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Restaurants

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Have you also been visiting one of the restaurants that "The Michelin Club" have been to - then we would love to hear your comments and whether you agree or disagree with our view.

Hide Above, visited 10/12-2022

1 Michelin Star, Modern European Posted by Annette JorgensenPosted on Sun, June 04, 2023 20:17:26

The 3rd choice by James was the 1 Michelin star restaurant Hide Above in a beatiful location in Mayfair overlooking Green Park.

The restaurant is a big place spread over 3 floors – but if you are there for the Michelin experience you will be seated at the first floor where we got a beautiful table in the corner with floor to ceiling windows providing us with a great view of the lively street below us just opposite Green Park. We were slightly distracted in the beginning as England was playing France in the World cup – so we kept checking our phones for the first 45 minutes but unfortunately England lost.

We got presented with a massive wine list and the Sommelier said – that for some of the wines – they would be picked up in a wine cellar down the street – but it should be possible to deliver any of the wines to our table within 15 minutes. Our Dessert wine was one of the ones that needed to be picked up and yes I believe we had it within the 15 minutes promised. We got some help from the Sommelier to pick the wines and they were all OK but I think the wine list was a bit overwhelming.

There was a choice of a 5 courses or 7 courses tasting menu – so 3 of us decided to go for the full 7 courses experiences whereas 1 person just wanted the 5 courses. What was slightly annoying when being presented with the menu was that for nearly every course you had to choose between 2 dishes – but one of the dish would have an extra charge – so for a 1 star Michelin restaurant the prices were quite high compared to other places we have been. The dish that really stood out for us on this evening was the Venison, which was so tender and just melting in your mouth – so that dish made it to our Dream menu. We were also really impressed by the Cheese Trolley, which had a great selection and some delicious cheeses. 2 plates were enough to share between us and ended up being voted as our 2nd best Cheese course ever.

We had a tour of the kitchen at the end of the night but it was so late that we didn’t really see much. What was much more interesting was that they have their own bakery on site, which worked throughout the night – so there we saw 2 very busy bakers. Also need to compliment the restaurant for their bread, which was really delicious.

So despite England losing in football we had a nice evening. Although we believe the restaurant was overpriced for being a 1-star and the service could have been more attentive – but that is what sometimes see when the restaurant has only got 1-star.

Link to the restaurant…



The Dysart Petersham, visited 11/12-2021

1 Michelin Star, Modern British Posted by Annette JorgensenPosted on Wed, February 23, 2022 10:24:05

The 7th choice by Ingrid was The Dysart Petersham with 1 Michelin star. The restaurant got its first Michelin star recently and for once we were outside London, which was nice for a change.

The restaurant is an old gastro pub and in beautiful country surroundings just outside Richmond. It was also fairly easy to get to for all of us and for the first time I could just take a direct bus whereas the 3 others arrived by taxi. Ended up we all turned up really early but it was not an issue for the restaurant as our table was ready and we got a nice welcome by the door. The restaurant still insisted that we had to wear masks while walking around the place (although that was not required by the government anymore) but clearly they wanted to look well after their guests.

The restaurant is really spacious and we got a nice big table by the window. Also we got plenty of time to enjoy a few cocktails before looking at the menu – so was never rushed by the staff, which was really nice. The whole place just had a really great atmosphere.

The Tasting menu was 9 courses, where we of course also added the additional cheese course and for the 2nd time we had the choice of doing a beer pairing. As we were basically in an old pub and it was 4 years since our last beer pairing we decided to go for it. The food in general really exceeded our expectations. The 2 dishes that really stood out for me was the bream with ginger and champagne sauce for one of the starters, which was just amazing and then the main Chicken dish, which was so tender and delicious.

The beer tasting was on the other hand slightly disappointing. When you first beer is a Camden Hells lager, which you can basically get in every 2nd pub in the UK – you do feel they could have done a bigger effort. Also I got slightly put off by that half of the beers were in cans. Yes some of them where nice – but still a can just feel so much cheaper than a proper bottle – so not sure I will do the beer tasting again.

Beside the atmosphere and the food the other highlight of the night was really the staff. They were very attentive to the table and didn’t mind having a nice chat with us – so had this homely feeling where you are surrounded by friends. Overall a really good night out in December, which did feel more relaxed that some of the restaurants in central London but where we didn’t feel we had to compromise on food or service.

