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See a very recent review by Sonia on Blogghus.
With the closure of Hilaire restaurant in 2001, we lost our favourite local, but when Tom Aikens opened his doors in 2003, we thought we might have found a replacement.
We have visited Tom Aikens a few times now, and each time we have come away more and more perplexed. Tom Aikens is a hugely talented chef, but we can't help feeling that his never-ending ambition leads him into trying just a bit too hard, with the result being that we come away somewhat puzzled by what he is trying to achieve. For us, this is archetypical "confusion cuisine".
On our first visit, the seven-course tasting menu was brilliantly accompanied by wines by the glass chosen by the sommelier, Gearoid Devaney, with the wines coming up absolutely punctually as each course arrived. And the wines all matched brilliantly. It's one of the few places in the world where we would unequivocally place ourselves in the hands of a sommelier. The food itself was first-rate, too, if a little over elaborate, but being in small portions as a tasting menu, the contrasting tastes didn't matter so much. Scallops with cauliflower pureé, sherry jelly and pickled raisins, foie gras with pain d'épices, red onion and apple chutney, apple jelly and pickled shallots and mushrooms, chicken with lettuce ravioli of chicken confit, parsley macaroni, chervil cassonade and Sauternes sauce. Three among the seven dishes of the tasting menu show just how much the lily has been gilded.
Subsequent partakings of the regular menu confirm the over-elaboration of the dishes. Roast scallops with crisp pork belly and pumpkin sauce was one of the simpler dishes sampled, but the crisp (and rather stiff) pork belly did nothing for the scallops. Red mullet fillets with pistachio crumb, Parmesan cassonade and courgette pureé was rather heavy and and greasy with the pistachio crumb coating the fillets like batter - only marginally lighter than that you might find in a fish and chip shop. Roast partridge with pear and truffle purée, roast foie gras and savoy cabbage was marginally overcooked for our taste, but the truffled purée was brilliant and was a perfect accompaniment to the bird, as was the savoy cabbage. But the foie gras was superfluous and what a perpendicular sheet of roasted gelatine did for the dish was a mystery.
With the closure of Hilaire restaurant in 2001, we lost our favourite local, but when Tom Aikens opened his doors in 2003, we thought we might have found a replacement.
We have visited Tom Aikens a few times now, and each time we have come away more and more perplexed. Tom Aikens is a hugely talented chef, but we can't help feeling that his never-ending ambition leads him into trying just a bit too hard, with the result being that we come away somewhat puzzled by what he is trying to achieve. For us, this is archetypical "confusion cuisine".
On our first visit, the seven-course tasting menu was brilliantly accompanied by wines by the glass chosen by the sommelier, Gearoid Devaney, with the wines coming up absolutely punctually as each course arrived. And the wines all matched brilliantly. It's one of the few places in the world where we would unequivocally place ourselves in the hands of a sommelier. The food itself was first-rate, too, if a little over elaborate, but being in small portions as a tasting menu, the contrasting tastes didn't matter so much. Scallops with cauliflower pureé, sherry jelly and pickled raisins, foie gras with pain d'épices, red onion and apple chutney, apple jelly and pickled shallots and mushrooms, chicken with lettuce ravioli of chicken confit, parsley macaroni, chervil cassonade and Sauternes sauce. Three among the seven dishes of the tasting menu show just how much the lily has been gilded.
Subsequent partakings of the regular menu confirm the over-elaboration of the dishes. Roast scallops with crisp pork belly and pumpkin sauce was one of the simpler dishes sampled, but the crisp (and rather stiff) pork belly did nothing for the scallops. Red mullet fillets with pistachio crumb, Parmesan cassonade and courgette pureé was rather heavy and and greasy with the pistachio crumb coating the fillets like batter - only marginally lighter than that you might find in a fish and chip shop. Roast partridge with pear and truffle purée, roast foie gras and savoy cabbage was marginally overcooked for our taste, but the truffled purée was brilliant and was a perfect accompaniment to the bird, as was the savoy cabbage. But the foie gras was superfluous and what a perpendicular sheet of roasted gelatine did for the dish was a mystery.
Desserts were large, and generally complicated, but they were good - particularly the poached pineapple with pineapple crisp and sorbet, which at least kept to the same fruit.
...An earlier meal in the year confirmed the big, over-elaborate dishes and the three-course regular menu certainly filled you up. Still, you might say, it ought to at these prices. Well, actually, the food prices are quite reasonable considering the labour, effort and cost of ingredients, but the wine prices are pretty horrendous. We haven't tried the lunch menu, but it seems good value even for the very limited choice there is on it.
The wine list has a plethora of good names as well as a lot of really good wines that are perhaps lesser known, which shows intelligent researching by the sommelier and his team. The Faugères in magnums is particularly interesting. The wine prices are steep, but the sommelier will guide you to value for money (relative to the prices on the list generally) and the wine-by-the-glass offerings are comprehensively good.
Service is, by and large, excellent - efficient and unobtrusive, just as it should be in an establishment of class.
Overall, we would classify Tom Aikens as a highly ambitious restaurant - aiming for the top, but our impression is that Tom is trying just that little bit too hard to impress. We hope he can take a leaf out of Escoffier's book -"faîtes simple!"
Restaurant Ratings...
Food 42
Winelist 17
Service 8
Ambience 4
Value for Money 10
Total 81
Tom Aikens, 43 Elystan Street, London SW3 3NT.
Tel: 020 7584 2003 Fax 020 7584 2001.
www.tomaitkens.co.uk
Open for lunch and dinner Monday to Friday.
Closed, Weekends and Bank Holidays, 2 weeks in August.
Credit cards: Visa Mastercard, Diners, Amex.
Fixed price menus: £33.00 for three-course lunch and coffee, (Limited in choice and scope.) £65 for three course dinner and coffee. Additional cheese course £10. Tasting menu £80, or with matching wines £140! (must be for the whole table). 12 .5% ‘optional’ service charge to all these prices.
...An earlier meal in the year confirmed the big, over-elaborate dishes and the three-course regular menu certainly filled you up. Still, you might say, it ought to at these prices. Well, actually, the food prices are quite reasonable considering the labour, effort and cost of ingredients, but the wine prices are pretty horrendous. We haven't tried the lunch menu, but it seems good value even for the very limited choice there is on it.
The wine list has a plethora of good names as well as a lot of really good wines that are perhaps lesser known, which shows intelligent researching by the sommelier and his team. The Faugères in magnums is particularly interesting. The wine prices are steep, but the sommelier will guide you to value for money (relative to the prices on the list generally) and the wine-by-the-glass offerings are comprehensively good.
Service is, by and large, excellent - efficient and unobtrusive, just as it should be in an establishment of class.
Overall, we would classify Tom Aikens as a highly ambitious restaurant - aiming for the top, but our impression is that Tom is trying just that little bit too hard to impress. We hope he can take a leaf out of Escoffier's book -"faîtes simple!"
Restaurant Ratings...
Food 42
Winelist 17
Service 8
Ambience 4
Value for Money 10
Total 81
Tom Aikens, 43 Elystan Street, London SW3 3NT.
Tel: 020 7584 2003 Fax 020 7584 2001.
www.tomaitkens.co.uk
Open for lunch and dinner Monday to Friday.
Closed, Weekends and Bank Holidays, 2 weeks in August.
Credit cards: Visa Mastercard, Diners, Amex.
Fixed price menus: £33.00 for three-course lunch and coffee, (Limited in choice and scope.) £65 for three course dinner and coffee. Additional cheese course £10. Tasting menu £80, or with matching wines £140! (must be for the whole table). 12 .5% ‘optional’ service charge to all these prices.
