From the start this looked like it was going to be something a little different and it certainly proved to be. We did not know what to expect and it was like being ambushed in a very good way. From the first drink poured by the Japanese sommelier trained in France to the most unbelievable tasting menu we have ever had, it was a thrill from the start to the very end.
Just starting with the amuse bouche of Sterling caviar with prawn toast, it really lit up all our senses. Our comments after this were if they could back that up it was going to be an exceptional evening, and it certainly was. Normally we find that tasting menus are a bit of a roller coaster ride, but this menu was different, each course was sensational in its own right and we were going through twists and turns rather than ups and downs. It simply has to be our best meal out ever, and believe me, we have eaten more than a couple.
To highlight individual courses in this menu that is so well rounded was always going to be difficult and I think that it falls on some of the items that we had not eaten often before, that tended to be the ones we singled out for discussion later. I am not a rabbit fan, but their signature rabbit and sweetbread pie was out of this world and if rabbit was served this way I would eat a lot more.
The standout dish in everyone’s mind though had to be the wagyu sirloin with the hot and numbing oyster sauce. It simply was phenomenal, best steak we have ever had. The flavours were simply sensational with the richness of the steak being offset by the hot sauce, simply a symphony.
We chose to do the international wine pairings with our meal and they were simply superb and wonderfully matched. One wine that literally fizzed our socks off was a Deseado late harvest sparkling wine from Argentina. It was paired with a grape fruit and pine nut tartlet and was a showstopper for the effervescence the fizz and sherbet flavour brought to the pairing.
