Two weeks ago, Jon and I revisited Hibiscus to celebrate my birthday. (We were last there in December 2007, soon after Hibiscus arrived in London, and I was reminded of how long it had been since our last visit when I read Tamarind & Thyme’s rave review of her lunch there in December 2009.).
I’d had a horrible day at work and was tempted to cancel our 9 pm reservation. But if you cancel at the last minute, you pay a hefty £75 per person fee, which is understandable, but painful when you’re so exhausted.
So I dragged myself there, and things got off to a bad start when Jon and I were wedged between two tables of men talking dealspeak. Despite my best effort to tune them out, words like “clawback” and “leverage” kept intruding, and I started to feel quite sorry for myself.
A delicious amuse of Moroccan-spiced-froth-in-an-eggshell came and went, as did hot puffs of cheese gougeres. I hardly paid attention, because I couldn’t believe I’d been wedged in Dealmaker Hell. The hazards of eating at a 2-Michelin-starred resto on a Thursday, perhaps.
So I did something I’ve never done before: I asked to be moved. Our servers didn’t ask why – they just moved us. Our new table was an oasis of calm. Much better.
Jon and I had the tasting menu. If I had to generalize, I’d say the courses at the start were more creative and “ooh ahhh” than the ones towards the end, but from start to finish, we had a delicious meal. My initial feeling that I had been coerced by the high cancellation fee into eating an exhaustingly-long meal was quickly replaced by the joy that a well-run restaurant with a creative, talented chef brings.
Our scallop starter with a starchy puree and refreshingly tart gelee had us wondering in awe how anyone (i.e., the chef) can think to combine such startling flavors. Because it was my birthday, I just sat back and enjoyed the ride, so if you’re looking for precise ingredient descriptions, stop reading now.
One dish that still stands out, even two weeks later, was a raviolo stuffed with a poached egg, potato puree and studded with black truffle. First, the technical wizardry . . . how do you get an egg yolk into a raviolo without the whole thing spilling out? (My photo shows the yolk after I’d poked open my raviolo). Second, the flavors – potato, egg yolk and black truffle – an understandably-classic combo. The pungent black truffle’s flavors are absorbed into the yolk and potato puree. Comforting flavors in an elegant package. Brilliant.
If pressed to identify a weak link, I’d single out the duck course, because the duck breast had a few tough-to-chew bits. You know, the kind you chew for a while and then end up trying to gracefully spit out because it just won’t go down. It was an odd problem to have a 2-starred place, which is the only reason I remember it.
Pre-dessert, an apple gelee, celeriac and chestnut parfait was interesting but not anything I’d ever crave. The chestnut layer was too starchy for the parfait to be refreshing.
Desert was tasty and playful and ended our dinner on a high note: a parsnip tart that looked just like a tarte au citron, but instead was wonderfully sweet and salty. The smoked caramel-vanilla ice cream was a dreamy accompaniment.
The dinner tasting menu at Hibiscus is £90, so with a modest wine, coffee and service, our tab totaled about £280. Definitely a special occasion-kind-of-place, and at these prices and after such an inauspicious start, it’s a wonder that Jon and I left the restaurant feeling happy and relaxed. Thank God we’d moved tables with no fuss. I was glad we’d revisited, and we’d be glad to go back.
Hibiscus, 29 Maddox Street, W1S 2PA; 0207 629 2999; closest tube station: Oxford Circus
Ooooh, now I want to go back for their tasting menu! 😀 Definitely for a special occasion though. Happy belated birthday!
Honey, great review but begs the question: WHICH birthday?! Dunno what it is about Hibiscus, but I’ve been twice and can’t say I’d recommend it. IMHO you can’t beat the Greenhouse for a special, delicious meal. Try it! Also, while on Maddox Street you were inches away from my fave Japanese – Sakana-Tei.
xx
I too had a great lunch at Hibiscus. That poached egg looks really fantastic actually. Shame about the bits of fibres within the duck.
Oh and happy belated birthday (if it was yours).
Su-Lin – Thanks for the bday wishes. And just as you want to try the tasting menu, your blog post has let me still wanting to try Hibiscus’s lunch menu.
Mike – Do you really think I’m going to disclose my age? : ) As for your finding Hibiscus a bit ho-hum — it’s true that at times, the dishes are “just” well-executed and tasty, but I think there are enough moments of delicious genius that the place stands out among its Michelin-starred peers. And you’ve reminded me I still need to try out the Greenhouse, which you’ve highly recommended before.
Wild Boar – Yup, we were out for my birthday.
Thursday the 25th? I had dinner at Hibiscus on the 25th for my parner’s birthday. We went a la carte. I had the langoustine followed by the cod, then the souffle (my memory is shocking, I can’t remember the details off hand…..hmmm). I loved my starter, the dessert was great but not super-great, but my main was a little dull. Service was a little tardy to begin with but picked up. We found it quite comical that our waitress had the most ‘outrageous Fronch accont’ and we couldn’t quite work out what she was saying half the time. Bless.
Overall we had a lovely meal, but to be honest, at that calibre of dining I was left a touch underwhelmed. I would rather go back to Pied a Terre or The Square. I think next on the list will be go to Marcus Wareing (went when it was Petrus but it’s meant to be slighly better now). Or The Capital…not been there yet.
And I can thoroughly recommend The Greenhouse as well. For me, the slow-cooked veal cheek I had there was one of the best main courses I have ever had.
How I love fine dining, such a shame it burns a massive hole in the wallet (which is looking very tattered at the moment!)
PK
PK – Thanks for such a detailed comment, which, among other things, prompted me to call Marcus Wareing to see if I could get a booking in a few weeks (no such luck). The Greenhouse sounds like it needs to be next on my list.
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