The Ritz received a long-awaited second Michelin star in this year’s guide. My wife and I have a tradition of going here for lunch on my birthday- this year though, we had a celebratory lunch for my mother-in-law’s 80th. We had the 7 course tasting menu (£235) and didn’t go for a wine pairing this time.
The room requires little introduction, being probably the grandest in London. This is very old-school classical hotel-luxe French hospitality – the Ritz is, I think, the last restaurant in London that requires men to wear jacket and tie. Personally, I quite like the sense of occasion that this promotes – although obviously this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
The food is also in the classic French haute cuisine style – sauces in particular are a real strength. Canapes don’t change here very much (if it ain’t broke…), the coronation chicken tuile being a real highlight, beautifully balanced with the sweeness and the slight heat from the curry spices. A new starter (for me at least) was a ring of datterini tomatoes with a ring of parmesan mousse – super-refreshing and zingy, perfect to wake the appetite. This was accompanied with a little pastry pillow filled with a super-intense tomato ragu – amazing depth of flavour! Dish of the day followed – Dorset crab with crème fraiche and imperial caviar topped with jelly was made from Granny Smith apple juice, fennel juice, Verjus and grape juice, finished with Imperial caviar. This was an incredible combination of flavours, sweet, salty and acid – really memorable! On the side was a little crab crumpet – nice, but a bit superfluous. Next course is a Ritz signature – foie gras with damson and pistachio puree – it’s been on the menu every time I’ve eaten here and you can see why – it’s a classic combination of flavours.
A new dish for me was lobster in a asauce that I can’t quite remember but it had finger limes in it – I remember the lobster was well cooked but somewhat overshadowed by the sauce, which was dazzling. The accompanying lobster americaine barbajuans were delcious, too! Main meat course was Bresse pigeon a la presse – an excuse for some tableside theatre with a silver duck press used to extract juices to add to a sauce prepared at the table, with plenty of flambe action. I feel a bit mean about this, as objectively it’s a delicious (albeit rich) dish with another superb sauce, but I’ve eaten it a few times here now and so would probablt prefer something new here. The weakest course was next – grapefruit in various ways as a pre-dessert – fine, but unexceptional.
The main dessert is a show stopper – an intricate chocolate, caramel and hazelnut dessert with multiple textures and elements – proper French pastry work.
Mignardises (not pictured) were dark chocolate and hazelnut praline with salted caramel, vanilla macaroon and grapefruit pate de fruits, as well as dark chocolate ganache – all excellent, but we were pretty full at this point.
Service was excellent, although the waiting staff, although enthusiastic, were a little less polished than previous visits (although this was a cery busy lunch service).
Overall, in my opinion The Ritz is the finest fine dining restaurant in London – the combination of room, service and food is unmatched and I rate it over RGR, Core, Ledbury, Darroze etc. Sure, it’s a little old-fashioned and not suitable for every occasion, but for special celebrations I wouldn’t want to dine anywhere else!
Photos are:
1) First set of canapes (left to right: parmesan mousse on sable biscuit, coronation chicken tuile, duck liver mousse with cherry (?) jelly)
2) sea trout tartlet with trout (?) roe)
3) beef tartare tartlet
4) Bread
5) Danterini tomatoes with parmesan
6) accompanying tomato ragu pillow
7) Crab with apple jelly and imperial caviar
8) Foie gras with damson and pistachio puree
9) accompanying toasted brioche
10) Lobster with carrots and finger limes
11) accompanying lobster barbajuans
12) bresse pigeon a la presse with white asparagus
13) pigeon with sauce added
14) grapefruit pre-dessert
15) Chocolate, caramel and hazelnut dessert
by Holiday-Let-2804