Caroline Thomas
Google
What a magical place. As we arrived we had such a wonderful welcome and walk to our table. They were so personal in their attention and we felt really special. We loved our table in the beautiful courtyard. I didn't know what to expect of the food, but it was really some of the best I've had anywhere in the world. Doing many tasting menus there are many very good that get lost. But I ate things I won't forget. The stand out was the basil risotto. It was perfect. It defied risotto with the intensity and freshness of green basil. The confit tomatoes with 'bonsai' burrata were awesome. It really sang. A close second was the beetroot and and goats cheese, this was superb, intense, tangy, rich, creamy, it burst with flavour. The bread and butter were also intangible umami. The wagyu was divine, but didn't need the also delicious perigeaux sauce. That was sublime with the venison. Dessert of honey miso sang with a salty note. The canele were intense with vanilla. The chef is performing on another level. Everything was beautiful... apart from maybe the Manchego cheese course, which felt out of place. It could either of been cheese or a chef cheese course, it was a hybrid, clunky compared to the rest. Hard to explain, but again not an insult, a sign of the calibre of everything else we had. Finally, the wine, hugely important to us and half our bill. We really enjoyed our interactions with the head somm but he disappeared and was running back and forth with a celebrity table at the back. We had to order our second wine twice. From a different somm, very nice guy too. But the handover affected us. Plus I ordered a top wine by the glass and although I liked it, because I didn't love it I twice (from each somm) got challenged on what old wine should taste like. It wasn't comfortable. They meant well but it did change the tone. We had very pleasant chat throughout the night though and my score reflects this. The food and atmosphere were the big winners. The service started super special and we got dropped, or so it felt. A different night might be different, but it took this from one of life's best experiences to a really very very good one.