Murano, Mayfair

You leave home and it's hot and sunny. Half an hour later, you find yourself sopping wet in a singlet top and sandals with no brolly. The English summer claims another victim. But not quite... Because when the doorway into which you duck to escape the sudden inconvenient downpour on a Saturday afternoon happens to belong to Angela Hartnett's Murano, it's only natural that you keep walking all the way in. The £30 lunch menu and spare table at the side of the room seemed beacons of fate.

The room is elegant, if a little hotel foyer-like, but the energetic chatter from the floor cuts through the boring formality that might otherwise set in. Posited in the moneyed up heart of Mayfair, you get the feeling that most of the crowd live in a trendy little mews somewhere not far off Park Lane.

It's seriously hard to choose from the Italian menu where everything sounds appetising, although quite a few dishes didn't live up to expectations - my fresh tagliatelle with Ligurian sausage and tomato tasted watery and monotone, and my porcetta carpaccio, though pretty, didn't move the earth for me.

TPG's entree serving of risotto with brown onion, parmesan and truffle oil was better, nay perfect, and he immediately positioned it above my favourite truffle risotto at Gauthier Soho. Tender steak bavette with sweet corn salsa was lovely, if not a patch on the flavoursome steaks of Goodman and Hawksmoor.

Dessert was where our meal really hit its straps with a dreamy custard tart and a cold chocolate fondant worth writing home about - the latter accompanied by an addictive sour cream ice cream, thick, oozy salted caramel sauce and heavenly little crispy chocolate bits lining the plate.

The wine list is expensive, but we had a lovely glass each for £6.50 and £8.50 respectively - this is not somewhere you need be afraid of the "cheapies" on the list. You also get lots of lovely amuses and freebies along the way - although none so perfect as the little bowl of cherries at the end.

A good value way to try a Michelin star restaurant, but not one I'll be hurrying back to for repeat visits.

Murano, 20 Queen Street, Mayfair, London W1J 5PP (Tel: 020 7495 1127)

Passage 53, Paris

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Bresse chicken coated in Perigord truffle

Aaah, Paris, je t'adore!

And so begins and ends my command of the French language. Although I am also very good at ordering a baguette.

Recently, TPG and I escaped the harsh, grey English winter, for the harsh, grey French winter in the big city of bistros, brasseries, cafes and croissants. We embarked on an apartment exchange with a Parisian couple who have a place right in our all time favourite part of Paris - in a street off the pedestrian market strip that is Rue Montorgueil - and about 100 metres from the cafe where we eat breakfast each time we go to Paris. We do like our rituals. So, with free accommodation, we found ourselves with all the more to splurge on a big night of fine dining. Bonjooooouuuur Paris.

When Le Chateaubriand cruelly shut its doors for private functions on the very weekend of our visit, there were big frowns in Chez Greedy. Tears were almost shed. (It was, afterall, source of one of my favourite meals of 2010.) However, the blogging world put on its big red cape and came to the rescue with a plethora of suggestions, which led to us investigating Restaurant Passage 53 courtesy of a tip from Gourmet Traveller.

Passage 53 is not a place you're going to notice in the ordinary course of your romantic strolls through the city of love. It's tucked away in the oldest covered passage in Paris, and is a tiny, unassuming narrow strip of a restaurant with only a handful of small tables. Having opened in April 2009, it has already accumulated a Michelin Star (with surely another one on the way), and it's absolutely magnifique in every way.

Nothing about the simple, neat decor belies the ravishing nature of the food. We opted for the 8 course €85 menu degustation, although there's a less pricey menu dejeuner for €45 (be warned that the price will still stack up once you factor in wines). Personable manager Guillaume Guedj guided us through our wine selection, hitting on a sublime bottle of Henri Boillot Meursault to start, and later shifting us seamlessly on to a glass of something big and red and beautiful (no notes, no idea but very happy) to complement the main course.

Everything about this visit was a complete delight - the joyful food, the friendly service, the fabulous wines, the delicious surprises on every plate.

Chef Shinichi Sato (formerly of 3 Michelin starred Pierre Gagnaire and L'Astrance) offers whatever is fresh and seasonal at the daily market - there's no menu. You surrender to wonderment and the chef's creativity.

The place is so small and intimate, I decided not to take photos of everything, and I'm not going to describe it all in minute detail. To do so would spoil the unexpectedness of everything you need to experience for yourself at Passage 53.

