"Quite an interesting one overall. We were a table of 4 having 7 course tasting with wine pairing. Opening cocktail was one of the best ive ever had, (whiskey and cherries) others agreed that theirs were “peng”. They were also delivered with an excellent flurry by the host who was a good meeter and greeter. The canapés, often the best part of a meal set the tone for most of the food unfortunately. They were all a little under seasoned, predictable and lacking in luxury, this is in spite of the drama with which they are delivered. The best was a mushroom tart, but still wasn’t really very well considered. The worst was a blue cheese “doughnut” a choux bun filled with a grainy cheese and no other recognisable flavours or textures. The bread was easily the best course, i quickly ran out excellent bread for the chicken butter and just gleefully ate it off of my knife feeling like an Elizabethan king. After that, the dried and undried tomato with super cold snow didn’t really work as a dish, lacked energy, presentation and inspiration and felt a bit like it was holding the place of a real dish that is usually in that spot. Scallop and turbot were nice, but very small and a just a little lacking in soul and seasoning, the chilli oil on the scallop missed the mark also. Lamb was a really nice dish, but again, unnecessarily small (I’m not an absolute fatty bum batty), and after a long description of the dish, we all found that it was very cold. Pre dessert was good, but again just lacked heart. Desserts were an odd pair. The GBM was fine but had a peculiar over riding chemical flavour to it and definitely lacked the freshness that it looked like it was going to have. The other dessert was a bit like a feast but way too cold and frozen very hard, so didn’t really taste of much other than oil and a bitter chocolate. Im not sure if the kitchen were having a rough one, i know its a tough time, or wether they are being held back focusing on zero waste etc, i know im not in a position to say, just lobbing a few uneducated guesses around. But the whole menu was lacking a little everywhere..Except the chicken butter..which was perfect. The service was odd, but that made me really like it, certainly not stuffy and Our table host was brilliant in a quirky way. Overall i think i would have given the food 1.5 stars, maybe 2. The wine and the sommelier though were perfect. The pairings, very well considered and excellent variety, delivered with really good knowledge, soul and a sense of humour. Well done drinks team. The bill was pretty hefty for a 1star Michelin, a good chunk of it was booze, which as i said was amazing. This helped to balance the value for money category a little. My three friends found my comments mostly fair. Oh yeah. The closing chocolates were very excellent. Food: 2 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 3"
