Firstly I completely understand this restaurant’s influence on the dining scene not just in London but the world. A place can’t be one of Bourdain’s favourites by doing something wrong. They were the pioneers of nose to tail cooking but the key word here is ‘were’.
However how it still has this insane hype and how the restaurant is still fully booked everyday is extremely baffling to me. Let’s start with their signature dish – bone marrow with toast and parsley salad. Can we please start with which part of this dish you cannot easily get and do at home. Go to your local butcher, get the marrow, put it in the oven. You know where to buy bread and toast it and where parsley is on the supermarket shelf. I understand that maybe 20 years ago bone marrow may be extremely difficult to find and they were probably the only restaurant to do it. A restaurant with this much hype/a michelin star should either be cookimg with ingredients hard to find or hard to cook so you cannot do it at home as an unskilled chef. Their signature dish is neither.
Speaking of cooking, yes I completely understand the whole selling point of St John is rustic plating but with high quality ingredients treated with respect and cooked well. The three images are from their Instagram page.
The venison is completely and without a doubt overcooked. Anything past rare is not ideal but this one is well past it. Not only that there is a visible brown layer of overdoneness on the outside, something that professional chefs seek to avoid. This is incorrect cooking, its not subjective and when you plate so rustic, it needs to be cooked properly.
The carrots for the next dish they dont even bother peeling it. I understand with baby carrots this is ideal but when you have a large specimen like that, the skin is going to be much thicker and not great for eating. Again, I understand they are going for a rustic vibe.
The other dish – boiled asparagus with butter and cheese. Asparagus is the thin specimen that you associate with the imported Mexican asparagus as opposed to the thicker seasonal British ones. I am sure these are British but I can get thicker asparagus at my local supermarket. This dish is beyond ridiculous and they charge a decent amount for it.
by need20goodmen
11 Comments
The book aims to make it easy and accessible for home cooking, especially the bone marrow – my only problem is not being able to find the veal marrow yet.
Yeah, you’ve completely missed the point of the restaurant but that’s ok.
I think you may be trolling. Have you actually eaten there? A restaurant becomes an institution for more than its food (really). It’s an experience – industrial, austere design with simple and comforting British food that people enjoy eating, accompanied by chilled and relaxed service. Whether you can cook this food at home is actually beside the point. It’s cool. You should go.
What made you want to eat there in the first place?
I don’t agree with the majority of the premises here
it’s the quality of the ingredients plus the cost of the skilled labour involved. do you think st john are buying their bread and parsley out of a supermarket as well?
I guess there’s a couple of parts to this: People hyping St JOHN, and the accolades it receives, specifically a Michelin star.
I agree with you on the notion of what a Michelin star restaurant should be, but many do not. Like you, I’m of the opinion that if you can cook the restaurant’s fare at home without too much fuss, then what is the restaurant offering besides atmosphere and a wine list? That’s enough perhaps to be on the guide, but imo not enough to warrant a star.
As for St JOHN, I don’t get the hype either, for the reason above. While I do think it puts out good food generally, I wince when people say it’s in their Top 10 in London (I wonder what the split is for Brits and non-Brits?). FWIW, that also goes for Brat, Mountain and Rules, but again this is because of the philosophy of what a star should be, and many people see that differently.
Did you actually eat there or are you reviewing based off Instagram?
Fuck off, Tweezer Boy… 🤦🏻♂️
Ok
Ive eaten there and was extremely disapointed.
The food
It seemed to be just slopped onto the plate with no care at all. I dont need art work but it look like it was served in a cafetira was an ice cream scoop
We ordered grouse. The waiter told us it can taste metallic. It tasted like licking a battery. I think the waiter had had a lot of complaints and was trying to talk us out of it. The other food was good, not star worthy.
Service
Poor. Messed up our bill. Had to argue with them over it. Not close to attentive at all.
How this place has a star and why people cirlce jerk over the place i truely do not understand.