Lunches at Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley

This post consists of reviews of two lunches I had at Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley, the first in mid-October and the second on Christmas Eve.

The Berkeley hotel in the Knightsbridge area, where Marcus Wareing is situated. After 2 meals at 'chain restaurants' owned by French chefs (Robuchon and Ducasse - will put those reviews up later) I thought it'd be good to try a British chef for a change.

Plush interior of Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley

Compared to the branches of Robuchon and Ducasse, this restaurant is a more personal affair as the chef himself is in the kitchen most days of the week supervising and cooking. It has won, amongst other accolades, 2 Michelin stars, and the maximum of 5 Rosettes (Britain's Michelin equivalent). Formerly known as Pétrus when it was jointly run by Wareing and his mentor Ramsay, this restaurant took on the former chef's name upon their split in October 2008, while Ramsay took the name Pétrus to a new restaurant just a few blocks down the road. 

I went with the set lunch menu to test the waters first - always a good idea if one isn't not entirely sure about committing to an expensive tasting menu, since I'd read mixed reviews regarding the food and service.

Canapés: this one is a Greek taramosalata, which is like a fish terrine - this was extremely fresh, creamy and well seasoned. It was accompanied by a piece of pork crackling, which hit all the right notes - not the least greasy, very light and crispy. Sets the tone for a excellent meal!

I had a very good first impression of the service - the Chinese waitress (the only staff of Asian descent there) took the initiative to find out the spelling and origins of this Greek dish from the Internet, and to write it down on a very nice postcard for me, when I enquired about this unusual canapé. She was actually only in charge of wines, so to go beyond the call of duty was a nice touch.

Second canapé: pork terrine topped with plum puree. Another little rich piece of heaven, very effective combination of flavours.

Butter from a farm in Gloucestershire. Natural unsalted butter in the background, salted caramel butter in the foreground. The latter was exceptional - almost like a caramel spread, with delicious bits of burnt caramel evenly scattered as you can see.

Amuse-bouche: fennel soup with dill foam, very light and fragrant herbal combination, a nice contrast to the relatively heavy canapés that I'd just had.

Starter: rabbit on beans and a parsley dressing, garnished with rocket, figs and pistachio. The puree that frames the dish is a fig reduction.

The rabbit was grilled to tender perfection, with just a slight hint of the charred taste. This was well complemented by the rocket and pistachio, while the fig and beans provided a sweet and refreshing balance. The parsley dressing lifted the overall fragrance of the dish.

Main course: lamb rump from Rhug Estate in Wales, on a ragout of chickpeas and paprika, garnished with spinach and sweetbread.

Sounds like a very indulgent dish, but I liked the fact that it wasn't actually too heavy - the sourish (perhaps a tad too much so) and slightly spicy ragout cut through the richness of the lamb, which was roasted very nicely to a tender medium rare. The chickpeas and sweetbread provided a nice crunch to the dish. Not too sure what the greens were there for though (variety in colour and a healthy touch perhaps?).

It was at this point that the maitre d' came over to find out about me as a new diner and what I thought about the food, and answered my questions on the dishes patiently - didn't catch some of his colleagues' descriptions the first time. As a young lone customer relatively new to Western fine-dining at the time, I had felt slightly intimidated for asking too many questions (won't go into details here), but at least he was nice.

Pre-dessert: pina colada - pineapple sorbet with dollops of coconut cream, rum jelly, coconut shavings and a sprinkling of ash (from the shell). 

The sorbet was sensational (only complaint - it was too little!). Coconut cream was really thick and intense, and I thought that the rum jelly and ash were very unusual (but effective) touches.

Dessert: a very rich caramelised white chocolate mousse with dark chocolate, burnt honeycomb and a dash of gold leaf for that luxurious touch. Enough said - I was in chocolate heaven.

I was given a tour of the kitchen after my meal, which was a rather fascinating experience. Very well organised and everyone seemed so calm and relaxed.

