Yesterday I met up with my Mum in Lahndahn tahn where we went for lunch at The Grill at The Dorchester. It was a great afternoon- excellent food, welcoming service and beautiful surroundings. I was rather apprehensive about going as i’m not exactly used to going to places where the cheapest room is £345 a night; also I wear bright colours and laugh effusively. I don’t fit in, and I know that when i’m nervous I have a tendency to fall over myself or spill things.
The Grill room is Scottish-themed and I got to sit on an excellently squidgy tartan-covered sofa; when I wandered to the toilets (without falling on my face – score!) there were napkins to dry your hands on (I stuffed one into my bag for memories) and seating areas to powder your nose. Proper fancy. I felt very out of place.
I had:
Roasted mackerel with Yorkshire rhubarb, chilli and mint
Roast Angus beef with Yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings
Raspberry soufflé with raspberry sorbet.
These three courses amounted to one of the best meals i’ve had. Each course was served with well-practised flair with multiple servers working as a team to get the plates onto the table, for example one person carved, another added sauce, another plated up- It was like changing a tyre in Formula One. But with less fire retardant.
The flavours in the starter were really intense yet well-balanced, with the tartness of the rhubarb working well with the oily fish; the portion was small but it didn’t matter as everything was so full on. The beef was allll kinds of brilliant- They wheeled the side of beef to the table in a giant silver dome and carved slices off for me before plating it up alongside the pudding, roast spuds, greens, parsnip, courgette and Chantenay carrots. The beef was a rich pink and perfectly medium-rare and very flavoursome.
The soufflé was, I was assured by the server, “The most raspberriest raspberry-thing you will ever taste” and was indeed so – perfectly risen, soft, smooth, pale pink gorgeousness. It definitely set a new high point for desserts.
What was particularly great about all of this is I booked through Top Table and so three courses and a glass of wine were only £27, superb value for such wonderful food and fancy-pants location.
Wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be and had a really good time – Recommended.
