After our visit to Core last month, we decided to give the other contemporary champion of the London fine dining scene – The Ledbury – a try. We tried not to make direct comparisons, as each experience is different, but on this level, you expect nothing but perfection.
1st picture – the exterior of the restaurant, being in Notting Hill, an area full of upscale restaurants, you wouldn’t think twice about it if you saw it from the outside
2nd picture – our drink for tonight, a rare label ’06 1er cru Geantet-Pansiot Chambolle-Musigny Les Feusselottes. It’s a lovely Pinot Noir from Cote De Nuit, which opened up as a bowl of fresh wild strawberries and red fruit. With time, it evolved into a silky leathery, earthy medium body, with a bit of spice on the tongue. It has aged so well, and is at the peak of its performance. And we got it for a relative bargain, too.
3rd picture – our menu kicks off with our amuse bouche for the day: a crab tartlet, Iberico Pork Ham, Foie Gras sandwich. Apparently, the ham is produced in-house, when chef Brett imported pigs from Spain and started raising them over Covid. A solid start to our meal.
4th picture – our first course for today: Ike Jime Chalk Stream Trout, with raspberry, cherrry blossom, wasabi, apple marigold. The raspberry water, the English wasabi freshly grated tableside, and the edible flowers the dish got topped off with, all added onto a lovely combination of flavours, where no bite was the same as the previous. So far, the kitchen is putting out banger after banger.
5th picture – second course, Hand Dived Orkney Scallop, asparagus, black perigold truffle, sudachi. They also sprayed a bit of truffle oil onto the dish while serving. The dish was overwhelmingly black truffle, in a good way. I love my umami flavours, and this was a much better combo than it sounds on paper. I’ve definitely been enjoying the cold starters so far.
6th picture – our bread service for tonight, as pictured: rye bread on the left handside, goats cheese, and a lovely brioche with garlic and olives. The bread service was really good! They also provided their in-house rapeseed oil for my girlfriend, as they do not serve olive oil. They also gave us a bag each of rye bread on our way home, that we enjoyed the following day.
7th picture – third course – Veal Sweetbread, with Basque Teardrop Peas, Vadouvan, Kaffir Lime. On top of having actual Basque teadrop peas within the dish, it was topped with a pea sauce, as well. Now, I enjoy veal sweetbread as much as the next guy. Which is why I don’t understand why they had to drown it in pea sauce, when the sweetbread is already a very premium ingredient, succulent and mouth-watering. The dish was overwhelmingly dominated by pea flavours, and while I do get that the focus is to be placed on the peas themselves, I don’t understand why they have to use such a lovely piece of meat as a vehicle for … the sauce? Didn’t really love this dish.
8th picture – the ambiance inside the restaurant, I loved that people were actually talking and the ambient noise was people’s conversations. It made you feel like you are in a restaurant, rather than one of those stuck up quiet fine dining places, which I cannot stand.
9th picture – our fourth course: Native Lobster, razor clam, white asparagus, lovage and mussel barigoule. The added touch of the green strawberries helped cut through the sauce, as they were sour (unripe strawberries after all). I love lobster, but given the small piece of lobster tail, I would have expected more meat, especially after you name your dish after the lobster itself. It felt like an afterthought, so I would say this is just an okay dish.
10th picture – the famed Mushrooms from the cabinet dish, with wild garlic, Jersey royal potato and buckwheat Koji. The dish was also topped by what felt like the same sauce from the veal sweetbread dish, or it was definitely very similar. I liked the raviolo part of the dish, but the rest was just… meh. Also using similar sauces in two dishes in an 8-course tasting menu just feels.. lazy?
11th picture – the mushroom cabinet itself. It’s really interesting to see where they get the mushrooms for the dishes, on your way to the loo.
12th picture – our last main course for today: Wild Berkshire Roe Buck, with cherries, shiso, black olives, liquorice. On the side, we are served deer heart slices, and a deer shoulder dumpling. I really liked the addition of the cherries into the dish, and the plating was definitely gorgeous. The lollipop tasted way too gamey for my liking, though. In the top right corner of the main plate, there was also deer breast confit, which was really tender and tasty. The deer heart tasted like really salty ham, and I really, really liked it. The dumplings were okay. At this point, we were getting quite full and were ready for our desserts. A very conflicting dish, there’s bits about it that I loved, and others that I almost disliked.
13th picture – our first of two desserts: Gariguette Strawberry, 12 year aged balsamic vinegar, nasturtium, fromage blanc, meringue. The balsamic was sprayed onto the dish when served. It was also topped with strawberry granita. Wow. That is a 3 star dish if I’ve ever seen one. The crunchiness of the meringue, the softness of the fromage blanc, the intense strawberry flavours. What a combination. And it looked utterly gorgeous! One of my favourite desserts as of recently.
