Sometime ago, I don’t honestly recall, I ran across a listing of the top 50 restaurants in the World. We have had the opportunity to sample several of these (Arzak – San Sebastian Spain #30 and Le Caladre – Rubano, Italy #29) so it seemed fitting to see if we could get a table at The Ledbury in London #27 (Knightsbridge-Chelsea).
Fortunately we were able to get a table for lunch Thursday and settled in for an afternoon lunch of tasting great foods and drinking fine wines. We were greeted warmly at the entrance, given space for our coats and scarves, and shown to our linen covered table.
There are several menus available – a menu providing 3 choices with four courses, a fixed lunch menu and a tasting menu. We opted for the tasting menu with paired wines. This was an 8-course extravaganza with various presentations paired with wines from around the world.
After presenting the menu (both food and wine) we ordered an aperitif (Lilli Blanc) and looked over our options. It didn’t take much convincing for me to get Janeen to agree to the tasting menu (the entire table must take it) so no other decisions were needed at the time. We did have three beautifully presented small bites to help us decide (see Amuse Bouche photos).
The first course of Chantilly of Oyster paired so perfectly with the Austrian Gruner Veltliner, that Janeen knew our chefs and sommelier were about to entice us at every level.
Courses two and three left Janeen in awe of the mandolin skills of the kitchen (such thin beetroot, truffle, ham…) and the pure savory of egg and truffle captured David.
Giving our palate some respite before meat and red wine, we tasted eggplant infused with olive and black tea and John Dory simply grilled with pumpkin shellfish cream on the side.
The suckling pig course, accompanied by a Spanish Tenerife Margalagua, was surrounded by Hen of the Woods, (seemed like mushroom to Janeen) was savory to be sure.
Pre-dessert led David to opt for 5 of 10 choices of cheese with Piedmont sweet wine pairing.
Dessert was followed by a visit to the kitchens, a request we had made on entering.
Although Executive Chef Brent was not in the kitchens, his head Chef, Greg was welcoming and gladly chatted and allowed photo opts, as well as offering us more ice cream.
When we told our wait staff we were headed for Dublin and would like recommendations, they sent over General Manager Darren, native of the city, who printed out food options, pub bests, and sites not to be missed, and explained each choice either as a personal choice, or recommendation of his parents. Lovely bonus.
While this restaurant has only 2 Michelin stars it’s place as number 27 on the top 50 restaurants in the world is well deserved. We had a wonderful afternoon and spent the rest of the day savoring the lingering tastes.