Turbot

Little things like Cevennes onion with thin slices of the best melt in the mouth chorizo I've ever eaten, gorgeous droplet-like oysters in a creamy bed of smoked haddock, apple and caviar, and a perfectly cooked piece of turbot with sweetly caramalised endive and melt in the mouth foam. (It wasn't the best looking of the dishes, but perhaps that's why I spared a second to photograph before diving in.)

Bresse chicken

One highlight (of many) had to be the Bresse Chicken with such satisfying depth of flavour, and so moist and succulent, that the memory, the taste, is imprinted in my taste buds weeks later. TPG, never one to deprive himself, paid a €50 supplement for 2 truffle courses and his chicken came coated with thin, pungent slices of Perigord truffle, the prized "black diamond" of the truffle world. It was perfection.

The amazing fillet mignon could only be explained if it had been injected in delectable cream before being served up before us. If you had a care in the world, you would feel it melt away with each luscious bite. I desperately never wanted it to end.

The elegant assortment of desserts were scrumptious, but perhaps the only disappointment of the night was that TPG's second course of Perigord truffles came plastered over one of the sweet dishes - a combination which we already knew from our truffle hunting and wine trip to Crillon le Brave was not for us. But by then, we were already smitten.

I absolutely loved every minute of Passage 53. I can't wait to go back. Bien sur.

53 passage des Panoramas, 75002, Paris (Tel: 01 42 33 04 35, closed Sundays and Mondays)

The Waterside Inn, Bray, Berkshire

Duo of game - partridge & venison

For my birthday last week, TPG and I took a turn at The Waterside Inn, in the quaint 16th century village of Bray.

Bray is quite the hub for Michelin stars it seems. The Waterside Inn is only one of 4 restaurants in the UK to hold 3 of them (it's held them firmly for 25 years) - another, The Fat Duck, is just down the road. While Heston Blumenthal's gaff is all about pushing the boundaries of modern cuisine, Alain Roux's elegant French restaurant focusses on perfecting the classics. Boring? Quite the opposite. I think it's the all round best meal I had in 2010.

Set on the banks of the Thames, a long lunch was a first class way to enjoy the sunlit, genteel setting, riverside views and the simply wonderful food and service. It's nose bleedingly expensive but, based on the a la carte prices (a cup of coffee costs you £12 so you get the drift), the 6 course tasting menu is the better value way to go at £140 (including service and coffee) - it includes starters priced at upwards of £50 on the a la carte menu. There's also a 3 course menu gastronomique for £56.50, which I'll be going back for.

Parmesan cream

After a lovely selection of amuses bouche (I particularly liked a pretty dome of creamy foie gras), we start with a smooth parmesan cream, pink fir apple potato topped with truffle and served with an almond pastry straw. It's elegant and light, despite the luxurious creamy "truffleyness" of it all.

Foie gras

Warm escalopes of silky foie gras follow with cardamom, glazed root vegetables, verjuice and sultana sauce. I normally see the word "sultana" and burst into tears (eg. why ruin a good scone etc.). However, it appears that if you pop a bit of foie gras beneath them, I can handle a sultana with ease. Again, a dish so rich, but so well balanced.

Lobster

Pan fried lobster medallions with a white port sauce and ginger flavoured vegetable julienne were a marvel - the meat is sweet and prepared perfectly (there's no chewiness in sight) and then served back inside the shell to beautiful effect.

Challandais duck

For mains, a choice.  TPG's roasted Challandais duck was served with slices of poached quince, soft, creamy polenta, chestnuts (I'm addicted at the moment) and a cider flavoured sauce. When 2 people order this, it is carved at the side of the table where lavish slices of duck are splayed across the plates. Highly recommended if you're both up for it. Being picky, the only criticism that could be made of TPG's plate was that the meat was a fraction chewy, but it had a fabulous flavour - still the best bit of duck we've had for an age.

I opted for the duo of seasonal game (partridge and venison) with a pumpkin subric, parcel of wild mushrooms and spinach and poivrade sauce. It was the best piece of partridge I've ever had and the venison was succulent and pink. I worried over this one as I knew the duck would be good, but my game was at least its equal on the table.

