Ritz

I have written previously about the history of The Ritz, its glorious 1906 dining room and the background of executive chef John Williams and head Chef Deepak Mallya.   

This latest meal began with well-established canapes that have been on the menu for some time. Ragstone cheese mousse with wood-roasted pepper and basil was roasted on a sable base, the mousse smooth in texture and the base of the canapé being very delicate. Coronation chicken is wrapped in a sugar tuile cylinder. Chicken is mixed with curry powder and salt, steamed and then chilled. This is then mixed with spices, coconut cream, mayonnaise, coriander, raisins and mango chutney. The mix is wrapped in a sugar tuile seasoned with coconut, curry and espelette pepper, the ends being dipped in toasted breadcrumbs. The result is a lovely blend of flavours, with the delicate tuile melting on the tongue. The final regular canape was duck liver parfait with sour cherry and gingerbread, the richness of the liver nicely balanced by the sharpness of the sour cherry. 

Two further canapes then appeared. Tartlet of beef tartare with creme fraiche and imperial caviar featured a delicate pastry base, nicely seasoned beef topped with a layer of caviar that provided its own salinity to the mix. Barquette of smoked trout was cured in a citrus salt and then gently smoked, diced and bound with lemon zest and juice, fresh grated horseradish, fresh dill and a dill pickle gel. This was topped with trout roe and alyssum, and again was a very successful and pretty canape. A final amuse bouche was a crumpet with brown crab butter, creme fraiche, crab meat bound with brown crab, espelette pepper and lemon, where the gentle bite of pepper nicely worked with the crème fraiche and did not overwhelm the delicate crab (18/20 canapes). 

The first formal course was hand-dived scallop, sourced from the Orkney Islands, sliced and marinated in Maldon salt, spice of angels (fennel pollen), espelette pepper and lemon zest. Marinda tomatoes from Sicily are marinated using salt, sugar, black pepper, shallot, coriander, basil, fennel seed, coriander seed, tomato ketchup, tomato juice and more espelette pepper. This is left to macerate for 24 hours before being passed through a coffee filter, creating a tomato consommé. Datterini tomatoes from southern Italy are blanched to remove the skin. They are then dehydrated gently to intensify and concentrate their natural sweetness. Just before dressing the dish, they are glazed in olive oil and Maldon salt. The result was a very pretty and refreshing first course, where the high-quality tomatoes and scallops were allowed to shine through (17/20). 

This was followed by ballotine of duck liver with damson and pistachio. Hungarian duck liver was de-veined and marinated in salt, pink salt, sugar, pepper, port, sauternes and Armagnac. It is then left to marinate for 24 hours and is rolled into ballotines, with a reduction made of port and spices in the centre. Spiced port Jelly is made from port, peppercorns, orange, bay leaf and star anise that are reduced, set into a jelly and wrapped around the outside. Finally, damson gel is made from preserved damsons that are cooked gently with port and sugar. These are preserved and served with pistachio yoghurt. On the side is brioche and a pistachio Bakewell tart. This is a well proven dish here, and it works beautifully. The richness of the duck liver is offset by the acidity of the damson, while the slight sweetness of the brioche works well with the liver. There is not much that could be done to improve this dish (19/20).

Turbot was sourced from Cornwall, the fish today being between 6kg and 7kg in weight. The fillets are portioned and seasoned with a light curry salt (curry powder blended with sea salt). They are then seared in a pan until golden, turned over and cooked in butter, lemon, rosemary and bay. A vermouth sauce is a fish stock-based sauce, where the stock is cooked down with some Noily Prat and then finished with cream. A second sauce was a classic sauce Americaine, made with lobster shells, Armagnac, star anise and cardamom. On the side were morel mushrooms stuffed with lobster and fine herbs, served with new season Wye Valley asparagus. The turbot was cooked precisely and had very good flavour, but I was particularly impressed with the lovely morels. The sauces, as ever at The Ritz, were beautifully made (18/20).

