The other Monday, heels donned and lipstick firmly smeared, saw quite the treat for me in a visit to a very fine establishment indeed; the iconic Claridges Hotel in Mayfair.
The latest restaurant residency through the door of this famous hotel is Fera, by Simon Rogan. Simon is famous for earthy, foraged fine dining and he has certainly stamped this influence on the restaurant and kitchens. You can see herb growing units lining the walls and apparently there is a whole area downstairs dedicated to growing too.
Eating here has been on my list for a while, but I recently discovered that Bookatable have put a deal for it on their website giving 3 courses plus a glass of champagne for a bare £39. It's in their 'Star Deals' section and is crazy good value for food of this level and includes the various amuse bouche and pre-dessert that you get as standard. Of course the menu is shorter than the standard one, but you get at least three choices per course and there aren’t any duds in there.
The latest restaurant residency through the door of this famous hotel is Fera, by Simon Rogan. Simon is famous for earthy, foraged fine dining and he has certainly stamped this influence on the restaurant and kitchens. You can see herb growing units lining the walls and apparently there is a whole area downstairs dedicated to growing too.
Eating here has been on my list for a while, but I recently discovered that Bookatable have put a deal for it on their website giving 3 courses plus a glass of champagne for a bare £39. It's in their 'Star Deals' section and is crazy good value for food of this level and includes the various amuse bouche and pre-dessert that you get as standard. Of course the menu is shorter than the standard one, but you get at least three choices per course and there aren’t any duds in there.
To start, a vibrant spring veloute with smoked pork, turnips, ramsons and herbs. This was rich and moreish, washed down with a perfectly creamy glass of Laurent Perrier champagne. The main course of plaice in anise hyssop with celery, chard and beetroot was a colourful mosaic of precise components, and came with the plumpest mussels I’ve had in a long while. My absolute highlight of the dinner however was the dessert: a smoked chocolate (yes….smoked) mouse, with peanut ice cream and verjus caramel.Frankly, to my surprise this was delicious– I had my talons out, ready to rip them to shreds for the smoked chocolate – and worked wonderfully.
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Historic British hotels like Claridges are renowned for their incredible service and here the restaurant showed their strength too. You can tell a truly world class hotel when through all the gilt and glitz it still feels homely. We were greeted as warmly as if we were far more important than we were (although Claridges would undoubtedly say that every customer is equally important). A particular highlight came when our waiter invited us into the kitchen for a tour! What an absolute treat and what a meticulous, gleaming machine Simon Rogan has here. Each station worked intently on its purpose, tweezering microherbs onto dishes, cooking meat or fish, or distilling various fruity concoctions in centrifuges. I was ever so impressed.
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In summary, this is a shockingly good value dinner. The normal tasting menu is £105 for six courses, so to have half that for a scant £39 is unbelievable – thanks, Bookatable! Delicious food, undeniably one of the finest hotels in London and great service: fully recommended.
http://www.bookatable.co.uk/fera-at-claridges-mayfair-london?lcid=102726
http://feraatclaridges.co.uk/
49 Brook St, London W1K 4HR
020 7107 8888