Link to the restaurant…



The Five Fields, visited 18/09-2021

1 Michelin Star, Modern British Posted by Annette JorgensenPosted on Sun, October 17, 2021 21:19:30

The 2nd choice by James was the 1 Michelin star restaurant The Five Fields in Chelsea, which we got really excited about when we found out the Polish woman sommelier we met at Pollen Street Social 5 years ago actually now works for this restaurant. Even more excited was to do another Michelin dinner after a year’s break because of all the COVID restrictions – so were very happy to be out again.

The restaurant is a little bit off the beaten track so we ended up taking a taxi from the pre-dinner cocktail place at Kensington Hotel. Entering the restaurant was like entering someone’s living room – so had a really nice cosy feeling about it. We also got shown to our table straight away, which was nice and spacious in the middle of the restaurant.

Firstly we got appointed the other sommelier of the restaurant to serve our table but when we mentioned that we remembered the Polish lady from before – they quickly got things changed around so we once more could have a nice experience of her amazing wine knowledge and incredible service. We of course also told her that we remembered her from Pollen Street Social – but we must have been on best behaviour 5 years ago as she didn’t remember us :-).

We all went for the 8 courses dinner menu plus added the optional cheese and there was some interesting things on there like a Fennel starter and a Rabbit main course. Overall the food was really nice and well-presented but I was missing the wow-factor where you get this amazing dish that you just remember long time afterwards as standing out. Never really happened unfortunately.

Overall a really nice experience with a great atmosphere and some very friendly staff but again nothing stood out as being exceptional and once more we had to miss out on the Kitchen tour because of COVID so no idea what the kitchen looked like, which is always nice to see.

Link to the restaurant…



Murano, visited 16/11-2019

1 Michelin Star, Italian Posted by Annette JorgensenPosted on Mon, June 08, 2020 19:15:25

The 6th choice by Ingrid was the 1 Michelin star Italian restaurant Murano, and I think we were all excited about trying our first Italian restaurant with a Michelin star.

We only arrived slightly early as we got a bit lost walking from a nearby cocktail bar and this time we got seated at a nice round table close to the Kitchen.

The restaurant doesn’t have a tasting menu but we could choose 5 or 6 courses from the a la carte menu. 3 of us went for the 6 courses and 1 of us just picked 5. The 2 most popular dishes were the Carnaroli Risotto and the Artisanal Cheese, which we all 4 went for. The Risotto although not looking as great the way it was presented – was a real delight and the Cheese didn’t disappoint either. There was also a nice Tortellini pasta dish for starter and the Venison for main was really lovely as well. Overall the food was really good except for the dessert where I went for the Tiramisu Marquise with Coffee ice Cream. I always appreciate a good Tiramisu and most Italian restaurants know how to make a good one. However I expected this one to be the top of class and just got really disappointed. Was like they were trying to make it way too fancy – so it completely missed what a good Tiramisu should taste like.

Whereas the food was generally good the low point for me was the wine list. I love Italian wines and know what a huge selection of amazing Italian wines there are – but this wine list was really limited. Yes the sommelier was able to help us with both an Italian white and Italian red – but nothing fantastic and did feel like we were making a compromise on the wine. The biggest disappointment was that we were not able to get a nice glass of Port with our Cheese course. The restaurant only had 1 Port on the wine list, which they were charging £29 for per glass – so even though we love Port we thought that was too much. Just really took us by surprise that they didn’t have a selection of Ports to choose from to go with the cheese.

Although the evening had some highs and lows – we as always had a nice time. Also enjoyed that they had a few tables outside where we could sit and smoke a cigar. We also got a tour of their kitchen while they were doing a massive clean-up – but the staff were really friendly and keen to show us the place.

Link to the restaurant…



Alyn Williams at the Westbury, visited 06/04-2019

1 Michelin Star, Modern British Posted by Annette JorgensenPosted on Sun, August 25, 2019 11:49:34

The 1st choice by James was the 1 Michelin star restaurant Alyn Williams at the Westbury – and we were all very excited to try out the first restaurant being picked by James.

