The Ledbury

This was the first time I'd been to the Ledbury in the evening, although I've had lunch there twice. I had high expectations, which on the whole were met. The food and wine were excellent and we enjoyed the 'amuse-bouche's, which included a goat's cheese tortellini on a date purée and a passionfruit jelly with apple foam. The best things were scallops laced with licorice, stuffed morels, venison and three different creme brulées (cocoa, Earl Grey and ???), each with their own icecream (basil, thyme and orange). And the service was good, although the wine waiter was so enthusiastic in his recommendation of a Hungarian wine to my companion that he completely forgot what I'd ordered. (He did invite us to try some of the Hungarian wine, which made up for it.)

My only grumbles were that there was a cold draught down my back (not sure whether from a gap in the window or air conditioning).
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Friday, August 08, 2008

Went with a large group for a birthday last saturday. Half of us in jeans and we were made to feel at home, michelin level food does not need the stuffy suited formality that most places enforce

Fantastically welcoming staff who knew well what they were doing, especially the south african sommelier who judged the wine for out food perfectly. (there is no judging category for wine on this web site but it would have got 10)

We all went for the almost too cheap lunch menu at £24.50 for three courses and it was amazing and was almost worthy on a 10 out of 10 rating (i can only assume the more expensive a la carte stuff is better, maybe this reasoning prevented me from giving 10 for the food).

They gave us a canape of fois gras on filo pastry before we ordered, i had calves tail ravioli to start followed by cod with potato gnocchi and english truffles then a steamed peach with raspberry ice cream & waffle for desert.

Worth every penny and i cant wait to go back with my girlfriend to try the tasting menu
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Pat
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Had the tasting menu last week. Won't reiterate the details as the same as the previous post with the exception of the pre-dessert which was a vanilla pannacotta with with rose jelly - wonderful.

Everything was excellent - the best of the dishes was the passion fruit souffle with sauternes ice cream and I'm not normally a pudding person. Every other dish was expertly executed and the service was wonderful - bordering on the telepathic at times! My wife said quietly that she could do with some more water and the waiter appeared almost instantly with the jug (he couldn't have heard her?!) After she'd been to the ladies' room, the maitre d' had folded her napkin and as she returned he quickly came to the table ahead of her and pulled her chair out for her. We were just saying to each other the dishes were coming a bit fast and furious (the first three (canape, amuse bouch and mackerel) were all over in 20 minutes and after that there was a pleasant 15-minute or so gap between courses - we were left wondering if they had hidden microphones! Seriously though, they were just very very attentive. The service was just right: Very friendly without being familiar, attentive without being overbearing, knowledgeable without being arrrogant and helpful without being annoying. Oh, and did I say the food was impeccable too?

We don't live very nearby The Ledbury, and there are many fine establishments in-between us but we will certainly make the trip back there. I'd advise you to do the same and soon because at current standards, another star will get added and the prices will rise in inverse proportion to the availability!
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Jules - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, June 23, 2008

Tasting menu at The Ledbury last night, and bloody good it was too.

Thought the decor of the place was a bit bland, but not a major problem, there was a nice buzz about the place. Very friendly welcome.

Filo pastry with foie gras was a tasty pre-meal snack, nice pepperiness offsetting the rich foie. We were then given a palate-cleansing glass of champagne on the house. Which was nice.

Amuse bouche was a chilled courgette and basil soup. Very refreshing, the courgette flavour came through strongly, which impressed me given that courgette is not the strongest tasting vegetable.

Next up was a salad of various roots and flowers, with a pheasant egg and white truffle. Light and crisp, the flavours and textures melded perfectly. A Gaillac to accompany was really unusual, almost a grassy flavour, reminiscent of some olive oils. Went very well with the salad.

The following course was possibly the best for me. Seared mackerel with pureed avocado and shiso, very tasty, but the best bit was mackerel tartare encased in cucumber jelly - the textures worked really well together and the mackerel flavour sang through. A nice mineral Greek white to accompany.

Foie gras terrine with mango salsa and poilane was accompanied by a sweetish Riesling which had a long finish which offset the sweetness somewhat. Cut through the richness of the foie very well. A fairly straightforward dish but delicious and one of my favourites of the night.

