This was one restaurant I was very excited about, for Christmas I bought my best friend, Jayne a weekend away in London and included in that was a three course meal at Marco Pierre White's Steak & Ale House restaurant in Bishopsgate. We were very excited as I have heard very good things about this place.
It was good from the offset, there are two locations of this restaurant: Bishopsgate and Chelsea - we accidentally got the tube to the wrong one, so we rang the main switchboard and they were so helpful, they managed to get us swapped over to the restaurant in the location where we were - I thought this was amazing of them and such a lovely thing to do and we were only round the corner, so it was perfectly convenient!
The location is down a very quiet street and almost off the beaten track slightly but it looks smart and modern from the outside and we were very excited to get in and eat!
The menu actually had lots of choice, 4 different starters, 4 different mains and 4 different desserts, as well as a few cocktails to choose from. This I thought was very impressive as sometimes set menus aren't very varied but this was an exception.
Passion Jazz - vodka, passionfruit, apple and champagne
These are usually £10.50 so this was a definite bargain! And, it was delicious. Passion fruit is one my favourites anyway and especially when you put it in a cocktail, perfection. It was incredibly tangy and tasty and had the lovely hint of bubbles as it went down, champagne is the way to a girls heart you know! I would like to try the others but at £10.50, we decided to just have the one.
Onto the food, it was a hard decision on the starters - I could've eaten all four of them! They change on a weekly basis, therefore I haven't got a list of the 4 that were on our particular menu but Jayne went for the Potted Duck - which looked yummy and she seemed very happy. I went for something different,
Kipper Paté with Whisky and Melba Toast
I liked the plate it was served on, very good eye for detail. It was presented very well too and looked good on the plate. Three Quenelle shaped fish paté portions, lovely and the taste was very good, the kipper wasn't too overpowering and was incredibly smooth, there is nothing more exciting than smooth paté so I loved this. The melba toast was nicely crispy and helped the kipper loveliness go down. My only criticism, and its a small one is that I would like more melba toast with it because I like a small amount of paté on a big amount of melba toast - but this is only a minor thing and I understand that it was a set priced menu, it was delicious!
8oz Rump Steak served with Café de Paris butter; Peppercorn or Béarnaise Sauce
Another slight downside is you need to pay for your own sides which are £4.00 each - so not the cheapest but I understand thats how these set menus work. We went for:
Seasonal Veg
Triple Cooked Chips
& Crispy Onion Rings
Again, loved the detailing plates - very nice touch and the steak looked beautiful on the plate AND it was, it was cooked to my perfection - medium rare and it was so tender and juicy, it melted in the mouth with every bite. The butter on it was so tasty too and complimented the steak perfectly - the sides, again were so good. The chips were amazing! So crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, the onion rings were also very good and the veg, WOW. I love honey roasted veg and this was exceptional - thinly cut carrots and parsnips coated in a small amount of honey, they were al-dente and sweet. Delicious. Such a good main course and I could've eaten it 5 times over. Perfection on a plate in my eyes.
We were given the menus back to decide on dessert, again another hard decision and there were some lovely desserts on the menu but I knew what I had to order, it was a no-brainer.
Again, loved the detailing plates - very nice touch and the steak looked beautiful on the plate AND it was, it was cooked to my perfection - medium rare and it was so tender and juicy, it melted in the mouth with every bite. The butter on it was so tasty too and complimented the steak perfectly - the sides, again were so good. The chips were amazing! So crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, the onion rings were also very good and the veg, WOW. I love honey roasted veg and this was exceptional - thinly cut carrots and parsnips coated in a small amount of honey, they were al-dente and sweet. Delicious. Such a good main course and I could've eaten it 5 times over. Perfection on a plate in my eyes.
We were given the menus back to decide on dessert, again another hard decision and there were some lovely desserts on the menu but I knew what I had to order, it was a no-brainer.
Creme Brûlée
Mmmmm. My mouth is watering just writing this blog post. I love this dessert, its very rich but not too heavy after a big meal. This one was delicious, hard and crunchy on the outside but as the spoon hit the outer shell the smooth creme oozed out and it was the perfect blend of sweet and rich tasting caramel. Every mouthful was yummy… I loved it!
A very good experience, 10/10 from me - the service was faultless, the waiting staff were very helpful and attentive. The food was delicious from start to finish and the whole experience was lovely. I would definitely go back - especially when buying it through the Virgin Experience Days as we got to go The Shard afterwards and this was such good fun! Beautiful views across London. Spectacular day and I was now very excited for the next day, The Savoy - Gordon Ramsey! Definitely a very foodie weekend.
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