The 4th choice by Manuel was the 2 Michelin star restaurant Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, one of the rare Michelin restaurants we have been to with a woman head chef.
The evening started with some really nice cocktails in the Connaught Bar. The bar was really stylish and offered some delicious cocktails, which was all well presented. We then got taken to our table in the also nice and stylish restaurant where we again had a great start. This time each of us got presented with a board game with marbles, where you first of all had to decide whether you wanted 5 or 7 courses and then you left either 5 or 7 marbles behind each representing a course with the name of the main ingredient you liked the most. A fun and different way to start the evening.
The 2 things all 4 of us went for were the Scallop and the Rum Baba. The Scallop was really delicious and another thing that stood out for me was the John Dory – so couldn’t real fail them on the fish dishes. However the Rum Baba was a big mistake. I don’t know if this was because it was at the end of the evening but they basically drowned the Baba in Rum and it didn’t taste nice at all. Another thing that we didn’t enjoy was that we never got the same courses together. Of course we understood that based on what we have chosen – things were served in a specific order – but we specifically asked to all have the Rum Baba together since we wanted to share that experience – but that request just got ignored, which was just irritating.
The whole evening started on a high but finished on a low – it was like in the beginning there were a lot of attention to details and the waiters were there to provide an excellent service. However the further we went through the evening the attention started lacking and we were even struggling to get them to our table at the end. The Sommelier was there to help with the wines – but again did miss some enthusiasm and we didn’t get any fantastic recommendations. Also meant we ended up having less to drink than usual – since there was no temptation to try another glass.
The really low point was the toilet experience. I know this restaurant is part of a hotel and that the toilets are shared between the other restaurants and bars at the hotel – but still this is a posh place so how can this be so bad. First of all I cannot stand that there is a service person at the toilets expecting a tip to keep the toilets clean. When I am paying that amount of money for dinner I am totally expecting that the toilets are always kept spotless but also that a visit to the toilets are free of charge. Also the guy in the men’s toilets started commenting on how many times the guys have been to the toilet. Completely unprofessional and just showed totally lack of manners – so put the overall experience down.
Carlos and I did our usual kitchen tour, where we saw the very hot kitchen in the basement in their busy hours – so at least that part was nice. Also all of us got a nice cake to take home when we left the restaurant. However overall we were not impressed and Hélène Darroze at The Connaught ended nearly at the bottom of our list.
