Modern British fine dining
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| Jersey lobster ravioli, crab and tomato bisque, shallot |
London just can't get enough of new restaurant openings, but that usually fall into the casual or concept dining restaurants. Ormer Mayfair is riding against the trend, a fine dining restaurant inside the Flemings hotel. Headed up by Shaun Rankin, a talented chef which has a Michelin star at his Jersey restaurant, offering modern British cuisine. Like most fine dining restaurant, the menu offers the usual a la carte choices as well as a tasting menu at £75 per person. This kind of pricing would fall into a 1 Michelin Star territory so my expectation was high. But given the chef's background and merit, I was fairly confident the kitchen could deliver the goods, instead of turning Ormer into just another over priced restaurant inside a posh hotel.
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| Bread |
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| Scallops, bbq leaks, sea herbs |
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| Roast rabbit loin, pancetta, baby gem, girolles, peas |
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| Dover sole, smoked salmon, potato and leek risotto |
The starter of Jersey lobster ravioli was not as good as I was hoping for, the filling, the freshness and quality of the lobster was fine. However, the shallot was just far too powerful and taken away all the settled and elegant flavours from the sweet lobster, it was a rather unbalanced dish. The main course of duck turned out to be very special on the other hand. The meat was moist and seasoned to perfection, the dressing of grapefruit added sharpness to offset the richness of the meat, along with the well executed foie gras. It was really a outstanding dish, it won't look out of place from a 2 Michelin star kitchen. Dessert however could not match the high standard, the plum souffle sourness was very challenging to the palate and rather one dimension in taste.
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| Turbot, pine nut, cockles, cauliflower |
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| Roast duck, foe gras, grapefruit, white cabbage |
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| Baked Alaska |
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| Plum souffle |
The dinner was a mixed affair, some odd ingredients combination that failed to shine, while there was a really special, stunning main course at the same time. Shaun Rankin's ability can not be questioned, each dish involved some very technical skills and the ingredients were generally great. Price wise, it was not the cheapest place, but that was to expected, considering the premium Mayfair location inside a 5 Star hotel. Service was decent but I felt it could be better as the enthusiasm about the food and attention to detail was lacking a bit. Given sometime, I think Ormer can become a real gem, it has the foundation to win a Michelin star without a doubt, it should be interesting to see how it will develop in the next 6 months.
Food 3.5/5
What I paid:
£37 per head with a glass of wine (soft launch offer)
Average cost without drinks and services:
£60
7-12 Half Moon St, London W1J 7BH
http://www.ormermayfair.com/
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