GAUTIER RESTAURANT

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  • Myself, Aviva and James went to 'Gautier' - a French Restaurant in Soho, London in March 2014, and decided to have their 'Tasting Menu'. The various menus at this restaurant can be served with either wine or 'flights of tea' - I have not encountered the latter before and thought it to be a real innovation - imagine having a different tea with each course! Like most high class restaurants now, 'Gautier' serves both a 'normal' menu and a vegetarian menu - we chose the 'normal' menu with a few minor alterations. The dishes we chose were:-
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  • Cauliflower Velouté Truffle Parmesan  - Fig 1

  
  
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• this was a beautiful creamy, thick soup poured around thin slivers of truffle which was topped with Parmesan - really yum!
• Duck Foie Gras - Royal Gala Apples, Muscat Grapes Cider Reduction - Fig 2

 

 

 

• This consisted of two slices of foie gras set on royal gala apple slices with a muscat grape cider reduction all around.

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  Black Winter Truffle Acquarello Riso Aged Parmesan - Fig 3
  
  
  

  
  
  
  This was a most beautiful risotto - all creamy and absolutely full of flavour. It had small pieces of black truffle and aged Parmesan cheese on top.
  
  
  Halibut with Purple Artichoke, Fondant Fennel Confit Tomatoes, Basil Aromatic Jus - Fig 4
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  Whilst good, this was the least enjoyable of all the dishes. It consisted of a small fillet of Halibut, pan fried and served on the above garnishes.
  
  Welsh Lamb -  Pink Roasted Loin, Thyme Braised Lamb Shoulder, Herb and Parmesan Celeriac and Lamb Jus - Fig 5

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  A mixture of lamb loin and rolled lamb shoulder - this was an exciting dish especially with all the trimmings and garnishes.
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• A selection of Unpasteurised French Cheeses - Garnishes and Biscuits - Fig 6

   
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• Three pieces of different French cheeses served with crackers and oat biscuits. I know that this is not a 'big deal', but with me personally, but I really can't see the advantage of serving cheese at this stage of the meal. The cheese is very filling, and for me, it takes away the enjoyment of eating and enjoying the desserts.
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• Yorkshire Rhubarb -  Rhubarb Compote and Lemon Pepper Lime and Mascarpone - Fig 7
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• This, in my opinion was the best dish of the evening! It consisted of small pieces of rhubarb, with small fragments of all the other garnishes intertwined - it was just lovely.

Williams Pear Millefeuille Cider Ice Cream and Vanilla Chantilly - Fig 8

This consisted of two layers of millefeuille with a vanilla Chantilly cream between and a slice of stewed Williams pear.


Dark Chocolate Golden Louis XV Dark Chocolate and Praline - Fig 9
 

 

This beautiful dessert was also extremely rich. It consisted of a flat cylinder of dark chocolate praline on a hazelnut base, all with some gold leaf on the top. It was luscious!

 

We finished off with some delightful chocolate creams, and a very good night was had by all!.

MAZE RESTAURANT IN LONDON

I have been to the 'Maze' in Melbourne, Australia on a number of occasions, and have found it to be a really fantastic restaurant - both for the creativity and standard of food presented and also the moderate prices involved. These visits came to a halt as a result of disagreements between Gordon Ramsey and the other partners in that restaurant. 

My daughter and son-in-law who live in England had never been to 'Maze', so on the current visit to London in 2014, I found it a perfect opportunity to take them to 'Maze'. We decided to go for lunch and have the lunch special deal, which is very similar to the deal that 'Maze' had in Melbourne - of a total of four dishes for £30. There were seven dishes to choose from in the savoury section of the menu -

Spiced pumpkin velouté, salt pollock, lemon yoghurt,
Duck and foie gras terrine, rhubarb, Sauternes gel,
Smoked mackerel, beetroot, horseradish, mandarin vinaigrette,
Crispy chicken thigh, charred baby gem, turnip, lettuce mayonnaise,
Sea bream, enoki mushroom, seaweed, ginger, dashi,
Steamed pork bun, sweetcorn and fried onions,
Lamb belly, cauliflower and spiced lentils.

and two dishes to choose from in the sweets -

Clementine parfait, clove ice cream, hazelnut, Cointreau gel,
Chocolate and peanut bar, caramelised banana.

My daughter, Aviva and I had duck and foie gras terrine, rhubarb and Sauternes gel - Fig 1 - this was a very rich dish and while it was very tasty - neither of us could see exactly why the rhubarb was present on the dish?

James, my son - in - law had chicken Crispy chicken thigh, charred baby gem, turnip, lettuce mayonnaise - Fig 2 - which he felt was very good.

Next we all ate Sea bream, enoki mushroom,seaweed, ginger, dashi - Fig 3 - the sea bass was just perfectly cooked and the Asian sauce was truly delightful.

The third dish we all had was Lamb belly, cauliflower and spiced lentils - Fig 4 - it was simply sublime!

For desserts, I had Clementine parfait, clove ice cream, hazelnut, Cointreau gel - Fig 5

whilst Aviva and James had the Chocolate and peanut bar, caramelised banana - Fig 6.

We all teamed this up with a glass of Dr Loosens Riesling which was just beautiful. So all in all, we had a truly wonderful lunch experience.