Canapé section

Fish/meat (main course) section

Pastry chef at work

Overall a pretty good first experience considering the price of the set lunch (just the accompaniments for the lamb were a wee bit off the mark), with some room for service improvements, considering that the lunch sitting I attended had been relatively empty. The two staff I mentioned were particularly warm though.

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Christmas Eve lunch at The Berkeley - nice Christmas decorations in the lobby. I had heard about this restaurant opening special lunch sittings with seasonal offerings on the two Saturdays leading up to Christmas, so I decided to give the food another try.

The restaurant appeared fully-booked and was extremely busy. However, the Chinese waitress with whom I had chatted recognised me immediately and even remembered where I had sat the first time!  

Canapé: the same pork terrine with plum chutney that I had the first time. Not bad!

Amuse-bouche: a very simple and comforting squash cream soup with parmesan foam and parmesan crumble. Sweet, savoury and fragrant.

Starter: lobster ravioli with a caper berry and shellfish reduction, broccoli dressing (below the ravioli).

Cross section showing the filling

I am not sure if it had been Wareing's intention to reproduce his former mentor's dish - the similarities are apparent - but I do feel that it still has some way to go. 

The ravioli itself was not bad - cooked just right, the thin layer of dough remained firm yet springy. The lobster filling was very sweet and succulent, though perhaps not quite as substantially packed in as Ramsay's signature version.

I had my reservations about the dressings used - the reduction was extremely salty and tart (which can be imagined from a capers and shellfish combination), threatening to overwhelm the naturally fresh flavours of the lobster filling. The broccoli dressing was a refreshing  balance together with the salad garnish, but not entirely convincing within the overall flavour scheme. A case of having too many cooks spoil the broth.

Main course: Cornish seabass fillets with cauliflower (both poached and puréed), shaved toasted almonds and sauce polonaise (right foreground - a mixture of hardboiled egg, capers, cauliflower and olive oil).

The fillets were delicious - pan fried with the skin on to give a nice crispy layer, whilst the flesh below remained smooth, tender and juicy. Toasted almonds enhanced the aroma of the fillets while the cauliflower accompaniments complemented the natural sweetness of the fish. The polonaise dressing added a savoury dimension to the whole dish.

Only minor complaint: the poached cauliflower pieces were not consistent in their texture - some parts were nice and soft while others were almost raw and crunchy! - not sure if this was intended but I certainly didn't find the latter texture very appetising, at least not for cauliflower.

Pre-dessert: layers of redcurrant and white chocolate cream, topped with fresh redcurrants. Very successful juxtaposition of tart redcurrants with velvety white chocolate. The latter was particularly impressive - extremely rich with strong vanilla notes.

Dessert: amaretto panna cotta with mulled wine foam, mulled wine poached plums and almond crumble.

Arguably the best part of this meal, the luxurious and velvety panna cotta (with very strong almond notes) was effectively balanced by the tart and juicy plums. A touch of warmth was given by the variations of mulled wine, whilst the toasted almond crumble provided an appetising aroma and a crunchy dimension to the textures of this dish. A perfect combination of flavours found commonly in traditional Christmas markets.

Sweet ending: 70% dark chocolate ganache square with orange cream. Rich and solid combination - needs no further elaboration I think!

Summary notes: if I had to be perfectly honest, I was a little disappointed with the lunch today, especially when comparing to the excellent and cheaper seasonal lunch that I had at The Square just the day before (which incidentally had also been my second visit). The starter certainly made me feel that the kitchen had been trying too hard to impress with disparate elements that didn't always work together. Only the dessert had been undisputedly perfect.

Special mention for service goes to the Chinese waitress (unfortunately, I forgot to get her name), perhaps the only staff member there who put me at ease with her genuine warmth - and it's not because we're both Asians, because I feel comfortable at The Square too. She didn't actually serve me because I didn't have wine to go with my food, but made the effort to come over to chat once she was less busy. I learnt that she would be resigning with effect from 18 January - surely a loss to the restaurant.

I've actually got a table booked for the Gourmand Menu towards the end of January - I shall be giving the food another shot with Wareing's real signature dishes, before I decide whether to return in the long term.