theswayuk

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Seven Stars For Seven Park

At Seven Park Place, prepare yourself to feel special.

Beautified in the most gorgeous decor and furnishings, the tiny eatery consists of just nine tables, making it one of the smallest Michelin-starred Restaurants in the world.

It also means that where hotel restaurants are typically scaled towards grander proportions, particularly when you consider the dining rooms within its Mayfair vicinity, Seven Park Place, from in terms of both the service and atmosphere, is refreshingly intimate, warm and most importantly – inviting.

Helmed by Executive Head Chef William Drabble, the menu offers contemporary French fare which changes seasonally to reflect the best of local British produce. Expect refined, beautifully plated dishes like luxurious poached lobster tail with lobster butter sauce and decadent desserts, including their classic tarte tartin. Portion sizes are decent, so go easy on the bread basket here.

And finally, before committing to still or sparkling water, be sure to ask for the water menu. This may sound unusual, but Seven Park Place actually offers a separate water menu with detailed tasting notes so you can choose to peruse a water menu if you wish. Just like how the menu offers an approach to suit every dining style from the 2-course a la carte up to a gourmand tasting menu, you can choose a water with a subtle tinge of sweetness or something that’s lightly sparkling if you wish.

I’m definitely not a water ‘connoisseur’, but it’s a little bit of fun going through so many options!

Not long after we were seated, our amuse bouche arrived consisting of salmon tartare, chicken liver and filled choux pastries. A bread selection soon followed, with several options including one containing raisins and bacon bits – my personal favourite, which was served alongside three butters. Don’t miss the one thats been flavoured with chilli from the Pyrenees which isn’t spicy at all, but adds a rather lovely kick.

For my first drink, I wanted something a little lighter as we were doing matched wines, so the signature cocktail, with its crisp citrus notes, was a perfect option. Taking inspiration from 1857 when St James Club opened, the drink recalls the club’s original vision of welcoming travelling diplomats. Featuring ingredients from all the worlds continents, a sip of the cocktail is meant to take one on a journey around the world.

When it comes to lobster, it’s easy for it to be the star of the show but also equally easy to succumb to the pressure of incredibly high expectations. Without generating too much hype, I’ll keep it simple – it’s a perfectly executed dish that’s well worth the additional £20 supplement. Fresh lobster topped with a luxurious, velvety sauce that’s bursting with umami, this is one of those memorable dishes that you need to order when you’re dining here. Paired with a glass of 2007 Delas Freres Hermitage Blanc Marquise de la Tourette, Franc

If this dish is not in season, it may have been replaced with a variation or something similar so it’s worth asking for a recommendation.

I’m more a savoury person myself, but I thoroughly enjoyed the array of ‘desserts’ here to end the evening. From the pre-dessert sorbet, dessert, home made marshmallows and chocolate selection – everything was a treat.

Their signature dish, the tarte tatin of apple, calvados ice cream and rich toffee sauce was divine, not overtly sweet and another must-order, along with their cheese platter. Though if you were tossing up between the two, definitely go for the tarte tartin. A wonderful way to end the meal.

And if you’re wondering what the gold cup is, they always serve Blue Mountain coffee in a gold cup. Because it’s all about the little details.

Address: 7-8 Park Place Mayfair, London SW1A 1LS

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An Exceptional Restaurant, a Stunning Hotel

“Jack of All Trades, Master of None’, but does it apply to the Hotel and Restaurant Sphere?

Even with separate entrances, The Sway can’t get over the fact that unless you have the lure of a celebrity-chef like Heston Blumental’s Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental, why would you choose a hotel-restaurant? Especially when London’s foodie scene has virtually every whim catered for?

What makes a great dining experience?

For me, the key ingredients of a great dining experience are: the location, the ambiance, the food, service and of course, the company. And in all fairness, Hunter 486 (named after the 1950s dialing code for Marylebone) delivers on all of the above.

Located at The Arch, a boutique luxury hotel near Marble Arch (famed for its 19th century London landmark designed to be the entrance to Buckingham Palace), it’s right at the heart of central London.

As for ambiance, the dining room is lovely and compact, with lots of different areas packed with design-detail. The tables are well laid out with a selection of booths to choose from – and as regular readers of our little food blog will know, The Sway loves a booth – somehow they always add a little extra to the experience.

