Restaurants

For his second choice Carlos chose the 3 Michelin star Waterside Inn in Bray, Berkshire.

As usual we arrived early but unusually arrived by car. Bray is a lovely village and not a car park. We were told that we couldn’t leave the car overnight but after explaining we would be back early the next day to collect the car, the Parking Valet was good enough to park the car in the vacant space of one of the rooms of the hotel.

A great start to the early bird experience which continued when we went inside. The lounge area was very welcoming and we were shown to a table for drinks and a chance to see the menu. A nice traditional touch from a time gone by was that only the person that booked the table received a menu complete with the prices. We all selected the ‘Menu Exceptionel’ and waited to be seated.

This is where the experience became a little disappointing. The restaurant was very nice and I am sure the views of the River Thames are beautiful in the summer, but it was in no way a relaxing environment. The hustle and bustle from the waiter’s station situated in the middle of the room gave rise to a frantic feeling that was compounded by the quick succession of the first four courses. The courses slowed once we were on to desserts but the frantic feel of the room remained.

The food was very good by normal restaurant standards but this is the Waterside Inn and was therefore a little disappointing. There were no stand-out dishes to challenge the likes of the Foie Gras at Marcus Wareing or the Pork Jowls at The Ledbury.

The end of the evening was where we returned to a better experience. Ingrid did not enjoy the Golden Plum Soufflé and Alain Roux, who was working the room at the time, was horrified. After asking what could possibly be wrong with the soufflé he offered to cook another dessert more to her liking, a nice touch from the proprietor. He also arranged for Annette and Carl to take a tour of the kitchen.

Fabrice has been working the pass at the restaurant for number of years, yet the stress and responsibility had not dampened his enthusiasm. He seemed to enjoy the tour as much as we did, explaining the changes that were made to the kitchen a few years ago and the roles of the different stations. Both the kitchen and the tour were the best yet. Thank you.

It was a nice evening, but did not live up to expectations or the biggest bill we have received so far.

Link to the restaurant

In the beginning of 2013 we started the 2nd round in the Michelin Club, so took Ingrid a while to decide on her 2nd choice, but finally we ended up with the 2 Star Michelin restaurant Le Gavroche in Mayfair, London.

The restaurant is located in the basement but have a nice bar at the ground floor, so when we turned up early – they seated us in the bar area, where we got a drink before going downstairs to the table. Was nice to try the bar area – so the early bird experience worked out very well.

We all 4 went for the Menu Exceptionnel with 9 courses, which looked really interesting. The Sommelier was also this time helping out with the wines – even though he was holding a bit back and seemed a bit unsure about his recommendations.

The food was a lovely experience and particularly the cheese dishes, where we started of with a beautiful Cheese Souffle and later on also got some excellent selections of French and British Farmhouse Cheeses. The service at the table was also very good – however it was at bit stiff and we were missing some of the usual interaction with the staff. When Ingrid booked the table she was told – that because we had an early seating – we would have to leave the table after 3 hours. Luckily they didn’t stick to that – since that would have been a very rushed evening and not enjoyable with all the food and wine.

We also got a tour of the kitchen this time – but because we were eating a lot earlier we actually saw the kitchen when they were really busy and in full action, which was really nice. Overall a very nice evening.

Link to the restaurant…

The 4th restaurant in the Michelin Club, where we went to the 2 Star Michelin restaurant Hibiscus in Mayfair, London chosen by Manuel.

The restaurant handled our early appearance very well – seated us right away and immediately took the drink order – so 4 x G&T were on their way. A really good first impression.

The menu here was a very different experience – because you literally got a list of ingredients, where you had to exclude anything you were allergic to or anything you really disliked – but otherwise you just told the waiter whether you wanted 3, 6 or 9 courses and then it was up to the chef. Manual had to exclude some fish he is allergic to and Carlos and Annette excluded beetroot as something we disliked – but other than that we went for the rest. All 4 of us also picked the 9 courses of course and then we could just sit back and wait with excitement. This time the Sommelier was back to the usual high standard and he had no problem recommending some good wines outside the French region. However for the dessert wine, we ended up going French since he was so convincing and picked an excellent choice, where only 12 bottles are made every year and which was perfect for the desserts we got. However based on the price – we only had 1/2 bottle.

The whole food experience was really exciting and they mixed some things together that we would never have thought of, but which really worked and showed us some new and interesting taste. Most of the courses were absolutely top class and really enjoyed that all the dishes were a surprise. The service at the restaurant was also very professional but at the same time they kept the atmosphere down to earth so we could also have a laugh.

In the end of the evening we also had a really nice tour of the kitchen, where we spoke to the staff and could really appreciate all the hard work they put into all the food. When we left the restaurant the ladies got a bag of bread to take home – but even better – in the bag was also a letter showing all the food we had eaten that night – so were very pleased by that. Very nice evening so can only highly recommend a visit to Hibiscus.

Link to the restaurant…

After our last visit at a 2 star Michelin Restaurant that didn’t quite live up to our expectations, we decided this time to go to the top end and visit the 3 star Michelin Restaurant Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road, London chosen by Annette.

Again we tested the restaurant by turning up 10 minutes early – but this time it was a completely different experience. We got seated at our table immediately – but even before the waiter left our table we were offered a drink and 4 G&T were on their way. Literally you felt right from entering the front door that you were treated special and that this was going to be a lovely night.

The guys picked 3 courses from the A la carte menu, whereas Ingrid and I picked the 7 courses Prestige Menu. The Sommelier was top class – so when we asked for recommendations, he started with repeating the food we ordered and then recommended wines, which would go well with all dishes. When we said we didn’t want to spent too much on the white wine – he was also extremely sensible and didn’t recommend any wines that were over £50 – but still excellent of course.

The food was an amazing experience where we started with 4 different tasters from the chef before we got to the food we had ordered. Not only were the food extremely tasty but the whole presentation was amazing as well. At the same time the whole atmosphere at the table was great where the waiters were not too posh to not say a joke or make a laugh. Since Ingrid and I had 7 courses and the guys only 3 – the waiters always turned up with extra plates for the guys so they at least could taste a bit of our food as well. Also when we started the desserts – all 4 of us got the pre-dessert from the menu even if the guys have not ordered this – so a nice extra complimentary from the restaurant. The whole food experience finished with 2 extra tasters from the chef, which were to die for (strawberry ice cream with white chocolate and a small silver tree filled with dark chocolates).

The whole evening was just perfect and even if Mr Ramsay himself was not present you have to admire that he has found such a great team of people, who 100% live up to the experience you expect from a 3 Michelin Star restaurant. It is not going to be easy to beat this experience – so thanks a lot to Ramsay for making this such a special night.

Link to the restaurant…