THE DRINKER
EAT - DRINK - BE MERRY
The Ledbury
May 2010
The Ledbury must have once been a pub, the room is very pub like - well in shape not in decor, it is every inch the two Michelin Star restaurant in style. Even the staff seem well designed, gangs of beautiful Australians, eager, happy, knowledgeable. But then the chef's an Aussie, Brett Graham is not a rising star, he is already at the zenith, you should have heard of him, he's not as shouty as Ramsay, or as sulky as Wareing or as annoying as Blanc, but he's an Aussie and so we should all of heard of him. I suppose we haven't because he's a chef, not a TV personality or (as far as I know) a massive ego in an apron.
I had a cold on Saturday 8th May 2010, so I may not have had the perfect palate for the job. CW was in fine form though, it was her birthday lunch. I am aware that the set lunch option in all of these posh restaurants is not going to give you the all round depth of the a la carte, but needs must, there's a recession on dontchaknow.
The set lunch proved challenging enough mind you. I felt like I was being forced into a culinary corner by the two options for starters. Ceviche of hand dived scallop with seaweed and herb oil, kohlrabi and frozen horse radish (which CW went for) or risotto of wild garlic with Hereford snails. So that, to the layman is raw fish or snails. I went for the snails. Both were very good, the frozen horse radish really got CW, very much her cuppa. My snails were very good, the wild garlic really worked well with them, and felling a bit poorly a risotto was just the ticket.
The main course options were much more straightforward. Salmon or duck. Although this is no ordinary salmon or duck. This is roast organic salmon with colcannon, red wine and bone marrow. And breast of Gressingham duck with peas, oats, sherry and foie gras. All good stuff. Sound delicious and were.
Panacotta with Szechuan pepper ice cream was fantastic, CW had sorbets. All very, very good. I could happily eat here every day of my life and not get bored. The Aussie in charge really should start bigging himself up, a shy Australian - not possible is it?
Check out their website www.theledbury.com
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