Veal fillet was rolled and then roasted in a pan with foaming salted butter, garlic, rosemary, and thyme before being glazed in Madeira jus. This came with Loire Valley white asparagus that was cooked in a butter emulsion seasoned with salt and sugar, trimmed and topped with the lovage emulsion and herbs. This was garnished with morel mushrooms that were stuffed with roast veal sweetbreads, braised veal tongue, duck liver and black truffle, bound with a chicken farce and then poached in a mushroom stock and glazed in Madeira jus. This was served with black truffle sauce and supreme sauce. This was a glorious dish. I rarely order veal unless it is in a schnitzel, but the cooking here was superb, and the accompaniments really lifted the dish to another level. The white asparagus was magnificent, and the truffle sauce in particular was superb. The stuffed morel was a lovely woodland contrast to the veal. This was fabulous classical cooking (19/20). 

A quite new apple pre-dessert was served next. On the bottom of a bowl was a set vanilla cream made using mascarpone and sour cream, and a layer of Granny Smith apples that had been compressed in apple juice and mint. A sugar tuile flavoured with fresh mint leaf sits on top, then a curl of Bramley apple and mint sorbet. Paztizz Tops cress, which has a light anise flavour, was the garnish. This was an excellent, refreshing pre-dessert. 

The main dessert was a pretty one based on rhubarb. Rhubarb is poached in ginger ale and placed around a ring of vanilla custard. Rhubarb parfait is filled with rhubarb compote, while rhubarb parfait contains rhubarb gin Brands snap tuille, topped with piped whipped vanilla custard, and a poached rhubarb lattice, On the side was a small bowl with more rhubarb compote and stem ginger ice cream. The rhubarb compote is made from taking fresh rhubarb, chopping it and roasting it with vanilla and some sugar. This was one of the pastry section’s better creations, the sharpness of the rhubarb beautifully in balance with the sweet elements, the display attractive and the balance lovely (18/20).

Service was super throughout the meal. The bill came to £420 each including wine and service, the food element being £215 per person. To be sure, this is a lot of money, but the tremendous amount of technical skill involved in this meal, combined with the high-class ingredients, makes it all worthwhile. For me, this remains the best restaurant in London. The Ritz hotel is undergoing a major refurbishment and expansion at present, and the dining room will move in May 2026 to a new purpose-built room just yards away from the current room. There it will stay for over a year before moving back to its original location.

Further reviews: 26th Sep 2025 | 11th Jul 2025 | 26th May 2025 | 04th Mar 2025 | 28th Jan 2025 | 15th Oct 2024 | 28th Mar 2024 | 02nd Feb 2024 | 11th Dec 2023 | 01st Nov 2023 | 24th Sep 2023 | 26th Jun 2023 | 10th May 2023 | 08th Mar 2023 | 09th Dec 2022 | 04th Nov 2022 | 30th Sep 2022 | 20th Jul 2022 | 24th Jun 2022 | 15th Apr 2022 | 08th Feb 2022 | 14th Dec 2021 | 06th Dec 2021 | 22nd Oct 2021 | 14th Oct 2021 | 25th Jun 2021 | 25th May 2021 | 15th Oct 2020 | 28th Aug 2020 | 31st Jul 2020 | 29th Feb 2020 | 19th Nov 2019 | 25th Oct 2019 | 30th Sep 2019 | 30th Aug 2019 | 16th Jul 2019 | 18th Apr 2019 | 12th Mar 2019 | 26th Sep 2018 | 01st Aug 2018 | 04th May 2018 | 20th Apr 2018 | 13th Feb 2018 | 11th Dec 2017 | 02nd Feb 2017 | 15th Jun 2016 | 27th Jan 2016 | 26th Aug 2015 | 28th Feb 2015 | 21st Dec 2013 | 24th Aug 2013 | 30th Apr 2013 | 29th Dec 2011 | 01st Feb 2011 | 01st Dec 2010