14th picture – our final dessert for tonight: white peach with jasmine, sake, fig leaf, bee pollen, balsamic vinegar ice cream, green almonds. Now this dish was another interesting combination of flavours and textures. I love white peach, so I was really looking forward to this dessert. The only thing is… it was served at room temperature? By looking at it, you would expect it to be served cold, but it wasn’t. This issue with the temperature left me scratching my head, and a bit disappointed with this dessert overall. The idea was great, though.
15th picture – our petit fours and the end of our meal for tonight: mushroom toffee (wow, delicious!), cake with spiced rum and passionfruit cream, orange jelly, chocolate bonbons with calamansi caramel. I quite liked all of the petit fours, so our dish ended on a high note. The mushroom toffee was stunning, I couldn’t believe it. All in all, a solid finish to a meal of ups and downs.
Now, the service definitely felt like it was at a 3-star level, with some minor hiccups , like us having to ask for the bill twice. They definitely paid attention to detail, and were quick to fold your napkin when you went to the loo, replace it if it fell on the floor, replace your ice as soon as it started melting. The meal itself was very conflicting. Some dishes were absolutely executed to a 3-star level, while others were… fine, and a couple really left me questioning the kitchen’s choices. Given this lack of consistency, this begs the question: was the restaurant promoted too soon? I can definitely see the potential, and would say that the meal was at the same level of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay’s. It would make for a really solid 2-star restaurant, but I am not sure if I would rate it at 3 stars myself. In comparison, Clare Smyth’s kitchen feels miles ahead of anything else in London. Thanks for reading my review and please share your experiences from The Ledbury, as well.
TheRealVinosity on
I used to go at least once a month, when it was a one star. On Sundays I’d wear shorts and t-shirt and flipflops (like a lot of the crowd, at the time). When it gained a second star, I did smarten up a bit, with closed shoes and long pants; and also reduced my frequency to about once every two months.
Have yet to go in its three star incarnation; and, given the issues that you have described, would still not be put off, next time I’m in London.
I do miss the days of the bacon brioche and beetroot/foie gras macaron, though.
sweetdeet88 on
Thanks for sharing! It’s been on my list to get to for quite some time, I should’ve gone while it was still a 2*. Agreed that Core is simply beyond anything else in London.
3 Comments
After our visit to Core last month, we decided to give the other contemporary champion of the London fine dining scene – The Ledbury – a try. We tried not to make direct comparisons, as each experience is different, but on this level, you expect nothing but perfection.
1st picture – the exterior of the restaurant, being in Notting Hill, an area full of upscale restaurants, you wouldn’t think twice about it if you saw it from the outside
2nd picture – our drink for tonight, a rare label ’06 1er cru Geantet-Pansiot Chambolle-Musigny Les Feusselottes. It’s a lovely Pinot Noir from Cote De Nuit, which opened up as a bowl of fresh wild strawberries and red fruit. With time, it evolved into a silky leathery, earthy medium body, with a bit of spice on the tongue. It has aged so well, and is at the peak of its performance. And we got it for a relative bargain, too.
3rd picture – our menu kicks off with our amuse bouche for the day: a crab tartlet, Iberico Pork Ham, Foie Gras sandwich. Apparently, the ham is produced in-house, when chef Brett imported pigs from Spain and started raising them over Covid. A solid start to our meal.
4th picture – our first course for today: Ike Jime Chalk Stream Trout, with raspberry, cherrry blossom, wasabi, apple marigold. The raspberry water, the English wasabi freshly grated tableside, and the edible flowers the dish got topped off with, all added onto a lovely combination of flavours, where no bite was the same as the previous. So far, the kitchen is putting out banger after banger.
5th picture – second course, Hand Dived Orkney Scallop, asparagus, black perigold truffle, sudachi. They also sprayed a bit of truffle oil onto the dish while serving. The dish was overwhelmingly black truffle, in a good way. I love my umami flavours, and this was a much better combo than it sounds on paper. I’ve definitely been enjoying the cold starters so far.
6th picture – our bread service for tonight, as pictured: rye bread on the left handside, goats cheese, and a lovely brioche with garlic and olives. The bread service was really good! They also provided their in-house rapeseed oil for my girlfriend, as they do not serve olive oil. They also gave us a bag each of rye bread on our way home, that we enjoyed the following day.
