Pied a Terre

Pied a Terre has been a Charlotte Street institution, running since 1991.Alberto Cavaliere is the current head chef, the latest in a distinguished line of head chefs here that includes Richard Neat, Shane Osborn and Tom Aikens over the years. There is an a la carte menu at £130 for three courses and a set lunch at £69 with a short tasting menu at £100, but tonight we opted for the tasting menu at £155 (£135 for the vegetarian version). 

The meal began with a trio of canapes. Crab with sesame mayo and a covering layer of trout roe in a charcoal pastry case was good. The crab had good natural sweetness, the sesame flavour came through, and the casing was delicate. Beef tartare was mixed with smoked mayonnaise and N25 oscietra caviar. This was also excellent, the caviar from a top supplier, the beef not chopped too finely, and the seasoning being well balanced. Best of all was wasabi sabayon with cured quail egg and flecks of bacon. The sabayon was lovely, the wasabi flavour nicely judged, and the bacon added an extra texture (16/20 average for the canapes).

The first formal course was tuna crudo, watermelon with mustard seeds, black radish, chive oil and cucumber ponzu and soya sauce. This was a light and enjoyable dish, the citrus bringing a good acidic balance to the inherent richness of the tuna (15/20). Sea bream was imported from Japan and cured in yuzu. It was served with toasted rice, daikon radish and “tiger milk” made in this case with citrus, coconut and chilli. The bream was high quality and the toasted rice provided a welcome contrasting texture, while there was just a touch of bite and freshness from the chilli and citrus (16/20).

Hand-dived Orkney scallop was confit in chicken fat, with dried scallop roe grated on top. On the side was braised pork jowl, verjus and a sauce of burnt creme fraiche and nori. This was a classy dish. The scallop itself had lovely natural sweetness, its flavour complemented by the richness of the pork jowl, the dehydrated scallop roe giving an extra texture. This was all brought together by the excellent sauce (17/20).

Next was monkfish from Cornwall, barbecued and served with oxalis leaves with a little peach veloute hidden inside the leaves as a puree. There was also Chinese lettuce and a sauce of nori with tomatoes. The monkfish was precisely cooked, avoiding the chewiness that can often afflict this fish. The tomato and nori sauce was quite rich and worked well with the monkfish, the touch of acidity from the peach puree providing balance (16/20).

For the final savoury course, it would have been lamb but I opted to swap for the vegetarian tasting menu option of a courgette flower dish. Courgette flower was stuffed with Roscoff onion and white beans, covered with compressed courgettes and resting in a piquillo pepper sauce. The Roscoff onions were suitably sweet and the courgette flower was delicate. The pepper sauce was a good pairing for the courgettes, which in themselves have limited flavour, while the beans gave an extra texture. Maybe a little spice might have improved things a touch, as courgettes tend to be on the bland side in their nature, but this was a pleasant dish (just about 15/20).

Cherry, elderflower and champagne vinegar foam with confit cherries made a simple but enjoyable refreshing pre-dessert. It was a touch sharp in terms of balance between acidity and sugar, but a pre-dessert should above all be refreshing, and this fitted the bill (15/20). The main dessert was one of strawberries from Yorkshire, with white chocolate cremeux, chocolate brik pastry, strawberry sorbet and lemon verbena. The strawberries had excellent flavour and the lemon verbena nicely balanced the richness of the white chocolate (16/20). Coffee was from Difference Coffee and came with some good petit fours. A Lychees and ginger pate de fruit had suitably soft texture, a cocoa nib powder and sake cube was good and a canele was firm on the outside and soft on the inside, as it should be.

Service was excellent. The bill came to £286 per person including good wine. If you ordered a la carte and shared a modest bottle of wine then a typical cost per person might come to around £120 for lunch and £185 for dinner. Pied a Terre delivers a good overall experience, with classy food and service and an appealing menu in a cosy dining room. Long may it continue.

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Further reviews: 23rd May 2025 | 05th Jun 2018 | 17th Sep 2014 | 17th Oct 2013 | 04th Sep 2011