Tuesday, November 5, 2024

London, United Kingdom

BiBi Restaurant


Beetroot dahi puri
yogurt, beets, crunchy crispy stuffed shell

This was a very interesting contemporary creation with a hard shell, difficult to capture in the picture, filled with garbanzo beans. The sweet beet was enjoyable with the yogurt absolutely addicting, the highlight of flavor in my opinion. It was creamy and complex, adding flavor, acidity, and texture.


wookey-hole papad
crispy fried cheese to dip into the refreshing and light mango and chutney yogurt 

The yogurt reappeared in this presentation. The fried strips of cheese were salty and crisp, but simply a mode to allow me to experience the complexity of the sweet, spicy, and creamy layered sauce that popped with color from the bowl.

green chili monkfish

I anticipated a powerful spicy sauce as it was made with chili. Instead, it was restrained, perhaps to not overpower the mild flavor of the fish. I did enjoy the sauce, but a drawback was the thin consistency providing a transient and limited coating to the rest of the plated food, with too much sauce remaining in the bowl due to this.


okra salan 

This okra was clean and simple, soft enough, but not mushy. It was presented on a sauce that was the memorable experience from this plate, a theme from my experience overall. It was enjoyable, but not captivatingly memorable and made me wonder if ordering another dish may have better highlighted the finesse of the restaurant overall as I did not order the dishes touted as being their most popular. 




Mauro Colagreco at Raffles London 

This restaurant felt formal and antiquated. The flavor and textures varied across the meal with some as much more memorable than others. 


mushroom and hazelnut tart and green asparagus tart

The mushroom and hazelnut was a lovely combination of richness and earthy, but sweet, depth providing flavor I wanted to savor slowly.

The green asparagus was crunchy and a thin layer atop the tart, reducing this in being the focal flavor. However, the accompanying apple and sphered cheese was excellent. 


apple tart

Again, this tart was offered as a thin layer, limiting the intensity of the flavor, making it almost too transient in the mouth.


"Lettuce"
salad of red oak lettuce, smoked fish, vermouth sauce

This dish was offered as a highlight on the menu, leading me to anticipate a very memorable experience. The sauce tended to fall to the bottom of the plate rather than clinging well to each bite but the smoked fish was delightful. My experience was memorable for the drawback that the lettuce leaves were awkward to navigate as they were too large to consume without cutting, but were challenging to elegantly manage in delivering from plate to mouth. I found this surprising and mildly confusing.

Beets with salt baked caviar and cream in the background and traditional bread from Argentina in the foreground

The beets were exceedingly delicate in thin strips punctuated with a beautiful rich cream and generously covered in caviar.  Despite their delicacy, the beets were more prominent than the caviar, but a very enjoyable dish to eat. 

lobster and carrot with sauce of ginger bearnaise 

The lobster could not be criticized itself and the béarnaise was a classic representation. However, it absolutely masked the entire dish as it was abundantly dolloped. Had it been served as a light coating or in a side dish to be used at will then the dish would have been even better for my preference. The flavors were all complimentary and balanced! 

duck with kumquat and coffee 

The duck was tender. The kumquat was a triumph of acidity to accompany the rich meat. The coffee added a component of bitterness in a subtle manner. This was enjoyable bite after bite. 

cauliflower dessert 
tonka bean ice cream, pine nut crumble, grilled cauliflower sauce

The desserts were actually the highlights of this dining experience for me. I was enthralled by the choice to serve cauliflower as a dessert. The cauliflower was delicately offered on top of slightly savory ice cream with the earthiness of the tonka bean and pine nuts. It was rich and unique and yet not particularly sweet all at the same time. What a special way to prepare a cauliflower. 

sweet potato dessert 
coffee cream, purple potato ice cream, honey espuma

Although the prior dessert was more unusual and thereby highly memorable, I found the most enjoyment eating this one. The ice creams hidden beneath the thin potato paper were the elegant balance of sweet and savory with mild and delicate sweetness from a honey foam.

mignardises 
pistachio, caramel, ginger, apple

Incredibly clean flavors were offered in each of these bites. There was a balance of crunch to each base with creaminess on the interior, and finally textural elements as toppings. Nothing unexpected, but certainly exquisite classic tastes with perfectly executed form in the details.




