Magdalen - February 2012

It's always a pleasure to go to Magdalen as the food is consistently excellent throughout the 4-5 years we've been going there. It's a restaurant one can go every week as they change their menu on a daily basis.
On our last visit, to our great delight they had roast suckling on the menu. My hubby, our friend and I all decided to go for the suckling pig! We were not disappointed as it was excellent: each piece of Suckling Pig that was on the plate had some crackling, and the potato cake was delicious!
Here are some pictures of what we had:

Potato Soup and Fried Ceps

Fried Calves' brains, Sage and Capers

 

Devon Crab, Warm Potatoes & Fennel Mayonnaise

Slow-roast Suckling Pig, Potato Cake, Black Cabbage& Sage

 Vanilla Cream and Poached Rhubarb

Buttermilk Ice Cream and Honeycomb

 Pear and Almond tart, Creme Fraiche

Our meal at Magdalen was very enjoyable and I look forward to our next visit!

Magdalen - April 2011

On Tuesday 12th April 2011, we went to our favourite restaurant, Magdalen with some friends of ours who now live in Toronto.
Our friends were intrigued as to why I had my camera ready to take some pictures of the meal as they know that I have posted a review on Magdalen already. I told them that Magdalen change their menu on a daily basis depending on what fresh produces they find. The dishes we were about to order have not been featured on my blog yet so it is nice to add to the blog to show how seasonal Magdalen is. This is one of the reasons we like Magdalen, they change their menu on a daily basis so we get to taste something new each time we go.
Below is the menu for this visit:

My friend was a bit disappointed when she didn't see the potted crab on the menu, as she loves that starter so much. She ordered the Devon Crab, celeriac and apple instead. I got to taste it and thought it was extremely good. Her husband ordered Smoked mackerel, beetroot and horseradish. My hubby and I ordered Fried crisp calves brains and gribiche, it was very yummy. I remember that my mother used to cook brain fairly often when I was living at home and I adore eating brains. There is no much opportunity to eat brains in London so I seize the opportunity when it arises! I wasn't disappointed, the brains were crispy as described in the menu, it was light and yummy.

Devon Crab, celeriac and apple



Smoked mackerel, beetroot and horseradish



Fried crisp calves brains and gribiche



For main course, we all ordered Roast rack of veal, potatoe gratin, carrots and sage except for my friend who ordered Baked plaice, monk's beard, samphire and crab butter sauce. The veal was very nice and pink, the potatoe gratin very tasty. I got to taste my friend's fish course and I thought it was sensational. The crab butter sauce was so amazing that my friend asked for some bread to eat with it. Good on her! Such tasty sauce shouldn't go wasted!

The chefs at Magdalen are very talented. Each dish is very well thought and executed to perfection.

Roast rack of veal, potatoe gratin, carrots and sage

Baked plaice, monk's beard, samphire and crab butter sauce

For dessert, my friend and I ordered Buttermilk pudding, Gariguette strawberries and shortbread. Her husband ordered Warm apple & almond tart, Calvados ice cream. My hubby ordered Chocolate and hazelnut terrine, Armagnac ice cream.  My dessert was pleasant enough but I wished I ordered Chocolate and hazelnut terrine, Armagnac ice cream, I thought my hubby's dessert was sensational. The description sounded a bit boring and that was why I didn't order it, but it turned out to be amazing!

Buttermilk pudding, Gariguette strawberries and shortbread

Warm apple & almond tart, Calvados ice cream

Chocolate and hazelnut terrine, Armagnac ice cream

Needless to say, we all enjoyed our meal very much! My friend is in London for 5 weeks, we have planned to return to Magdalen before she goes back to Canada. Hopefully, they will have potted crab, however I think my friend was  delighted with her crab starter during this visit.

The bill came to £162.84 for the four of us with a small carafe of red wine. It's very decent value for a meal of such quality. The service is always very friendly and professional but not stuffy. I am already looking forward to our next meal there!

Magdalen

152 Tooley Street

London SE1 2TU

Tel: 020 7403 1342

http://www.magdalenrestaurant.co.uk/

Magdalen - February 2011

On Saturday 26th February 2011, we went to our favourite restaurant: Magdalen in Tooley street. Some friends of ours introduced this restaurant to us in 2007 and we became regular customers ever since! We have also introduced this restaurant to other friends and they adore it!
To our opinion, this is the best restaurant for Modern Europeen (including British and French) in London! It serves very seasonal dishes. The menu changes on a daily basis, it offers the choice of about eight starters, eight main courses and five desserts. So one can actually go there every week! The cooking is very consistent, we never had a bad meal! In fact, we do think that this restaurant deserves One Michelin Star!
The service is impeccable: professional, competent, friendly and not stuffy.

The menu on Saturday 26th February 2011 was as follow:

  

My hubby and I ordered the same starter of "Hot foie gras and caramelised blood orange".  The foie gras was absolutely delicious, the blood orange goes so well with it.

For the main course, we both chose "Fish stew, gurnard, bream, clams and aioli". We had this dish before, it was very tasty as expected. Each component in this dish was cooked to perfection.

For dessert, my hubby chose "French toast, rhubarb and vanilla ice cream". His dessert was simply yummy.

As for me, I chose "Treacle tart and creme fraiche". The treacle tart was absolutely amazing, the pastry was thin and crunchy. What a treat to finish the meal!

The bill came to around £100 for the two of us. It is worth every penny. I am already looking forward to our next visit there!

Magdalen

152 Tooley street

London SE1 2TU

http://www.magdalenrestaurant.co.uk/