The place: 29 Maddox Street, London W1S 2PA
The venue: Hibiscus
The food: Modern French
The drinks: Optional glass of wine with Saturday lunch, and a list you might expect in a 2* French restaurant.
We stroll down Maddox Street, stop staring at a closing down sale for golfing item (might need them soon, if we do not want to be social outcasts in the golfing reservation we have now moved to), and the owner chats us up, and tells us that it has never been this bad for business. Well, ought we not to support local business? The Golfman tries to dissuade us from the object of our desire: ‘too expensive’, he claims, while trying to talk us into a beginners set of clubs, a real bargain at £125 – well, the set lunch at Hibiscus still sounds more attractive, thank you very much.
An oak panelled room which feels fresh and informal in spite of a large chandelier. Chef Bosi in the kitchen, with his two stars. All looks set for a promising Mayfair experience, during a London weekend which featured a double culinary bill for us (the other one at Heinz Beck branch at Apsleys – more on this story later). And a very fine experience it was.
The bread is home-made, warm and good – puzzling that it only comes in one variety, though.
The amuse bouche…
The
Raviolo of Scottish scallops and Brixham brown crab, fricassee of Puy lentils, cep veloute’ and coconut milk
And a
Warm Royale of toasted rice and walnuts
Our mains were in different registers.
The
Roast Shropshire partridge with smoked beurre blanc
was in a sense more ethereal despite a general assertiveness, the meat cooked very precisely and melting in your mouth. The broccoli (we think) ‘mousse’ with a on top toasted bread with on top a meaty taste (the lot of which was there, we think, in place of an advertised caramelised Savoy cabbage) a solid, gracious complement. What a pleasant dish, and look at the care for the vibrantly coloured garnishes.
We touched overall more ferine, earthier notes with the pheasant and foie gras pithivier (puff pastry encasing), which we shall nominate the dish of day (read on).
Also two very different desserts.
Iced chestnut parfait, Sharon fruit sorbet
As for the
Dark chocolate tart and white fig ice cream
again, the fruit was muted – the icecream had the perfect consistency, but alas wanting in flavour (why use figs in December?). The pastry in the chocholate tart was the wrong side of firm, but the chocolate filling was truly seductive, intense and rich.
At the end of the meal, some impressive petit-fours appear, together with coffee.
Now, we always have problem with espresso in French restaurant, but this is actually fairly good. Yet, ‘fairly good’ is not enough as an answer… the charming Italian waiter aims at perfection, and insists on bringing us another one to prove he can do better. The second one – well, actually it is the third one, as what we suspect was the second one meets the disapproving eyebrow of the Manager. So, the third one is creamier and attains perfection. The now caffeine-soaked Man looks happy indeed.
The service
Extremely friendly, formal but approachable. A smiling, efficient and smooth Manager in full control, we were taken good care of by an Italian waiter, a sweetie, and he gained brownie points with Man at the moment of coffee…Maybe they could speak slightly louder ad more clearly when describing the dishes.
The low
Nothing in particular, details here and there. The not quite ripe Sharon fruit, some lack of ‘sculpted’ flavours, some defects in the table cloth (e.g. a velcro strip bulging out). All stuff it would be too ludicrous of us to count against Hibiscus except if it has ambitions to perfection.
The high
Warm Pithivier of pheasant and foie gras, roasted root vegetables
The Price
The three course Saturday set lunch with a glass of wine, coffee and petit fours comes at a very attractive £48 per head. Tasting menu for 6 or 9 courses at £75 and beyond.
Conclusion
Chef Bosi produces superbly accomplished cuisine of real finesse all round. Multilayered flavours and complex combinations hang together beautifully. We are not surprised his restaurant holds two stars. In our modest opinion, what the place is missing to reach the absolute top is an absolute precision and definition in flavours that we found missing, compared to other restaurants (e.g., Jasmine or Apsleyes). Having said this, Hibiscus is obviously an obligatory stop for any gourmet in London, a place where you will have a wonderful and relaxed dining experience.
Home
5 comments:
Good to see you are back - I had thought you two had stopped blogging - I really ant to go to Hibiscus and your review has only increased this wish!
Thanks GC, as a matter of fact we have had a period of rest due to life pressures. Only rest from blogging though, not from eating & restaurant going :)
I want to thank you for this blog. We make infrequent visits to London from Derbyshire, and while we are by no means gourmets, we want to make our meals "count". Having found your blog, our last couple of meals have been to Kikuchi (last October) and Hibiscus (yesterday). These were both very successful. We agree completely about Hibiscus - extraordinary precision and definition of flavours and welcome attention to textures. We look forward to trying more of your recommendations.
Welcome Rachel, Derbyshire...Never been to Derbyshire - as we appear to have similar tastes we'll definitely consult you on local restaurants should we happen to be in the vicinities!
Well the only place near here that I would unreservedly recommend would be Fischers at Baslow Hall. We find this a source of delightful, often locally-sourced food in a charming, relaxed environment. They also have a few rooms if the remoteness bothers you!
Post a Comment