Cod next, served simply seared and accompanied by various spring vegetables, meaty morels and a nice reduction. Very tasty but lacked the wow factor of some of the other dishes. Interestingly paired with an Italian pinot noir, very complex and worked well with the fish.

We moved onto slices of lamb, accompanied with a delicious aubergine dauphinois-type construction and some other veg - best vegetable of the night. Again, a fairly simple dish but the saucing was spot on, we savoured the flavours. A bold South African syrah was again a good match.

Getting quite full now, we progressed onto blue cheese pannacotta with pear ice. Really intense pear flavour. Think the pannacotta had vanilla in it as well. Great combination, although the panacotta was very rich for a pre-dessert and neither of us finished it.

Last but by no means least, a full size passion fruit souffle. Absolutely superb, again right up there with the best of the night, so light but bursting with flavour. A glass of Moscato de Pantelleria was delicious, we remembered it well from our trip to Sicily last year.

Finished off with tea and petits fours, which were great, three hours had passed and we absolutely loved it. Great, unpretentious food, really interesting wine selections, nice ambience and friendly staff. Will have to be done again.
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Simon
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, June 15, 2008

Great restaurant. Everything is really well done.

Food is highly original and it is clear to see the work that has gone in to each dish, i take my hat off to the kitchen for the precision in its cooking and to the front of house staff for making it such a relaxed and enjoyable experience.

No one is doing it like they are doing it. Had an amazing time and have done on subsequent visits. Thank you Ledbury.
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Shrimpy
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, June 13, 2008

I recently took my girlfriend to the Ledbury for her birthday. We both found the vegetarian tasting menu to be delicious and highly invetinve. The passion fruit souffle alone made the visit worthwhile. The service was generally attentive but unobtrusive. It was a perfect evening out for a special occasion.
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Kensington
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Terrible restaurant.

Food 4/10. The tortellini was inedible. it tasted as if it was cooked in warm water for a long time. The Mackerel with Mackerel Tartare however, was the best dish I had eaten that night. I ordered the lamb for main. Presentation - 5/10, taste - 3/10. The aubergine with miso which was meant to be complementing the meat but it was so strong in taste that after tasting a bite of it, I couldn't taste the sauce for the meat anymore.

Service 5/10. We ordered one of the mains and asked the waitor to change one of dishes to come with potato rather than sweet potato. It never happened. When my dessert came, the waitor was trying to place the plate on my table but the fork and spoon were in the way. He simply pushed them out of the way with the dish. We asked for expresso with milk on the side, it came with no milk.
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Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Tuesday, May 06, 2008

The best millefeuille in the world...ever!

The rest of the food is also excellent. Beautifully written menu, everything sounded fantastic..

Some complicated things get a bit lost - the pigeon cooked in hay had very little 'hay' flavour to it, but you can't really criticise because it was delicious and perfectly cooked.

Puts over-priced, tired restaurants (see any Ramsay restaurant) to shame.
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slwckd
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Monday, March 17, 2008

PLEASE, do not take any notice of the 'review' below. I'm sorry but what total tosh.

As a chef myself, who uses the michelin as a standard benchmark, I fail to see how anybody could be so ultra picky. Wonder if 'sir' has ever worked in a pro kitchen.

Anyway, my wife and I, made yet another long winded trip to dine at the Ledbury.Its worth ever single mile. Food is as good here, as anywhere else in London, we've dined. We went to Pied a Terre the evening before and had a fine meal, I have to say in my opinion the Ledbury as the edge. Great ideas, very well executed. The passion fruit souffle, wow. Thats coming from a chef who as fifteen years expierence, working at a very high standard. Just go and relax. They will do you proud.
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rich & lins - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Thursday, March 06, 2008

Good, but not good enough.

Choice of Ingredients and combinations were to be admired, it might be worth trying this place, but that was my first and last visit...On the whole, the food was good but...over -seasoned, - main course was salty, the rich mushroom veloute which was intended to be the theme for the menu was much too dominant a flavour - subtlety was called for here.

...service was slow, empty wine glasses not taken away, bread placed on wrong plates, aperitif took an age to arrive, I think the staff need a good talking to!

Saying that, I didn't complain, I didn't want to embarrass my guests!
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Sunday, March 02, 2008