewhere worth a place on anyone's shortlist.

The Ledbury