Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Gordon Ramsay's MAZE Restaurant, London


My first stop in London was Maze, Gordon Ramsay's Restaurant at Grosvenor Square, in the Center of London. I had wanted to try a place called Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, but when we called for a reservation, they told us there was a 6 month waiting list!!! Unbeliveable..with the recession on going, I wonder if the 6 month list is really true or just a marketing ploy...not even Fat Duck has a 6 month waiting list....anyway...on to Maze...

Gordon Ramsay has been getting a lot of slack and negative reviews lately, and many people I have spoken to in London detest him, but I was not going to let that influence me in eating in one of his Restaurants in London. It was a lunch meeting, so as we got there quite early, the place was not full, but a few minutes after, the place was completely packed.

We decided on he 6 course lunch menu and a chilled bottle of 2007 Domaine des Berthiers Pouilly Fume. It's really hard to pair wine with Degustation menus or meals with a lot of dishes, so I normally just order one bottle that I can have during the whole meal..

For starters, ‘Prawn cocktail’, tomato fondue, lettuce ice, cocktail sauce. His own version of Prawn cocktail, served in the traditional martini glass. The lettuce was a sort of Lettuce granite, which made the dish interesting. Contrast of frozen lettuce with the slightly watm Prawn.


Next, Braised shin of veal, pea and broad bean risotto, aged parmesan. This dish was quite simple. What I liked most, the rissotto which was superb.



Next, Confit shoulder of lamb, pea purée. The lamb was quite a generous serving and very very tender...nothing really special about the dish, except for the fact that it was very tender Lamb.


Next was a fish dish, ‘Warm Scottish breakfast’ London cured salmon, smoked haddock risotto, egg and bacon. This dish was excellent...perfectly seared(or grilled) Salmon, with a sort of horseradish, which gave the dish good contrast. The risotto was in a small bowl on the side, with a little quail egg and a strip of Bacon. I'm not sure if this is a typical Scottish breakfast, but if it is then they really know how to start their day.


Last dish: Roasted Barbary duck, parsley root, English cherries. Probably the best of all the dishes. Bred in large quantities in France, Barbary ducks are less fatty than many other breeds, with a thin skin and no layer of fat underneath. Excellent dish, with strips of crispy skin, to give this dish the needed crunch...


Lastly, we had dessert: Rice pudding, raspberry jam, pecan ice cream, maple syrup. This was ridiculously good and rich....a typical English dessert, rice pudding with Pecan Ice Cream...and to top it all, maple syrup. This was so rich, I had 2 bites and left the rest...



This was my first 'Gordon Ramsay' experience and I must say I enjoyed it. A lot of people do not like him but hey, you just have to eat his food, so who cares??...

My next post, a typical english bistro/restaurant called St. John....

13 comments:

Franco said...

As much as respect Gordon Ramsey's food, I am looking forward your St. John's post more. I am such a Fergus Henderson fan. Post already, Miguel. Can't wait. :)

Noel said...

Aha! I see risotto!....Oh, wait, it is risotto pala.

Heh heh.

Great post, and, of course, the photos are vivid as usual.

N

Miguel said...

Franco - Actually St. John main was closed for a wedding, so I had to book in the other restaurant they have, called St. John Bread and Wine at Spitalfields, which a more casual/Bistro type of Restaurant compared to St. Johns Restaurant at Smithfield.

Its completely different from Gordon Ramsay but I enjoyed it also very much...I do hope I can try the other restaurant the next time I go back..

Miguel said...

Noel - haha...we had 2 dishes with risotto but they were both good...

domesticgoddess said...

I have wanted to try MAZE after a friend's suggestion and after this post will definitely get there on a future trip to London. My Gordon Ramsay experience is limited to an unforgettable meal 2 years ago at his namesake restaurant on Hospital Road- unforgettable in terms of cuisine and price! British Sterling was about double the USD at the time;-(
We did the tasting menu for dinner and "WOW" seems to sum it up nicely!
Your menu sounds fantastic- that rice pudding is tempting me to hanker in the kitchen and attempt to recreate it. Really nice ,clear photos as well.

Miguel said...

Alicia - I'm lucky..the British Sterling is no where close to the value it had some time ago, although London is quite an expensive City...

rsh said...

Glad to see that you made it to MAZE. Off to London next week and I'm trying a gastropub and some other funky restaurants. Can't wait!

When are you posting your dinner at SKINA?

Miguel said...

Thanks...yes saw you clog and decided to try that one...I enjoyed it.

Re: Skina - thanks again for recommending..really enjoyed and my uncle, who was his forst time to eat in a place with creative cuisine, enjoyed it as well.

I'll be posting soon - have like 10 other posts from that trip (London, Milan, Madrid, etc...) but will post soon....

Thanks and hope to meet you the next time I go to Marbella.

my Hotel Life said...

Food looks fantastic. The quail egg, risotto and bacon side dish is perfect for the Pinoy palette.

Miguel said...

George - yes the Quail Egg, Risotto and Bacon was very interesting and good...I enjoyed it very much :)

Unknown said...

we have been to some good restaurants around the world and i went there with very high expectation .
we dined at maze for our first aniversary and i nearly cried when i saw my first dish,although we ordered 4 courses we had to have the whole portion of bread to fill our selves up,and the prices for what you get is ridiculously high.

Boon said...

Interesting... I went there about two weeks back, and all my dishes were different (same lunch menu), except for the osso bucco (veal), only this time my risotto was pumpkin instead of broad bean!

Anyways, I've taken lots of pictures too of the food and the place, if anyone is interested:

http://www.london-insider.co.uk/2009/11/gordon-ramsays-maze-restaurant-review/

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