Gordon Ramsey, Royal Hospital Road

Bear with me, as this is a really long post, but I felt I needed to write everything down so that I can remember it. This was my first Ramsey and my first three Michelin star. In fact we have only eaten at a one star place before, Club Gascon.

I have been looking forward to this since long before we finally got a table, booked on 26 November 2008, i.e. exactly two months before we actually went. The excuse was R’s 30th birthday, and he knew nothing about it until we got to the door! I actually can’t believe that I managed to keep it a secret, as I was so excited!

It started the day before though, as I had asked my father to download the wine list for me and help me choose. He knows masses more about wine than I do, and even he said it was a difficult list as there was so much he didn’t recognise. We eventually went for a Gigondas, which came in about the right budget and I was pretty sure R would like.

So we walked over to Chelsea via Battersea Park, which was a lovely start. R did look at me a bit funny when I told him he had to wear a shirt and jacket to go for a walk, but he knew we were going somewhere for lunch.

The outside is very understated, and I might have walked past it if I hadn’t known where it was. Once through the door you walk along a corridor, which has wide-ish slits in it which show the view through into the dining room. On entering small bar we had out coats taken off us and then despite being a bit early (I over-estimated the walking time through a pathological fear of being late – I HATE being late!) we were shown straight to our table.

I knew the room was quite small, but it was definitely even smaller than I was expecting. The décor was very neutral, mostly cream with black touches and a grey carpet. I liked the fact that we were on a round table at the edge of the room, and it was set up so that we were sat the perfect compromise between sitting opposite each other and next to each other. This meant we could both see the room and each other, something R particularly appreciated as normally I get the view of the room (but he gets to look at me!).

Another good touch was once we had our champagne the maître d asked who was going to be hosting the table. This meant that I could treat R, and he got the menu with no prices on! I also got the wine list, and once I had ordered the wine it was brought to me to try. This sounds obvious, but you have no idea the number of times that I have ordered the wine and R has been given it to taste. It’s particularly annoying when he isn’t even at the table when I order and the bottle is then shown to him – how would he even know it is the right one?

We had the set lunch, as even for a special birthday we couldn’t stretch any further. This meant three courses for £44, with three options for each course. We decided we couldn’t possibly have the same thing, and R chose first as it was his birthday.

The first thing to arrive was some lovely bread, from which we both chose the potato and rosemary. There was also a choice of salted or unsalted butter, moulded into beautiful shapes.

Next was an amuse bouche. In front of us was presented a small raviolo stuffed with cream cheese and truffle on a bed of finely diced vegetables. The around this was poured a pumpkin veloute. The pumpkin was so smooth and intensely flavoured, although I got more of the truffle taste from the veloute than the raviolo. A lovely start though.

My starter was a crab and king prawn tortellini, with a lemongrass and chilli consommé. The pasta was beautifully light, and surrounded a mass of tasty crab and prawn. The textures of this were great, and then the consommé was incredibly light with the flavours from the lemongrass and chilli managing to be powerful without being overwhelming. R had artichoke and apple salad with chicken liver and foie gras croute. Again, this was a beautiful contrast of flavours and textures.

For main course I went for the milk-fed slow cooked pork belly, with pancetta, apple and chicory and a Madeira jus. The tart sweetness of the apple cut beautifully through the fatty pork, and in turn contrasted with the bitter chicory. The pancetta added some much needed crunch. This was a lovely dish, with the pork cooked so slowly it was melting, and just the right counterpoints from the other ingredients.

I didn’t try R’s braised Angus shin of beef with horseradish pomme puree, stuffed ceps and red wine jus, but he certainly seemed to be enjoying it, and it all disappeared. He did make me try the mash though, which was amazing. It almost disappeared in your mouth, leaving the horseradish taste behind. I made R laugh by calling it horseradish flavoured clouds, but honestly that is what it felt like!

We then had cheese, which was R’s choice. There was no way he was going to be able to resist when the cheese trolley kept being wheeled past us. It was rather odd being told the name of what turned out to be English cheese by a French waiter, as we were expecting them to be French and kept making him repeat himself. If we weren’t such regulars at Neal’s Yard I’m not sure we would have identified some of them. They were beautifully kept, and I loved the Muscat grapes that were served with it, and there was a great selection of biscuits and bread.

I’d had my eye on the chocolate and lavender tart with toasted milk mousse and milk ice cream since we had been given the menus, and R allowed me to have first choice of dessert. The first thing I noticed was the beautiful presentation. On one side of the plate there were three very thin strips of chocolate on the plate, each with a lavender flower at the top – really cute. Then OMG the tart. The filling was just at that point of not knowing whether it was solid or liquid and was incredibly chocolaty and smooth, and the pastry was meltingly soft with just enough texture to give you something to crunch. The toasted mousse on top worked well with the intensity of the chocolate, but I wasn’t very keen on the milk ice cream.

R had banana parfait with passion fruit and salted caramel ice cream. I loved the ice cream on its own, although it was right on the edge of being too much, and too powerful for an ice cream. I should then have stuck to my guns and not tried any more, as I am not the biggest fan of banana. However, R insisted, and I have never come so close to having to spit something out! That’s just my taste though, and R thought it was great.

By this time we were totally stuffed, and had been in the restaurant for two and a half hours. We had coffee as we tried to summon the energy to leave, and with it arrived the most amazing truffle tree. The truffles were silver, and stuck on spikes – really clever presentation. And then just when we thought we were done another petit four arrived in the form of a canister flowing with dry ice, containing strawberry ice cream enclosed in white chocolate. Finally a little scoop of the most intense raspberry sorbet was presented with a candle in it, for R!
Yes, it was expensive, but totally worth it for the quality of the food and the attentive service. It was an experience that took up the whole afternoon, and we really enjoyed it. I also think the chocolate tart was probably the best thing I have ever eaten, and I am dreaming of it as I type. Hopefully some time I will get the chance to try it again.