Shortly after we arrived at the restaurant, they gave us two kinds of Amuse Bouches: Parmesan Gougeres and Croquettes. Both Amuse Bouches were simply delicious and very moreish!
Parmesan Gougeres and Croquettes
The menu offers the choice between 3 course meal (£80), 6 course meal (£90) or 8 course meal (£100). On the right hand side page, there were a list of ingredients (for example: Devonshire Crab, Black Periguord Truffles, Cornish Cod, Smoked Eels, Goosnargh Duck, Engliah Cox Apples, Indonesian Basil etc...).
The waiter explained to us that we needed to decide between 3, 6 or 8 course meal and tell the Chef what we didn't like (or allergies) and then it was down to the Chef to decide what courses he was going to serve us. Needless to say, my hubby and I decided to go for the full on 8 course meal! Afterall, we were there to discover the Chef's talent so we wanted to taste as many dishes as possible.
The waitress brought us some bread and some salted butter. We had the choice between white or brown sourdough. We were able to keep our bread plate until the end of the meal which was nice. The bread was adequate.
Once we decided on the menu and wine, it wasn't too long until the waitress brought us our 2nd Amuse Bouche: Chilled Lord Labourne Apple & Carrot Soda. The waitress explained to us that we needed to take a few sips to start with and then have it like a shot. This Amuse Bouche was very refreshing.
Chilled Lord Labourne Apple & Carrot Soda
Our first course was: Veloute of Pumpkin, Crozier Blue Cheese, Truffle. The Veloute of Pumpkin was silky smooth. The flavour of this dish was very subtle but very nice.
Veloute of Pumpkin, Crozier Blue Cheese, Truffle
Our 2nd course was: Salad of Devonshire Crab wrapped in New Season Turnip, Kentish Sea Leaves, Ginger, Cream and Smoked Olive Oil Dressing. This dish was also very delicate. The crab was very tasty and each element on the plate brought a subtle flavour without overpowering the crab.
Salad of Devonshire Crab wrapped in New Season Turnip, Kentish Sea Leaves, Ginger, Cream and Smoked Olive Oil Dressing
Our 3rd course was: Ravioli of Hen's Egg York & Smoked Potato, Truffle. This dish is the winner of the evening! The raviolo was sensational! Cutting into the raviolo the egg york oozed out as seen in the picture. The smoked potatoe, the truffle sauce around the raviolo and the egg york worked really well together. This raviolo is simply truly delicious! We had never had anything like this before!
Ravioli of Hen's Egg York & Smoked Potato, Truffle
Our 4th course was: Roast Pollock, New Season Fennel, Clementine & Fennel Sauce. The fish was cooked to perfection, the Clementine & Fennel sauce brought a subtle flavour to the dish without overpowering the fish. This dish was very good and well executed.
Roast Pollock, New Season Fennel, Clementine & Fennel Sauce
Our 5th course was: Roast Adour Foie Gras, Sea Buckthorn Gel, Apple & Szechuan Pepper Compote. This was the first time we had something with Sea Buckthorn, the taste is quite sharp so it went perfectly well with the Foie Gras. The Apple & Szechuan Pepper went very well with the Foie Gras as well. This dish was also good and well executed.
Roast Adour Foie Gras, Sea Buckthorn Gel, Apple & Szechuan Pepper Compote
Our 6th course was: Roast Mallard Duck, Quince Aioli, Frech Pear. The duck was served very pink and it was a bit chewy. There was some spice on the skin of the duck, I don't know what kind of spice it was but it was very bitter to my taste. I didn't enjoy this dish very much, I had to remove the skin so I could eat the duck...I have never done this kind of thing before, so I felt a bit embarrassed but I really didn't enjoy the bitter taste of the spice! The piece of pear was so tiny that it was just enough for accompany one mouthful of meat but not the whole dish.
Roast Mallard Duck, Quince Aioli, Fresh Pear
Our pre-dessert was: Apple Puree, Sweet Celeriac, Chestnut Cream. This dessert was very yummy. The combination of the apple puree, celeriac jelly and chestnut cream worked perfectly well together. It was very nice! I was looking forward to our two desserts, especially the table not far from us went for a 3 course menu and they had very interesting desserts: a kind of chocolate tart and some kind of Millefeuille. Both desserts looked really good.