Chocolate teardrop

Our first dessert was a teardrop of milk chocolate mousse flavoured with caramel, mango and passionfruit and accompanied by a mango sorbet. The chocolate mousse was divine. DIVINE. It's light but with the right amount of richness and chocolate. The mango worked so much better than I expected (I don't usually go fruit with chocolate) and it was all done so well that I still didn't want this meal to end.

Souffle

A warm date souffle is flavoured with cognac and comes with coffee ice cream. The flavours are extremely subtle, but the souffle is cooked perfectly and is as scrumptious as it sounds.

We finish with mint tea, coffee and lovely mignardises.

Service was excellent, and not overly fussy. Our sommelier was also terrific - we shared bottles of white and red, both of which we loved (although I've since lost track of the details).

If you have a special occassion coming up and are looking for one fine dining restaurant in which to have a splurge, this is certainly a place I'd heartily recommend. The Waterside Inn feels really special.

This was easily one of my best meals of the year.

The Waterside Inn, Ferry Road, Bray, Berkshire, UK

Two of my other favourite meals of the 2010 include the seafood extravaganza we shared with our Italian friends at the far more casual Ristorante I Savoia in Modena and the meal I claimed in January would be my meal of the year (getting in early!) at Le Chateaubriand in Paris.

Hibiscus, Mayfair

Wild mushroom veloute with sweet coconut custard

American Express and Toptable have recently launched a new website, Top Treats. If you have an Amex card, you can use it to book restaurants on-line throughout the UK and earn Amex and Toptable rewards, as well as enter monthly prize draws. In conjunction with the new site, Amex offered to treat me to dinner at a restaurant of my choice, so I thought for a good, long two and a half seconds, then chose Hibiscus.

Hibiscus has been on my wish list for a while. Chef-patron Claude Bosi has trained under some of France's most renowned chefs and has an excellent reputation for producing classical French cuisine with a dash of modern flair. His restaurant has 2 Michelin stars, and I think it lives up to them on both the food and the service front.

Not wishing to miss a trick, we opted for the 8 course tasting menu. This is not one for control freaks - you advise of any allergies, but then each dish is in the chef's hands and you don't know what you're getting until it arrives. This also requires an element of trust in your sommelier for the wine selection - and the list is so pricey that it can really raise the anticipated cost of your meal.

After some excellent bread and cheesy gougeres, our amuse set the scene for what was to come - a wild mushroom veloute in an eggshell, resting atop a sweet coconut custard was a delicate, surprising mix of flavours which shouldn't work, but somehow did - just.

Langoustine with passionfruit, wattleseed and sea herbs

A terrific tartare of Scottish langoustine was sweet and fresh. It was surrounded by tiny dots of tart passionfruit with wattleseed and sea herbs adding colour and zing.

Scallop with pork pie sauce - the new surf 'n turf

Half of a truly humungous roasted hand dived scallop followed. Its crunchy top was encrusted with hazlenuts, apple puree, herbs and butter. Perfectly cooked, nothing less than the fabulous, punchy pork pie sauce (yes, PORK PIE SAUCE) accompanying it would have distracted me from the scallop itself. A sharp, thick pink grapefruit with wood sorrel worked well to cut through the porky sauce. Scallop and pork pie - who would have thought? Is this the new surf 'n turf?

Earlier in the week, we ate one of the most memorable (and expensive) meals of our lives at Per Se in New York (review to follow) and these first two dishes were up there with those we loved at Per Se.

Hen's egg raviolo with smoked potato and Autumn truffle

A raviolo of hen's egg yolk and smoked potato with chopped autumn truffle was a fraction disappointing. The egg yolk oozed magnificently, but the autumnal truffles lacked the oomph and earthy pungency that they needed to add depth to this dish and the hard, gritty texture of the tiny, chopped pieces didn't work as nicely as it might for that melt in the mouth feel.

Cornish skate with brown butter, Jerusalem artichoke and sweetcorn

A Cornish skate wing was cooked in brown butter with Jerusalem artichoke, vanilla puree, sweetcorn and butter foam milk. The addition of the corn was fantastic, complementing the perfectly cooked skate. TPG was less convinced, but I'd be happy to see a more liberal use of such sweet, plump, juicy corn on menus everywhere.

Foie gras, sea buckthorn gel, quince and Szechuan pepper compote

Roast "Adour" Foie Gras was immensely rich and bloody, accompanied nicely by a gooey sea buckthorn gel and a quince and Szechuan pepper compote.