We arrived at the restaurant slightly early after a few cocktails revisiting the excellent Mr Foog’s just around the corner. Straight away we got directed to an excellent round table in a corner, which left us with plenty of space – so immediately we had a good feeling about this place.

The standard tasting menu was 9 courses with the options of adding Lobster Tail with caviar and the Cheese board at something extra, which we couldn’t resist – so ended up all of us went for the full 11 courses. The service was really great and we got some nice recommendations from the sommelier as well about the wines. You could see the sommelier was passionate about his job when he told us a great story about the logo on the red wine.  

The highlight was when the 1st course got served – as it was served by no one else than Alyn Williams himself. That was quite a surprise and we were really pleased to meet the master chef at our table. Also managed to get a photo with him and the guys, which was a nice memory from the evening. Pleased we insisted on getting the photo though – as Alyn first said we could get one later with him in the kitchen. However at the time where we were allowed to go and see the kitchen – it was very quiet and Alyn had already left the restaurant – so good we didn’t wait for that opportunity.

All the food was really nice – but I guess I was waiting for the really wauw experience, which never came. There was also a bit too much beetroot served with the main pigeon for my taste – but to be fair to the waiter he did offer to replace the dish if I didn’t like it – but I felt I was having enough food already – so just went with it. On top of the 11 courses we got treated to both 4 tasters before dinner and 4 small sweets after dinner – so for sure we had more than enough to eat and no one was leaving hungry.

Overall I can say that the atmosphere and whole experience was really nice and we spent nearly 5 hours in the restaurant so really enjoyed it. Also felt a lot more like this should have been a 2 Michelin star place instead of just a 1 star – so can only hope they would be considered for a 2nd star soon.

Link to the restaurant…



Portland, visited 15/12-2018

1 Michelin Star, Modern European Posted by Annette JorgensenPosted on Tue, December 18, 2018 19:47:05

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The 5th choice by Carlos was the 1 Michelin star restaurant Portland an interesting and different choice.

We arrived at the restaurant about 15 minutes early as always but for the first time we experienced that the restaurant was not able to accommodate an early arrival. Basically the restaurant was tiny and didn’t have a bar area or even a space where we could stand and wait – so the only thing the waiter could do was to direct us to the pub on the opposite site of the road. Told him that this now meant we would be slightly late – but he was fine with that.

When we did get back to the restaurant we got seated next to the also very small and totally open kitchen – so had a great view to all the action in there. The whole restaurant was very different to any other Michelin restaurants we have tried before. Very relaxed atmosphere including the waiters outfit as everyone was running around wearing aprons. The restaurant don’t have a sommelier – so our waiter helped us with the wine list – but got some really nice wines, which were very fairly prices compared to other places we have been to.

However the restaurant does have a Tasting menu, which we all 4 went for and we got a big cheer from the kitchen next to us when we ordered the Tasting menu – so clearly also a highlight for them. There were 9 courses on the Tasting menu – but the first 4 were served together as they were smaller plates – but a really nice surprise actually. I particularly loved the Crispy Chicken Skins and the Lobster & Miso rolls, which were just delightful. The Cured Ocean Trout was also a lovely dish and the whole experience was just great value for money. They don’t have a cheese trolley – but we were able to add a few cheese plates in between our main and dessert – so did get a bit of a cheese experience as well.

The kitchen was too tiny to really ask for a kitchen tour and we could see the whole thing anyway. However we did ask for the main chefs to come to our table – so we could say hello and get our picture taken with them – which they were very happy to do.

Our final bill was one of the cheapest we have had, which was an added bonus – and despite that the whole place didn’t have the ambience of a typical Michelin restaurant – we all had a great evening. Continued the night at The Churchill Bar with some great whiskies and cigars as we thought it was time to introduce our newest member of the Michelin club James to this special place.

Link to the restaurant…



Quilon, visited 16/12-2017

1 Michelin Star, Indian Posted by Annette JorgensenPosted on Thu, December 21, 2017 11:35:26

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The 5th choice by Ingrid was the 1 Michelin star restaurant Quilon, a very interesting choice where we for the first time were offered a Tasting menu with matching Beers.

