All reader reviews by Fu-Dog

Roganic

Went to Roganic this afternoon for the epic ten course tasting menu, arrived early only to be resisted by a very tight door. After being let in by a familiar face (Sandia, formerly of Marcus Wareings) I was seated in a cosy corner table and while I awaited my guest, I had an excellent G&T. The wine list was compact and to the point, with some unusual wines from around the world. I chose a Chavernay from the Loire, which went well with all the dishes.

We got a tray of fresh baked rolls, three each, of different types and salted butter smeared onto a big pebble.

The amuse was a squid ink paper with cucumber mousse which set the tone of everything else to come, all the dishes were perfectly judged, 2 or 3 mouthfulls each. The highlights were the seawater cured mackerel and the charred skate belly. The after dessert to finish was a bay leaf milkshake which tasted like a sweet béchamel, rather odd, and a little floury biscuit.

This little gem deserves it reputation, the cooking is near faultless, but the use of foraged herbs and the sweet/savoury aspects of some of the dishes may put some people off.

The sommelier was excellent, not pushy and ready for a chat about the wine and food, front of house service was excellent as well, relaxed and unfussy, our meal lasted close to three and a half hours, but at no point were we felt pushed to leave, so they could set up for evening service.

This place is highly recommended and I will be going back as they change the menu with the seasons.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10

Pollen Street Social

Finally went to PSS today, and I must say, it was really good! My friend and I decided to construct our own tasting menu from the starters, and ended up having 5 dishes each in total, we both chose the same except I had the quail and she had the ceviche, more on that later.

I started with an excellent G&T, which arrived within a minute of the water, bread was excellent, warm, with butter of the correct temperature.

The service staff are really good, so in fact, that after we had ordered our food, then the wine,our first course arrived before the wine! Perhaps less haste and more observation of what the diners are up to?

The crab with San marzano soup was well flavoured and presented very nicely, unfortunately the mustard cream was straight out of the freezer and was solid, after a chat, allowing the cream to defrost, the dish was lovely. Maybe less garlic in the soup?

The 2nd course, full English breakfast, was a slow cooked egg with breakfast accoutrements, very nicely cooked and presented.

Third course was the much lauded squid risotto with roasted squid juice, this was the stand out dish of all those we tried, everything was fantastic about this.

Fourth course, me quail, her ceviche. Quail breast was a little over and dry, but the mushroom puree and pickled girolles were excellent, the ceviche was first rate, super fresh scallops, wasabi snow and yuzu dressing with compressed cucumber, all faultless!

Final course pig head terrine with piccalilli needed some seasoning, but otherwise was very good.

After all this we decided to share 3 desserts, PBJ, Strawberry shortcake and the beetroot with peach and tarragon. This last dish was odd, just get rid of the beetroot and it would have been fine.

An excellent meal with good service, prices are high considering the size of the starters, but in order to be fair, I will go back to have a more structured meal, but this place is fantastic and worth a trip.

Service just need to be more observant, that's my only gripe.

Monday, August 22, 2011
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8

Galvin La Chapelle

I had high expectations of La Chapelle, and they were all met and exceeded!

The greeters and front of house were excellent, the maitre'd (Francesca) was always around and unobtrusive. My gin and tonic was perfect, which always puts me in a good mood.

Myself and guest had the tasting menu with wines, 7 courses with perfectly matched wines (excellent sommelier-he explained them all in a concise manner, so that the food didn't go cold) My friend has a shellfish allergy, which the kitchen handled well.

We also had the rum baba, which we had read so much about, and it was not a disappointment, Francesca (maitre'd) doused it with the perfect amount of Rum with countered the sweetness of the baba just right.

Why this place doesn't have a 2nd Michelin star is beyond me, as it matches many 2 star restaurants that I have been to easily.

Will definately be going back in the near future!

Monday, August 22, 2011
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10

Skylon Restaurant

I went to Skylon on the recommendation of some friends, the restaurant itself is huge and highly atmospheric, with floor to ceiling windows of the south bank and the thames.

The service as excellent, as one of my party was 30 minutes late and we didn't fell rushed or uncomfortable.

The food itself was nicely cooked and presented, but there were some odd things that seemed out of place (raw cavolo nero with sauteed ceps?)

Desserts were ok. Wine list was very good with a nice eclectic wines from around the world.

Maybe it was too early in the week (we went on a tuesday) but it didn't live up to my expectations, will probably go again, but maybe a thursday or friday dinner just to see if things are different.

Well priced, and professional service were the highlights of this restaurant.

Monday, August 22, 2011
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9