I visited The Square for the first time today to try its tasting menu. This restaurant in London's fashionable Mayfair district, run by head chef Phillip Howard, has garnered a loyal following for excellent cooking and warm, friendly service. Official honours include two Michelin stars since 1998, and Zagat has praised it as 'simply the best all-rounder in London'.
The tasting menu (admittedly not cheap, as with most establishments of this rank, but extremely promising!):
The colourful and somewhat quirky table setting reflects the fashionable vibes of this area, yet never loses its fundamental elegance as part of a fine-dining establishment.
The attractive bread tray - I'd highly recommend going straight for the walnut and raisin bread which is so crisp and light, and full of wholesome chunks of walnuts and raisins!
Amuse-bouche: tartare of smoked venison with pickled mushrooms, baked celeriac, radish and truffle.
The savoury and earthy flavours of this dish emerged (literally) with a brief but spectacular puff of smoke when the top half of the cocotte was lifted. Tender morsels of smoked venison were marinated in a delicious combination of the aforementioned condiments and topped with gelatinous bits of pickled enoki mushrooms.
First starter: lasagne of Dorset crab with a cappuccino of shellfish and champagne foam.
Where do I begin? This dish is much more substantial than it looks - a thin circular casing of homemade parsley pasta is stuffed entirely with fresh shredded crab, then topped with a champagne emulsion (the white part) and surrounded by an intense crab and shellfish foam made from the cooking stock. Pure delight.
Second starter: sauté of Scottish langoustine tails with parmesan gnocchi, trompettes de la mort (the black mushrooms), an emulsion of potato and truffle, and a dollop of truffle butter (background).
Another amazing dish - lobsters and langoustines always go well with truffle-infused accompaniments and this was no exception. The flavours of this dish were further enhanced by the fragrant shallot rings and the earthy trumpet mushrooms (not the most inviting name in French I must say!).
Third starter: ballotine of salt-cured foie gras with rhubarb and Sauternes (a French dessert wine) jelly, semi dried fruits (from top to bottom: apricot, rhubarb & pear) and raisin purée.
An excellently balanced dish: the very rich, creamy and slightly salty foie gras was complemented by a range of sweet and sour accompaniments including the jelly and dried fruit. The raisin purée was slightly spicy (as was the sprinkling of paprika powder) which lifted the dish. A heavenly smorgasbord of flavours and textures.
First main course: fillet of cod with a ragout of glazed trotter, Savoy cabbage, lentils and red wine.
The fish was perfectly cooked - in my opinion the best of all the restaurants I've visited so far - despite being a rather substantial chunk, it was fork-tender, flaking effortlessly and seared at the top to a nice crispiness. The underlying savoury ragout was pure comfort food and the perfect complement to this oily fish - it could be on the slightly salty side (depending on one's taste) but I wasn't going to complain!
Second main course: breast of Mallard with pumpkin & chestnut and turnip mash, a croustillant of the leg, garnished with trompettes de la mort, a quince and cranberry reduction, and a piece of caramelised quince.
The duck was very well roasted and tender, especially delicious with its roasting jus and further enhanced by the woody flavour of the mushrooms. The croustillant pastry, containing a good amount of shredded duck, was extremely light and flaky. The fruit reduction and the accompanying vegetable mashes cut through the overall richness of this dish very appropriately. Full marks for presentation too, I should add!
Cheese course:
In the glass pot, chunks of Barkham Blue (a light blue cheese from Barkhamshire - very good, intense but not overwhelmingly pungent) on top of damson jelly (a very tart plum flavour - good balance for the cheese), then covered in its own melt and some crumbs.
On the skewer, another light blue cheese Fourme d'Ambert (one of the oldest surviving fromageries in France dating from the 1700s according to our server), coated in light breadcrumbs and fried (fragrant, crispy and chewy - yummy!), paired with a piece of dried pear.
On the plate, a slice of aged Beaufort (very similar to the common Emmental but slightly sharper in taste), served simply with a sprinkling of sea salt.
I am no cheese connoiseur but this trio was really quite something!
The maitre d' noticed me staring at the cheese trolley and offered me a complimentary tasting of the previous 3 cheeses in their original form, plus a new and rather interesting cheese.
Clockwise from left: Barkham Blue, Beaufort, Fourme d'Ambert and the new cheese Sara de Estrela (the two creamy dollops on spoons). Served with grapes and plum chutney.
The last cheese is interesting not only because of its naturally creamy texture, but also the fact that it is produced from cows grazing in a thistle-filled region in Portugal, which gives the cheese a slightly spicy edge (first time I've had cheese that tastes like that!).
First dessert: Brillat-Savarin (a famous Normandian cheese) cheesecake with lime ice-cream and passionfruit reduction.
Very fresh and jaw-droppingly rich (almost like having another huge slab of cheese) - thankfully balanced by the equally excellent ice cream!
Last dessert: banana soufflé with rum and raisin ice cream.
The ice-cream was of course excellent, but the highlight was the exquisite soufflé, which was so creamy and intensely flavoured, yet looked extremely light and fluffy.
Also, unlike many inferior examples which collapse inwards upon piercing any holes, due to the delicate nature of its contents, this kept its form perfectly even as the waiter made a cavity on its surface on which to place the ice cream. This dessert is much harder to execute than it looks!
Clementines to end the meal, which was just about right as I was really stuffed by then!
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| Interior |
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| Front of the restaurant |
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| Bar/lounge area |
This tasting menu was one the best I've ever had in London - every course was well-executed and satisfying, if not particularly fanciful. Service was generally attentive and warm, particularly from the maitre d' Cesar, who had offered me the complimentary cheese course (which normally comes at a £15 supplement for fine restaurants such as this) even though I was a new customer. Compared to the tasting menus of their 3-star counterparts Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, I would even say it is every bit as good as the former (or at least, better value for money), and certainly better than the latter. Perhaps The Square does lack the sophistication that seems to come through in their 3-starred competitors but that is being extremely picky, and in any case there is nothing wrong with sticking to tried-and-tested recipes and fundamentally solid cooking.
One sore point though - I found bits of shell and bone in 3 of the courses, which really shouldn't be happening in a kitchen of this rank, but at least our servers and Cesar were sincere and apologetic when we gave our feedback.
Overall, it was a lovely first experience at this restaurant and I know I'll be returning!
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