Started the evening in the nice bar next to the restaurant where we had some nice cocktails in a really relaxed atmosphere. When we got seated at our table we got presented with their standard 5 courses menu but since we were up for a nice long evening at the table we requested to have a look at their 8 courses menu with matching beers with sounded really interesting. Didn’t took us long for all of us to decide on the 8 courses and was quite excited about trying something new and different.

For each course we had 1 beer between 2 people, which might not seem a lot at first but it actually worked out really well. The beers were all very different and from different parts of the world with Belgium being the dominant country since 3 of the beers where from Belgium. The abv was between 4.2 and 8.5 % – so some of the beers were quite strong but worked perfectly with the spicy Indian food. The most unique beer was the ‘Liefmans Frut’, which we got at the end with the dessert. Tasted more like cider and a lot of strawberry but worked perfectly with the Pistachio cake.

The food was also really lovely with a good kick to it and every dish had basically 2 different things on the plate. Loved the Grilled Scallop served together with the Peppered Shrimps and also the Mini Vegetable Dosa served together with the Mango Ginger Chicken were really special.

Carlos and I also went for the usual kitchen tour and like the rest of the restaurant there was also a very relaxed atmosphere in here – so just a pleasant visit.

We read about that the restaurant has a no tipping policy – but have never come across that before so we actually had to ask – when we got the bill – if that really meant they wouldn’t accept any tips. We were told that this was exactly what it meant since the restaurant is paying their staff well and they don’t want to make a different between the service staff and the kitchen staff. Thought that this was a really nice policy and also meant for us that where we normally see 10 – 15% being added to the bill in service charge – suddenly we didn’t have that extra cost. Therefore it also turned out to be our cheapest Michelin dinner so far but definitely great value for money and we all had a really enjoyable evening.

Link to the restaurant…



Pollen Street Social, visited 12/12-2015

1 Michelin Star, Modern British Posted by Annette JorgensenPosted on Sat, March 05, 2016 17:31:19

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The 4th choice by Ingrid was the 1 Michelin star restaurant Pollen Street Social and for the first time we got to go out in the nice Christmas month of  December.

Unfortunately that also meant that the traffic into London was quite bad so Ingrid, Manual and Carlos just arrived before our booking time and had to rush a bit with a cocktail before dinner whereas I had proper time to enjoy mine. However the cocktails were really nice but the bar area right by the entrance was quite small and with a lot of activity around us – so not that relaxed and we were pleased when taken to the table.

We got seated at a square table in the middle of the restaurant which was quite nice and the restaurant was also lovely decorated for Christmas so had a nice atmosphere. There was also a chair for the ladies bags – which we loved.

The first impression of the Sommelier we got introduced to was really bad. He seemed scared of actually making some suggestions for us and more or less left it to ourselves to pick the wines, which we were not impressed by. The white wine we chose was fine but when we got to the red – we had to send it out since it was not to our taste at all and for me it tasted like it was corked. At that point the Head Sommelier – a lovely Polish girl – came to our table and offered to take care of us for the rest of the evening. She showed a completely difference experience with the wines and with her enthusiasm we trusted her completely – so she managed to change a bad start to a really great wine experience.

We all 4 went for the 5 courses Tasting menu since the additional dishes on the bigger menu didn’t really appeal to us. However as always we added the additional cheese board, which turned out to be a great decision – since the cheese choices were really impressive. Overall the food was nice and we also got some nice tasters both before and after dinner but of all the dishes I think the cheese board stood out the most – so nothing exceptional about the other dishes.

In the end of the evening Carlos and I did our usual kitchen tour, where we got to see quite an impressive kitchen and speak to the Head chef while he was still preparing food – so a really nice touch.

Based on that we changed the Sommelier after the white wine and got the Head Sommelier to sort out all the remaining wines for us – we had really no idea how much the bill was going to be at the end but got such a lovely surprise. Ended up that we only paid for the 1st white wine, which we drank before the Head Sommelier took over. Everything else she served us was on the house – since she didn’t want us to leave with a bad experience. A really lovely touch and definitely the one thing that stood out and that we would never forget – so finished the evening on a high. Also meant that we jumped straight in a taxi and continued the night at The Churchill Bar (that we got to know last time) with some great whiskies and cigars.

Link to the restaurant…



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