Another focus to the room is the open kitchen with a visible fire from the stone baked pizza oven on show, that combined with a clever use of sheer curtain particians, allows you to genuinely forget the hotel-restaurant thing.

As for the food, Head Chef, Gary Durrant has created a “Best of British” inspired selection with everything from Dorset crab starters, stone baked racks of lamb mains, though to classics like beer battered haddock. It’s a concise and tasty choice – a menu I could happily revisit as the options were superb.

Googling goat’s cheese

I eventually chose the ‘quinoa, rocket, grilled vegetables Rosary goat’s cheese with basil dressing’ to start, followed by the ‘flat iron steak’ and I’m glad I did. Let’s put it this way I’ve subsequently Googled ‘Rosary goat’s cheese’ and will be buying very soon. It was unbelievably tasty! This left the bar rather high for the steak, but again the flavours were there in abundance. So much so, my only criticism is I wasn’t offered the opportunity to supersize my dishes as I would have added more goat’s cheese and another few grams to the steak.

My wife had a starter of ‘dressed dorset crab, avocado and pink grapefruit’, which went down very well with a glass of crisp ‘Tattinger Rose’. This was followed by the ‘fillet of cod, braised peas, spring onions, air dried ham and mint’ from the stone oven, which was a fantastic mix of light, yet deliciously rich and beautifully complementary tastes.

Hunter’s secret weapon

Not to be undone, the desserts were above par too, ridiculously rich chocolate and a lovely Eton mess.

All simple, classic dishes perfectly executed with one secret weapon yet to be revealed. The library. Where better to round off an evening with an expresso than in the hotel’s quiet, elegant reading room? Now there’s something a normal restaurant doesn’t have.

Hunter 486 at The Arch Hotel London 50 Great Cumberland Place London W1H 7FD

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One of London’s Best Steaks

London’s never had a shortage of choices, but you may very well be spoilt with this one.

The Sway are frequent to the big smoke, but when we were invited to Marco Pierre White’s London Steakhouse City restaurant, the bar was most certainly set high...

An award-winning traditional steakhouse

The London Steakhouse City bills itself as, “an award-winning traditional steakhouse in the heart of the Square Mile, serving a mouth-watering choice of steak cuts and a range of timeless English dishes”.

Archetypal steakhouse dining

Located off Bishopsgate, near Liverpool Street station, the subterranean restaurant looks unassuming from the outside. However, inside you’ll find an archetypal steakhouse dining room complete with wooden floors, nicely arranged tables, ambient lighting, a nice hum-drum of conversation and an impressive collection of Jak illustrations on the walls.

Classic British dishes

The menu is a delight of classic British dishes. The starters range from Grilled Scottish Langoustines, Watercress & Garden Pea Soup though to Chicken Liver Parfait. It really is a wonderful selection and a struggle to choose a single dish. So I opted for the special; Beetroot and Goats Cheese which was exceptional. My partner chose the Finest Scottish Smoked Salmon Plate which was simple and tasty.

The trick to the Steakhouse starters is; they’re not too big. Which is ideal when it comes to the main event, steak. Whilst the fish board and Honey Roast Pork Belly Marco Polo were genuinely tempting, tonight was a carne-fest.

Aubrey Allen butcher to the chefs

For the conscientious members of the London food scene, the source of ingredients is a hot-topic. So I was heartened to learn the steaks at the London Steakhouse are supplied by Master Butcher Aubrey Allen, who recently won us a National Meat Buyer of the Year award for ‘Ethical Sourcing and Animal Welfare’.

So with the help of a full bodied Malbec, I tucked into a 14oz Ribeye and my partner chose the 6oz Centre-Cut Fillet. Both steaks we’re fantastic. Perfectly cooked, perfectly sized, perfectly seasoned. So much so, you really get a sense of why Marco Pierre White was awarded three Michelin Stars.

There’s a simplicity to London Steakhouse. It gets everything just right and it does it in an effortless way. It’s a restaurant that makes you feel comfortable, a comfort I can only liken to dining at Corrigans in Mayfair. So much so, I found myself daydreaming about my next visit, even selecting my next menu choices.

Marco Pierre White may still be the “enfant terrible” of the restaurant scene” but what he has delivers here is a mature, enticing and appetizing steak house packed with flavor. Without a doubt this is one of London’s finest steakhouses and I for one am already looking forward to my next visit.

London Steakhouse Co. City 109-117 Middlesex Street City of London E1 7JF