Apple Puree, Sweet Celeriac, Chestnut Cream
Our first dessert: Cream of Jerusalem Artichoke, Caramel, Toasted Oat Ice Cream. This dessert looked weird (see picture). There were three different types of quenelles: one for the Cream of Jerusalem Artichoke, a small one for the Caramel and one for the Ice Cream. All the quenelles were hidden by what looked like thin wafers but it wasn't. I think it was something made with sugar. I was not sure how we were meant to eat this dessert. Were we meant to eat a bit of everything together? Not sure. Anyway, the Cream of Jerusalem Artichoke tasted nice but very similar to our pre-dessert. The caramel was very bitter, it didn't really taste like caramel (it had the taste of burnt caramel maybe??). The toasted oat ice cream wasn't obvious, if it was't written on the menu I wouldn't have guessed! I didn't really this dessert but I was hoping that the 2nd dessert would be better.
Cream of Jerusalem Artichoke, Caramel, Toasted Oat Ice Cream
Our 2nd dessert was: Expresso Sorbet, Chocolate Madeleine, Whiskey Anglaise. While they brought us the Madeleines on a separate plate, we were advised to break the Madeleine into the ice cream and eat it together. The expresso sorbet tasted good as well as the Madeleine but somehow it didn't blow my socks off. Fairly classic combination. I was intrigued as to why the Chef chose to serve us three desserts that have the same consistency (mousse or ice-cream). Sure, the Madeleine added a different texture but a Madeleine is not something that would wow me at a 2 Michelin star restaurant. For a two Michelin start restaurant, I expect something more original.
I enjoyed the pre-dessert very much but was very disappointed by our two main desserts. I think it was a bad choice from the Chef to serve us three desserts that had the same consistency.
I was looking at two different blogs of people who chose the 7 course tasting menu at Hibiscus (at the time they went, Hibiscus seemed to have offered 7 course tasting menu and not 8). They were more lucky than us on the dessert front! One couple had a tart (Cep Tart, Macadamia Nut Ice Cream and Blueberry Puree) which they thought was sensasional and probably their dish of the year! A Cep Tart sounds very strange indeed but apparently it tasted heaven! That's what one calls genius!
The other blogger strangely had three desserts on the top of the pre-dessert. He is a well known blogger and got to meet Claude Bosi himself at the restaurant. They shook hands etc...so maybe that was why he got 3 desserts! Actually the blogger seemed to have had 9 courses in total instead of the 7 that was on offer!
Anyway, his 1st dessert was a tart (Fine Cream Tart of Sweet English Peas & Moroccan Mint, Coconut & Sheep’s Milk Whey Sorbet) which sounded very interesting. Again the Chef was using an unusual ingredient for dessert.
He had a Millefeuille for his second dessert (Coffee & Passionfruit Millefeuille, Vanilla Ice Cream, Passionfruit Gel & Mango) which looked fabulous.
His 3rd dessert was a chocolate tart (Hibiscus ‘Tarte au Chocolat’, Indonesian Basil Ice Cream). This dessert also looked good.
Now you understand better why I felt done in on the dessert front! I was expecting something original and I didn't get it.
Expresso Sorbet, Chocolate Madeleine, Whiskey Anglaise
At the end of the meal, they brought us a small dish of mini Madeleines. The Madeleines had some pepper in them but it worked and they were nice. Having had chocolate Madeleine in our previous dessert, it would have been nicer if they offered us something different such a chocolate or petit fours.
Mini Madeleines
Service was friendly, competent, efficient and not stiff. The waiters and waitresses were nice and friendly. Overall, I enjoyed my birthday dinner at Hibiscus and would recommend Hibiscus to people who haven't been there before. The bill came to £275 for the two of us (with tap water). Would I go back to Hibiscus? Yes if someone picks up the bill or I was very rich! But "no" is the answer, at that kind of price I expect perfection and it wasn't perfect. I would be prepared to pay the price if perfection was garanteed !
Upon leaving the restaurant, we were given a bag which contained a small bag of meringues and the menu to take home which was a nice touch.
Tasting Menu - Saturday 21st January 2012
Hibiscus
29 Maddox Street, W1S 2PA
tel: 020 7629 2999
www.hibiscusrestaurant.co.uk
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