For our second and last night in London we headed to Notting Hill Gate where we have been dining for years at the wonderful Ledbury restaurant. During our visit to London two years earlier they were still closed for Covid, so we were thrilled to see them open and completely redecorated as well. White linens are crisp, tables are beautifully appointed and behind us the wall had five large panels of recycled wood with mushrooms embedded within, surrounded by smoked mirrors that allowed me facing the wall to see the whole room.
The Ledbury has a tasting menu of 195Pounds and pairs wonderful wines for 130pounds. We never needed to ask the sommelier Jan for extra wine as the pours were generous. Our server Jeremy was the manager and came from Toronto and oozed friendliness as well as made sure we had everything we need.
Like so many places these days house filtered water comes in sparkling or still... Eliminating the need for plastic or glass bottles as it is served from carafes.
Will settled in with a Campari and tonic while I had a delicious glass of Viognier from Xavier Gerard 2019 in the Condrieu area of the Rhone that was creamy yet loaded with a minerality from the terroir as our multiple amuses arrived:
Charcuterie consisted of Iberian pepe con salami(a tad too fatty for us), bresaola that was light as air and a loin. The presentation on wooden branch-like creations was superb. Tempura fried cod jowls with dill and seaweed emotion were on the other side of the table and then crunchy fun potato puffs were served with an oyster emulsion with Wasabi leaf and tomato jam that you spread on the puffs.
The winner of all of these were the waffles covered with truffle cream and freshly shaved Australian black truffles.
I did forget to take a photo of the first course which was Ike Jime (style of butchering) Chalk Stream Trout(raw) from Hampshire with Isle of Wight Tomato, Spruce and Green shiso and a yummy apple and sorrel sorbet with trout roe. It was paired with a similarly apple-toned 2121 Gruner Veltlliner from Schloss Gobelsburg in Langenlois, Kamptal, Austria.
The rest of the dishes are all available in photographic form on my facebook page. Next came Isle of Mull Scallop(also raw) sliced thin with chilled Blood Orange, Myoga Ginger, Elderberry Capers(who knew?) and a Yuzu Kosho Emulsion. The wine was a Soave Classico 2020 made from 60 year old vines from Vigneti di Foscarino.
I adore sweetbreads and the Veal Sweetbread with wild garlic, vadouvan, salted Gooseberry on a spring onion Velouté was no exception. Super rich and decadent the 2018 Chenin Blanc "Cartology" from Alheit Vineyards in South Africa's Western Cape was the perfect foil to cut the richness.
Bread arrived in the form of sourdough as well as a Laminated Roll with wild garlic, black olive and Cornish Gouda. On the side was a very rich Goat's Whey Butter drizzled with caramelized molasses.
Cornish Wild Sea Bass had Cherry Blossom flowers and English Asparagus emulsion with N25 Kaluga Hybrid Caviar from Germany and some small clams to boot. The fish was delicate yet superb and the caviar a wonderful indulgence. 2018 Riesling "Kallstadter Saumagen" from Kohler-Ruprecht in the Pfalz region of Germany was deliciously dry.
Red wine arrived as the next dish was Mushrooms from the Cabinet. The team here grows mushrooms in a cabinet downstairs that can be observed on all kinds of wood(photos also on FB) as they culture them for serving in the restaurant. We had shitaki in mustard stock, Perigord truffles and silken tofu(non-pressed) in brown miso with chive flowers all paired with a 2105 Pinot Noir from Domaine Charles Audoin " Les Langeroies" Marsannay from Burgundy that was a huge fruit forward experiment.
The main meat course was chef Brett's Iberian pork from Whitley Farm near Birmingham served with chanterelles, white asparagus, XO Morel and Vin Jaune in a green peppercorn and mustard jus.
There was a delicious pork jowl with kombucha as well as a braised belly that was a tad fatty and a deliciously deep fried Pig's head dumpling with truffle and Kimbo ketchup. The wine was also big in the form of a 2018 Grenache Noir Blend from Duncan Savage "Thief in the Night" from Piekenierskloof, South Africa.
We of course were resting constantly and did so again before we moved on to the first dessert of Honey & Sauternes Custard with Apricot, Maple Verjus and Bee Pollen. The main dessert was Gariguette (from France) Strawberry with Sweet Wild Woodruff herbed ice cream, Kelp and Roasted Vanilla. The wine was a yummy 2018 Petit Manseng from Clos Thou in the Jurançon of southwest France.
I guess our team thought we really loved food so much they brought out a chocolate dessert which WOWED us beyond belief with Vanilla Ice cream with Australian truffles, a chocolate shell with custard and chocolate truffles.
Needless to say, there were more little mignardises after this of chocolate truffle with buckwheat and caramel, white chocolate fudge with black truffle and a canelli with praline and almond.
We love the Ledbury, and while we adored almost everything. There was a little bit too much fat in the meal for us. Perhaps it was just two nights in a row that made us a little bit overdosed.
The service here is truly remarkable and the staff are so kind and sweet... We know that we will be back again.
