During our visit to London we ate at 3 of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants.

Number one on our list was Gordon Ramsay @ Claridges. Located, obviously, in Claridges Hotel on the corner of Davies and Brook Streets, a short stroll from Oxford Street and New Bond Street. On Thursday we decided we would go for lunch and booked for Friday lunch. We had the option of a la carte or 3 set menus for our lunch, we ended up choosing the 5 course lunch for £40 with matching wines for an additional £17 (around A$88 total).

The dining room is in a classic, glamourous Art Deco style with colours of light creams and peaches, silver gilding and mirrors galore. Staff are all in pristine black and white and their service standards were exceptional. As R and I were trying not to have any Australian or New Zealand wine on our trip, upon noticing one antipodean wine on the matching wine list, we asked if they would mind swapping it for something else, which they did with no problems.

First to come out was a canape, followed by the first course an  amuse bouche of pea soup, light and refreshing….

Pea soup Amuse Bouche

Second course was some Scottish salmon. I am not much of a fish eater(unless it is sushi and sashimi) but I had to try some Scottish salmon, mainly because I used to love reading about the Queen Mother still salmon fishing in the Scottish rivers in her 80’s.

Ceviche of Loch Duart salmon with avocado, ginger, ruby grapefruit and coriander

Third course was a very luscious and rich terrine. This was the start of a trip that contained a LOT of foie gras.

Pressed foie gras, confit of rabbit and smoked duck with green beans, pickled shimeji and spring truffle

Fourth course was a lovely slow cooked veal breast with celeriac and watercress. It is lovely to see an under utilised cut of meat being done in really well.

Veal with celeriac and watercress

Then our scrumptious pre-dessert which would make a wonderful dessert in it’s own right.

Pre-dessert Mango jelly, pannacotta, passionfruit granita

And finally the dessert. We saw a couple of these come out to other tables while we were having our lunch. All we saw though was the chocolate dome as it went past. When we were served ours, the dome looked huge, about the size of an inverted, medium mixing bowl. The waiters place the bowl in front of you and then they pour warm chocolate sauce in the centre of the dome which subsequently melts to reveal the hidden surprise of chocolate mousse, ice cream and house made honeycomb. OMG it was amazing. Dark chocolate in a dessert is a winner every time.

Dark chocolate with a honeycomb sphere and milk chocolate sauce

After dessert we had a glass of champagne and then were asked if we would like to tour the kitchens and finish our champagne in the lounge, a subtle way of moving us from our table so they could reset it. Of course we ran in to an Aussie chef while being shown the kitchen. An amazing coincidence was that he used to drink at the club where I currently work. We asked where we could get a good burger and he pointed us in the direction of Gordon Ramsay’s latest  restaurant Bread Street Kitchen(more later). I was quite amazed at the number of chefs in the kitchen. I think there were about 8-10 on the cold side, 8-10 on the hot side and maybe 5 on the dessert section.

So should you happen to be feeling like a great lunch in one of London’s classic hotels don’t pass up Gordon Ramsay @ Claridge’s. Well worth having a meal at.

Be aware that the best time to dine at any of the big name restaurants in London or for that matter anywhere in the world is lunch time. You will usually find set lunches at great prices and much cheaper than if you go for dinner.

Thanks for stopping by!