7th picture – third course – Veal Sweetbread, with Basque Teardrop Peas, Vadouvan, Kaffir Lime. On top of having actual Basque teadrop peas within the dish, it was topped with a pea sauce, as well. Now, I enjoy veal sweetbread as much as the next guy. Which is why I don’t understand why they had to drown it in pea sauce, when the sweetbread is already a very premium ingredient, succulent and mouth-watering. The dish was overwhelmingly dominated by pea flavours, and while I do get that the focus is to be placed on the peas themselves, I don’t understand why they have to use such a lovely piece of meat as a vehicle for … the sauce? Didn’t really love this dish.
8th picture – the ambiance inside the restaurant, I loved that people were actually talking and the ambient noise was people’s conversations. It made you feel like you are in a restaurant, rather than one of those stuck up quiet fine dining places, which I cannot stand.
9th picture – our fourth course: Native Lobster, razor clam, white asparagus, lovage and mussel barigoule. The added touch of the green strawberries helped cut through the sauce, as they were sour (unripe strawberries after all). I love lobster, but given the small piece of lobster tail, I would have expected more meat, especially after you name your dish after the lobster itself. It felt like an afterthought, so I would say this is just an okay dish.
10th picture – the famed Mushrooms from the cabinet dish, with wild garlic, Jersey royal potato and buckwheat Koji. The dish was also topped by what felt like the same sauce from the veal sweetbread dish, or it was definitely very similar. I liked the raviolo part of the dish, but the rest was just… meh. Also using similar sauces in two dishes in an 8-course tasting menu just feels.. lazy?
11th picture – the mushroom cabinet itself. It’s really interesting to see where they get the mushrooms for the dishes, on your way to the loo.
12th picture – our last main course for today: Wild Berkshire Roe Buck, with cherries, shiso, black olives, liquorice. On the side, we are served deer heart slices, and a deer shoulder dumpling. I really liked the addition of the cherries into the dish, and the plating was definitely gorgeous. The lollipop tasted way too gamey for my liking, though. In the top right corner of the main plate, there was also deer breast confit, which was really tender and tasty. The deer heart tasted like really salty ham, and I really, really liked it. The dumplings were okay. At this point, we were getting quite full and were ready for our desserts. A very conflicting dish, there’s bits about it that I loved, and others that I almost disliked.
13th picture – our first of two desserts: Gariguette Strawberry, 12 year aged balsamic vinegar, nasturtium, fromage blanc, meringue. The balsamic was sprayed onto the dish when served. It was also topped with strawberry granita. Wow. That is a 3 star dish if I’ve ever seen one. The crunchiness of the meringue, the softness of the fromage blanc, the intense strawberry flavours. What a combination. And it looked utterly gorgeous! One of my favourite desserts as of recently.
14th picture – our final dessert for tonight: white peach with jasmine, sake, fig leaf, bee pollen, balsamic vinegar ice cream, green almonds. Now this dish was another interesting combination of flavours and textures. I love white peach, so I was really looking forward to this dessert. The only thing is… it was served at room temperature? By looking at it, you would expect it to be served cold, but it wasn’t. This issue with the temperature left me scratching my head, and a bit disappointed with this dessert overall. The idea was great, though.
15th picture – our petit fours and the end of our meal for tonight: mushroom toffee (wow, delicious!), cake with spiced rum and passionfruit cream, orange jelly, chocolate bonbons with calamansi caramel. I quite liked all of the petit fours, so our dish ended on a high note. The mushroom toffee was stunning, I couldn’t believe it. All in all, a solid finish to a meal of ups and downs.
Now, the service definitely felt like it was at a 3-star level, with some minor hiccups , like us having to ask for the bill twice. They definitely paid attention to detail, and were quick to fold your napkin when you went to the loo, replace it if it fell on the floor, replace your ice as soon as it started melting. The meal itself was very conflicting. Some dishes were absolutely executed to a 3-star level, while others were… fine, and a couple really left me questioning the kitchen’s choices. Given this lack of consistency, this begs the question: was the restaurant promoted too soon? I can definitely see the potential, and would say that the meal was at the same level of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay’s. It would make for a really solid 2-star restaurant, but I am not sure if I would rate it at 3 stars myself. In comparison, Clare Smyth’s kitchen feels miles ahead of anything else in London. Thanks for reading my review and please share your experiences from The Ledbury, as well.
I used to go at least once a month, when it was a one star. On Sundays I’d wear shorts and t-shirt and flipflops (like a lot of the crowd, at the time). When it gained a second star, I did smarten up a bit, with closed shoes and long pants; and also reduced my frequency to about once every two months.
Have yet to go in its three star incarnation; and, given the issues that you have described, would still not be put off, next time I’m in London.
I do miss the days of the bacon brioche and beetroot/foie gras macaron, though.
Thanks for sharing! It’s been on my list to get to for quite some time, I should’ve gone while it was still a 2*. Agreed that Core is simply beyond anything else in London.