At 1.30pm the dining room was busy with approximately 2/3 of the restaurant's 50 covers occupied and with all but 2 tables in use.
I started with a glass of the naturally sparkling “Il Brut and the Beast" from a cooperative/commune in the Piemonte and a small bowl of pork scratchings "to keep you occupied" while reading the menu (eat them quick as the bowl is cleared along with the amuse).
I ordered from the set menu which offers three courses for £34.99 (or £43.45 with bundled extras). It should be noted that choice is somewhat reduced if you want to stick inside that budget, two items required supplements of £5, and that a simple bottle of water will also add £5 to your bill. Service of 12.5% is added automatically too. Still, bearing in mind Hibiscus' two Michelin Star status, and that it's one of just four restaurants in the UK to be in The World's Top 50 Restaurants 2011, the prices are ok. Two star L'Atelier Joel Robuchon is cheaper, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay more expensive.
An amuse of hibiscus soda starts the meal with a novel note. Bread is excellent so go for it (portion sizes are not huge, the experience is about creativity first and foremost) - you'll still have room for dessert. I started with quenelle of pike which is served with a little drama as the waiter pours the sauce. The quenelle was impressive and the tiny onion note a well judged counterpoint (I refuse however to call three tiny slivers of onion a 'salad' as the menu does). Next up was pork belly which is described as 'cooked in hay'. That may be but there's clearly more magic than that going on to create what is probably the best pork belly I've ever eaten (and I order pork belly a lot). For a terrible moment on first bite I feared the dish was under seasoned, but no, the secret is that you have to eat the peas Parisienne along with the pork not separately. The fat on top is unbelievable, cracking under the gentlest of pressure and so damn tasty. My suspicion was that the pork belly was confit style at first but on reflection... I think it was something other than that. Some improbable kitchen magic that I imagine involving tweezers and a blow torch.
I started with a glass of the naturally sparkling “Il Brut and the Beast" from a cooperative/commune in the Piemonte and a small bowl of pork scratchings "to keep you occupied" while reading the menu (eat them quick as the bowl is cleared along with the amuse).
I ordered from the set menu which offers three courses for £34.99 (or £43.45 with bundled extras). It should be noted that choice is somewhat reduced if you want to stick inside that budget, two items required supplements of £5, and that a simple bottle of water will also add £5 to your bill. Service of 12.5% is added automatically too. Still, bearing in mind Hibiscus' two Michelin Star status, and that it's one of just four restaurants in the UK to be in The World's Top 50 Restaurants 2011, the prices are ok. Two star L'Atelier Joel Robuchon is cheaper, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay more expensive.
An amuse of hibiscus soda starts the meal with a novel note. Bread is excellent so go for it (portion sizes are not huge, the experience is about creativity first and foremost) - you'll still have room for dessert. I started with quenelle of pike which is served with a little drama as the waiter pours the sauce. The quenelle was impressive and the tiny onion note a well judged counterpoint (I refuse however to call three tiny slivers of onion a 'salad' as the menu does). Next up was pork belly which is described as 'cooked in hay'. That may be but there's clearly more magic than that going on to create what is probably the best pork belly I've ever eaten (and I order pork belly a lot). For a terrible moment on first bite I feared the dish was under seasoned, but no, the secret is that you have to eat the peas Parisienne along with the pork not separately. The fat on top is unbelievable, cracking under the gentlest of pressure and so damn tasty. My suspicion was that the pork belly was confit style at first but on reflection... I think it was something other than that. Some improbable kitchen magic that I imagine involving tweezers and a blow torch.
At around this point bearish Claude Bosi toured the dining room, a touch I've always admired in French chefs. Dessert was asparagus cream, milk whey, an olive gel, coconut sorbet, and a 'paper' of meringue. The waiter suggested that I 'mix it all up' so that was the approach I took. This dish was the most outré and 'molecular' and while fun, not quite in the same league as the other two courses.
So how is Hibiscus? It's good enough to make you have that internal dialogue - you know the one, the one about which really are the best restaurants in London... After reflection, Hibiscus is right up there. I need to eat there again, the tasting menu, but already I'm thinking that London has an astonishing trinity with Joel Robuchon, Dinner and Hibiscus. It's never been a better time to be a Londoner who likes to eat.
Hibiscus 29 Maddox Street London W1S 2PA
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