Ritz

I have written previously about the background of the Ritz and its executive chef, John Willems. Leading the kitchen here tonight was head chef Deepak Mallya, who has worked here since 2012 after joining as an apprentice and working his way up through the ranks of the kitchen. The kitchen offers a wide range of menus, from a three-course lunch menu at £86, full a la carte, and standard tasting menus at £193 for five courses and £215 for seven courses. 

The meal began with a trio of tried and tested starters. The version of coronation chicken at the Ritz 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 resultis 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, the delicate tuile melting on the tongue. A regular canape here is duck liver parfait with sour cherry and gingerbread, the richness of the liver nicely balanced by the sharpness of the sour cherry. Another old favourite was Ragstone cheese mousse with wood-roasted pepper and basil roasted on a sable base, the mousse smooth in texture and the base of the canapé being very delicate (18/20 average for canapes). 

This was followed by a trio of further snacks. Tartlet of beef tartare was mixed with a little crème fraiche and topped with caviar. The beef had very good flavour and was carefully seasoned, the brininess of the caviar bringing its own seasoning element to the dish, while the pastry tartlet was delicate. A barquette of smoked sea trout was cured in citrus, salt and gin. This was then gently smoked, diced and bound with lemon zest and juice, fresh grated horseradish, fresh dill and a dill pickle gel. The dish was completed with a topping of trout roe and herbs. This was particularly good, the gentle bite of the horseradish enlivening the trout. A new canape was a lamb puff. Lamb shoulder was braised overnight in a lamb stock with garlic and aromatics. Once cooked, the meat is flaked down and then bound with the reduced cooking liquid. Diced veal tongue is added and seasoned with black garlic, mustard, mint vinegar and black pepper. The bun dough used is similar to a bao bun. The dough is filled with the braised shoulder filling and then steamed. Just before serving the bun is deep fried and brushed with an aromatic lamb fat and dusted with pea powder made from the pea shells and a small amount of mint emulsion piped inside the bun. This was certainly enjoyable but for me was the least good of the new trio of snacks. Perhaps more seasoning would have helped but somehow there didn't seem to be quite enough meat flavour coming through. For the second trio I would score 17/20 on average, with the sea trout a point higher and the lamb puff being a point lower.

Next was a pretty tomato dish. Marinda tomatoes from Sicily were grated and then marinated using salt, sugar, black pepper, shallot, coriander, basil, fennel seed, coriander seed, tomato ketchup, tomato juice and espelette pepper. This was left to macerate for 24 hours before being passed through a filter. It is then infused just before service with more fresh basil, coriander and lemon verbena. It is chilled and split with an intense basil oil, held within a ring of 36-month aged Parmesan mousse. Datterini tomatoes from southern Italy are first blanched to remove the skin, then dehydrated gently to intensify and concentrate their natural sweetness. Just before dressing the dish, they are glazed in olive oil and Maldon salt. This was an attractive dish and the tomatoes had very good flavour (17/20). These tomatoes were very good but I can never quite forget the ones at Don Alfonso 1890 on the Amalfi coast, all grown on their own farm opposite Capri, the ripest tomatoes each day picked by a chef sent to the farm and then dispatched in the restaurant.

Another very pretty dish was next, crab with a crab crumpet. White crab meat was mixed with passed brown crab, mixed with crème fraiche, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. A chopped jelly made from Granny Smith apple juice, fennel juice, grape juice and minus 8 verjus and finished with a blob of Imperial caviar. On the side there was a crab crumpet. A traditional dough was made using sourdough, salt, sugar, and baking soda. This was gently on a hot grill and topped with a brown crab butter, crème fraiche jelly, crab meat bound with brown crab and garnished with zalotti blossom flowers and leaves. This was a lovely dish, the crab having excellent natural sweetness, the crumpet bringing a contrasting texture, the saltiness of the caviar balancing the sweetness of the crab (18/20).

This was followed by the signature langoustine a la nage. Langoustines from the coast of Scotland are poached in butter and rest on a bed of cauliflower puree, baby Cornish vegetables and bronze fennel from a grower in Merseyside. This is one of the very best dishes at The Ritz, relatively simple compared to some here yet beautifully balanced, the key being the superb quality langoustines and excellent vegetables (19/20).

A new dish was agnolotti, the stuffed pasta filled with a Taleggio cream, gently cooked in boiling salted water and then glazed in a truffle sauce made with black truffles (proper tuber melanosporum; no summer truffles here), Madeira and port. The agnolotti sits on a foam made using 36-month aged Parmesan. This was a rich and thoroughly enjoyable dish (17/20).

The next dish was a pre-order: Bresse chicken cooked en vessie i.e. in a pig bladder. This is a visually spectacular dish, the bladder being cut open at the table and the bird inside then carved on a board. The en vessie technique dates back to Escoffier but was popularised in Lyon, initially by Eugene Brazier of Mere Brazier (which was 3 star Michelin in 1933) and later by Paul Bocuse at his own restaurant in Lyon. The idea is to retain the aromas within the bladder and keep the meat moist. Chickens have been raised in Bresse (which is 60km from Lyon) for centuries and were recorded as far back as the 16^th century. A breed standard was established in 1904, and it has an AOC designation, in the same way as champagne or Charolais beef or Comte cheese. In this case, the bird was sourced from the farm Mieral in Bresse, which has won many awards for its free-range birds since it was established in 1919.  The chicken is prepared by removing the wishbone and, when in season, black truffle slices are stuffed under the skin of the bird. The chicken is initially poached in a stock of chicken, mushroom, thyme, garlic, rosemary, white wine, bay leaf and salt. Part-cooked, it is placed into the bladder and cooked for a further period of time to finish it, tied, and sent to the dining room for carving. It is served with a side dish of pilaf rice that has been cooked with onion, truffle and foie gras. The legs are roasted and finished in the oven and served as a second serving alongside a morel stuffed with the diced drumstick, sautéed duck liver, truffle and chicken mousse, poached in the chicken poaching liquor and glazed in truffle jus. Finally, there was a pea puree and lovage emulsion, and a little supreme sauce infused with lovage oil was poured on the plate at the table to complete the dish. The garnish was Spilman’s Yorkshire asparagus, baby turnips grown in Essex, St George mushrooms braised in a chicken and mushroom bouillon, wilted wild asparagus and herbs and flowers from a Merseyside grower that The Ritz use. This was a lovely dish, the chicken having that mild but distinct flavour that Bresse chickens possess, the meat perfectly cooked. The accompaniments were good, but I particularly liked the stuffed morel that came with the second serving of the chicken: this was dazzling (19/20). One of my dining companions has had this dish several times at three-star Epicureand he reckoned the version tonight was superior.

For pre-dessert we had grapefruit segments with grapefruit juice infused with Baie Des Bataks, a peppery Sumatran spice, with buttermilk sorbet and Baie Des Bataks tuile cracker. This was very refreshing, which is what a good pre-dessert should be. I always think that grapefruit is an underutilised ingredient so it was good to see it employed here (17/20).

The final dessert was wild strawberry tart with lemon verbena and lime. This had a mascarpone mousse, strawberry compote and fresh wild strawberries with a garnish of lemon verbena, meringue drops with strawberry jelly, and a strawberry sorbet on the side finished with fresh lime zest. The wild strawberries had terrific flavour, and the touch of acidity from the lime zest added freshness (18/20). I finished the meal with a tea infusion, which was served with some excellent petit fours.

Service was superb as usual here, and the bill, albeit with a lot of wine, came to £593 each, of which the tasting menu element was £230. The Ritz sails serenely on, a luxury ocean liner amongst restaurants.

Further reviews: 11th Jul 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