The menu starts with "Snacks" which is an amazing display of five different plates; way more than any amuse bouche!! Check out the wow video I put on FB, as well as all the photos. The Snacks included Egg creamed potato with chive oil, code & Sturgeon roe served in a ceramic eggshell on a bed of straw in a huge bowl which has dry ice underneath for a wonderful effect!! The lemon flavor was intense, so I called it "lemony snicket." The Beetroot tart had black currants on top which was the only dish that we were not crazy about, merely because the beet flavor was lost to the intense currants. Coronation Crab Cigars were pastries filled with a spicy curried crab. Black Cod Roe Waffles with water gel, had a cream on the underside full of flavor. A-5 Wagyu Beef Tartare was a dreamy mini bite that had you begging for more. I think my favorite was the waffle, while Will went for the egg-creamed potato & cod!
Our first wine was a Sylvaner Reserve Millisime 2019 form Rolly Gassman in Alsace that was slightly off dry but was brilliant with all the intense flavors from the snacks and really went well with the next course simply entitled, "Bread, chicken butter." A large boule of warm sourdough made with IPA Beer was placed on the table with three side bowls: Chicken butter was covered with crispy fried pieces of chicken skin, the creamiest on earth chicken liver parfait(what we call chopped liver or pate) was sprinkled with sauteed egg yolk and an intense thick chicken reduction was poured into the 3rd side container. Each of the "toppings" was meant to be used with the bread and it was impossible to resist them all. Will liked the reduction the best but I was crazy about the chicken butter with cracklings and went insane over the creamy parfait!
We moved on to a Riesling(dry) "Burgstall" from FX Pichler 2018 in Wachau, Austria whose wines have always impressed me and Spiros starting schmoozing and joking with us, which went on for the many hours we were there. The staff were kind, friendly and indeed entertaining. Even Andy, the manager, whose first night it was (he had come from Gordon Ramsay @Claridge's Hotel--clearly Frog was a step up!!), made sure we were happy at every moment.
The next plate was Red prawn, tomato and English wasabi with red pepper pesto and ponzu dressing which was followed by Mushroom pasta(agnelotti), parsley and watercress which had burnt butter sauce, black garlic puree, basil puree and a pickled garlic foam. Spiros switched us to a Mercurey 1er Cru "Les Puillets Chateau de Camilly" 2015 from the Cote Chalonaise in Burgundy(excuse any spelling mistakes) as he said a light red was in order. The wine was served in elegant Nuda thin stemmed modern crystal and the cutlery was Scandanavian in style yet was Cutipol from Portugal which Limoges china was clearly the chef's top choice with plates easily costing a fortune without the food!
We moved back to white wine with one of our favorites all night being the Terrasses du Larzac Domaine de Montclus 2016 from Languedoc. "Wagyu lobster" followed next and is one of Chef Adam's signature dishes. It looked as simple as could be with a huge claw and tail on the plate, but these had been marinated for 24 hours and cooked "barbecue style" in Wagyu beef fat--OMG!! The flavor burst was beyond belief. Our wine was a Chateau Simone palette 2017 from Provence blended from Clairette, Rousanne, Marsanne & Viognier and I am always a sucker for any Rhone blend.
Cod, lobster bolognese, caviar was next with poached cod, tomato Lobster bolognese and English caviar.
We rested a lot and the meal took over 4 hours total, but the "main" was still to come: Balmoral chicken, baby courgette, basil was a perfect size portion of herb & haggis mousse crusted chicken breast with char-grilled courgettes(zucchini), wild garlic and chicken reduction. The dish was insanely rich, so we tried to finish, but knew more was to come. We switched back to a full bodied red with Carvaro 2018 Castello della Sala from Antinori in Ubria, Italy.
More resting before the pre-dessert, a divinely refreshing palate-cleanser of Apple & Marigold Sorbet with Lemonade Foam, Honeycomb Crumble on the bottom and Dried Elderflowers.
The main dessert followed with Cocoa nib, Yuzu gel and dandelion root ice cream--again just right and not too rich. As we settled back to reflect, mignardises arrived in a small box to take home in the form of Rum Custard Canale, Miso fudge, Chocolate and Salted Caramel Bonbon and Blueberry Pate a fruit. We each also got a breakfast box with printed menu called "The Frog Breakfast Experience" so we could enjoy the experience extended to the next morning. Superb Mix berry cakes(muffins), Mixed seed granola and Chamomile tea were included!!!
This is one meal we will not easily forget! When in London, be sure to pan to eat at FROG!
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