Grill Room at The Dorchester

Take their Afternoon Tea very seriously, with 3 types of Afternoon Tea to choose from including Champagne and regular tea themed events such as The Mad Hatters Tea Party.

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t is important to note that chef Aiden Byne has announced that he will be leaving the Dorchester to set up his own restaurant (Church Green Pub) in Cheshire in January 2009. Hence you should regard the notes below as being primariliy of historical interest.

*****

Let’s get the decor out of the way: it is hideous. I’m not sure what the interior designer was smoking when he thought it was a good idea to have ten foot tall murals of highlanders in kilts on the walls, but whatever it is I‘d like to try some. Fortunately, the food is an altogether different matter. Aiden Byrne was head chef at Tom Aikens and has previously worked at the Commons in Dublin, so has a strong track record that soon dispels the visions of flailing kilts. So read on.

Other than the walls, the dining room design is, well, pretty odd. There is a thick blue carpet with red pattern, and the upholstery is mostly tartan, which is nothing if not consistent. Some of the chairs have what can only be described as red bedsteads behind them. That’s the last I will say on the decor.

The menu is firmly rooted in British tradition. The starters are generally the most interesting dishes, with interesting dishes still based on classic ingredients, as we shall see. The main courses are mostly very traditional e.g. Angus beef with Yorkshire pudding carved at the table. In between these hotel classics are more interesting fare, such as pan-fried line caught sea bass with red wine pearly barley. Starters are £16 - £19.50, main courses mostly £26, with a few costlier items e.g. grilled Dover Sole at £42. The win list is well put together, and kinder on prices than you might expect at a posh hotel. There are nine reds and nine whites by the glass e.g. St Aubin La Fontenotte 2005 was £13.50. I was impressed by the “30 wines under £30 section”, giving relief to those not on expenses, and something that many other London restaurants should consider copying. Cuvee Frederich Emile 1999 was £82 (retail price £39.50), Jermann Vintage Tunina 2005 was £80 (retail price around £23) and the superb Alion 2001 was £95 (retail price £27.75 if you look hard enough, but can be £38 or more) to give an indication of mark-ups. Sommelier Jason McAuliffe, who for many years was at Chez Bruce, was knowledgeable and friendly.

Bread is home-made, already more than Gordon Ramsay can manage. Slices of walnut and raisin bread, sun-dried tomato bread, onion bread and Stilton bread have uniformly good texture, good taste and careful seasoning: the Stilton bread was an enjoyable surprise, the potentially crushing flavour of the Stilton present but held in check (comfortably 7/10). I began with a chicken liver parfait on a sliver of melba toast, atop a potato soup with a couple of pieces of chicken in the centre of the dish. The best element of the dish for me was the chicken liver parfait, which had lovely smooth texture and full taste; the soup was good but could have been a little warmer. I suspect this was because bringing together the various elements of the meal at the last moment makes plating a logistical challenge. However still just about 6/10 due to the fine parfait.
A pair of scallops were high quality and pan-fried perfectly, served with a parsley sauce, a little duxelle of mushrooms, caremelised onions and “scallop tripe” braised in red wine which had a pleasing hint of saltiness. The parsley sauce showed string technique, the flavour coming through cleanly (7/10). Next was braised chicken, potato and truffle cannelloni, crispy potato stuffed with potato soup and a sliver of potato crisp. I was very impressed with the mousse of potato, chicken and truffle, which had very well balanced flavours. This was complemented by a drizzle of red wine reduction. Perhaps something with a little offsetting acidity would have been beneficial, but this was still a very enjoyable, if rich, dish (7/10). Foie gras was pan fried and smoked, served with white onion and Parmesan custard and shallot ravioli, resting in a chicken and shallot jus. The ravioli were nicely scented with thyme and added an interesting note to the richness of the foie gras. Conceptually, an element with acidity would have helped offset the richness of the dish, but it is hard to argue with the flawless execution of the dish (7/10). In some ways even more impressive was a simple cold soup of beetroot, with a little vodka jelly and lime. The beetroot used was partly cooked and partly raw, and what worked very well was the perfectly judged element of sweetness to offset the tartness of the beetroot. To make it takes more skill to make something dazzling out of a humble ingredient like beetroot than a foie gras and truffle dish, so to me this dish showed real talent (good luck finding a beetroot soup of this quality in Poland, say). For me this was 8/10 level, simple yet striking.

At this point Stella had a pumpkin tart on filo patsry, with Parmesan and truffle, alongside an intense pumpkin soup (6/10). I had an original dish, wild sea bass that was very thin indeed as a base, on top of which was pearl barley cooked with red wine, parsley foam and confit of garlic. To get the sea bass so thin it is cooked fresh then frozen, and then sliced, so thin it takes just seconds to cook. This was a very original dish, the earthiness of the pearly barley and garlic working well with the sea bass (a strong 7/10).

I had Bresse pigeon, the breast cooked sous vide, very tender indeed. This was on a bed of choucroute, with leg of pigeon boned and stuffed with pigeon liver, as well as pigeon mousse and a slice of ventreche, with an intense reduction of cooking juices. The high quality technique here again was evident, the various elements of the dish cooked beautifully, marred only by some inconsistency in temperature of the elements (again a symptom of over-complexity making plating difficult). Still 7/10, which would have been a point higher if the dish had been a little simpler and served at uniform temperature. Pre-dessert was custard panacotta, cleverly paired with apple sorbet and rhubarb foam to give some acidity, and a few biscuit crumbs to give a texture contrast (6/10).

Roasted figs were served with good honey ice cream and lemon posset mousse. The posset itself was a little too solid and needed a touch more lemon (5/10). Roasted prunes were prettily presented with parfait of prunes, a chocolate tube with Armagnac mousse, porridge beignet and almond foam in a sugar casing. I liked the prune parfait, but this was another dish with one too many flavours for its own good, while there are more fun beignets than porridge (5/10).

Coffee was good, served with pleasant passion fruit jelly, good rum baba and a nice chocolate macaroon. Service under restaurant manager Daniel Pawelek was uniformly attentive and slick, and dishes arrived at an even pace.

Overall this was a most impressive meal, combining high quality ingredients, inventiveness (as with the sea bass) and excellent technique. My only comments would be that dishes at times were more elaborate than necessary, and the odd green vegetable would have balanced some of the richer dishes. Desserts were pleasant but below the level of the rest of the meal. Overall, though this was comfortable 1 star Michelin level cooking, and a far more enjoyable meal than at Ducasse just across the corridor. If you could have starters and main courses here and pop across to Ducasse for dessert only then you would have a really fine experience. To me Aiden Byrne is clearly one of the most gifted chefs operating in London today.

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