Heston Blumenthal

This restaurant has captured the creation of dining as an experience. As a participant, you select the level of information you prefer to be provided, varying from eating and enjoying your meal to exploring the rabbit hole of the intention and ingredients behind each dish. Of course, I opted for the most possible extent of food information as part of my experience, which was optimally given by the person presenting each dish in a clear and entertaining way with each of my inquiries given a very satisfying response.

sourdough bread made with beer instead of yeast

This bread was incredible. It had more complexity in flavor depth while still remaining in the profile of sourdough, but without acidity so much as flavors that illustrated the nuance of dark depth of flavor without a clear singleton flavor rising out as identifiable. Unique. Unusual, Enjoyable. Fantastic. Served with perfect butter. 


hay smoked trout with sorrel, lemon, and gentlemen's relish

The smokiness was mild, but enjoyable. The elevated interpretation of the gentleman's relish spread was addicting in the dollops provided and would have been enjoyed if offered in larger quantity as well. An easy dish to enjoy without much reflection or thought, but clean flavors. 


roast halibut and green sauce with chicory, parsley, pepper, onion, eucalyptus

This green sauce was standout. I wish I would have dared to ask for more. I could have eaten it on nearly anything possible to dip! It was bright like fresh herbs without one flavor overtaking another. The halibut was cooked to perfection, but the sauce was the star of the show. 


tipsy cake basted three times during cooking with spit roasted pineapple

I wanted to enjoy this more than I did, as the description lead me to believe that the cake would be gooey and indulgent. Rather, the pineapple was fairly soft and caramelized, but the cake was fairly dry with a simple sweetness rather than a more dark sugary depth. 


passionfruit 

nicely tart and sweet. perfect texture. fantastically accurate representation true to the fresh fruit




Humo

dried beef

A little something to prepare for the meal! Perfect little bites of beef jerky. Great flavor, but a little dry for my preference, but expected as it was a dried beef presentation. 

brill 6 day aged and cedar smoked with salsify, white sesame, heritage radish and lapsing souchong

This dish highlighted more textural variation than some of the others. The gentle smokiness of the lapsing was detectable with the smoked salsify, delicately in thin slices, only outdone in delicacy by the winding scrolls of brill across the plate, which was primarily a texture rather than flavor for me.



artichoke
black garlic, pecorino, white balsamic 

This may be the most lovely and most memorable artichoke I have ever had. They were tender and deeply flavorful, but pure as a most optimal representation of what artichoke flavor is. However, complimented by the salty pecorino and acidity of balsamic. I was disappointed that the dish did not last longer as it was such a pleasure bite after bite.

scallop 
pear, 20 year aged rum sabayon 

This scallop was absolutely tender like butter. The only complaint was I would have wanted a larger bite! Rather than offered with a creamy butter, the thick accompanying sauce had great depth from the age of the rum custard, which was not overpowering and enhanced by the clean crisp sweetness of pear.  Decadent.


turbot, wild asparagus, carrot, oolong, lemongras, pedro ximenez, shallot ashes

The turbot was perfectly tender, although with a bone found hiding inside. I discovered the carrots to be crunchy and therefore without the sweetness that can come through if more cooked, as well as being a bit difficult to cut without mashing the tender fish. The wild asapargus was a new experience for me to explore, as it was much more nutty and grassy than my association of asparagus flavor. The shallot ash added both texture and flavor, but did not overpower the other tastes. 

passionfruit 

This was another incredibly delightful creation. It was like a custard of the most accurate and soft passionfruit flavor I could imagine without the tart intensity that a passionfruit can deliver, while the experience was elevated by the crunchy brûlée on top. It was not overly sweet, but simply lovely and creamy. My eyes absolutely lit up as I tasted it again and again in tiny spoonfuls lest the treat end too quickly.


chocolate truffle and balsamic caramel filled choux 

This choux was crisp and a perfect mode to deliver a slightly acidic caramel that provided more depth than expected due to the balsamic. Again, balanced in decadence without being cloying. 

The chocolate truffle was perfectly creamy and smooth, but without packing a memorable punch when alongside the other desserts offered. 


grilled chocolate cake

I loved the concept that everything at this restaurant is bouche by fire and hoped for a sense of either roasted, toasted, or smokey flavor. Rather, it tasted like a well made chocolate cake with mildly harder exterior than interior. The server admitted it was "mild", which I would describe as "undetectable" as I would not have any idea that it was cooked over a fire by taste alone. It was cooked on the fire in a pan, which did not impart the essence of grilling to the palate. As with everything at the restaurant, the accompaniments the dish were balanced and enjoyable. 




Me, in my element, tasting cheese with intense focus and delight.

 

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