Clun Valley hare

A saddle of Clun Valley hare with Cevennes onion and coffee, truffle sauce and pommes souffle was another rich and memorable dish, and by the time we reached the selection of 3 British and French cheeses from Paxton and Whitfield and Bernard Antony we were starting to struggle under the weight of the volume and richness of the meal so far.

Apple puree, sweet celeriac, chestnut cream

The sweet courses were the biggest let down for us - no horror stories, but no fireworks either. As a pre-dessert, the apple puree, sweet celeriac and chestnut cream was simply refreshing but not particularly memorable. We were licking our lips at the sight of a large millefeuille type pastry number which was delivered to another table, so we were slightly disappointed when a decidedly more staid looking tart landed in its place (and mildly confused that it erroneously bore a "Happy Birthday" candle for me - sending a momentary look of "Oh my God, I've forgotten her birthday" across TPG's face, for which I will always be grateful to them).

Every table seemed to be given a different dessert. Ours was a fine cream tart of Jerusalem artichoke, toasted oat ice cream, and salted caramel sauce. Yes, a vegetable based dessert. This will not be everyone's cup of tea - it was not TPG's, although he's a man with a sweet tooth that adds honey to sugar. The sweet pastry itself was gorgeous - faultless, in fact - and on this we agreed. The artichoke tart, toasted oat ice cream and salted caramel sauce were only very mildly sweetened - the flavours were subtle and earthy, so while some will no doubt be in raptures over the originality and cleverness of this dish, for me it was just nice (but no millefeuille) and for TP-sugar-rush-G it was devastating.

I wasn't completely sold on the decor either - low ceilings, wood panelling and warm amber tones still left me feeling the room was a tad too stiff and corporate for my tastes. Or perhaps I just miss windows.

Service was attentive and friendly - hard to fault until the very end when TPG's wine glass was whisked away with that treasured last sip left, and also when we struggled for what seemed like an age to catch attention to finalise our bill.

All in all, a memorable experience and interesting, original food that is generally excellent.

The 8 course tasting menu costs £95 per head and is available on Friday and Saturday nights (or 4 courses are £75 and 6 courses are £85). Various other a la carte and set price lunch/dinner menus are also available.

Hibiscus, 29 Maddox Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 2PA. Telephone: 020 7629 2999

Greedy Diva was a guest of Amex.

The Ledbury, Notting Hill

Roast cod, truffle puree, cauliflower, parmesan gnocchi & sea vegetables

Within a few weeks after we first moved to London 4 years ago, The Peanut Gallery was researching London restaurants for my birthday dinner. The man does not hold back when it comes to restaurant research, and he hit on a place in Notting Hill that sounded like the goods. And so it was that The Ledbury set my benchmark for London fine dining.

It's still my favourite place for a posh lunch or dinner. I've been back twice since - once with friends for the great value set price lunch (at £33.50 for 3 courses) - a terrific way to experience the brilliance while the sun flirts in through the huge surrounding windows. The second revisit was just last week to catch up over dinner with Aussie food blogging friends, Gourmet Chick, Catty and Vintage Macaroon as well as the lovely Claire from Australian wine maker, d'Arenberg. What better place to meet than over the fine food of Australian head chef, Brett Graham, drinking terrific Australian wines kindly contributed by D'Arenberg (thanks Claire) and Katnook Estate (thanks Jo).

Jo (who couldn't join us in the end) made contact with Brett Graham, who put together a special tasting menu for us, tweaked to match our wines.

Deep fried quail egg

Over a bottle of champagne well chosen by the sommelier to meet our request for something reasonably light and crisp, we start with the pretty, mousse-like foie gras canape followed by the amuse bouche - a deep fried quail egg with Jerusalem artichoke puree and shaved truffles.

Our waiter called it "broccoli on toast"

Firm broccoli stem with natural yoghurt and tiny, sweet Falmouth Bay prawns in brown butter and vadouvan (a mixture of onions, shallots and garlic with Indian spices) is one of my favourite courses. This dish highlights the kitchen's dexterity for textures and combining vivid flavours in well balanced harmony. Basically, it's clever, and it tastes brilliant. Who knew broccoli could be this good?

We drink the 2009 Katnook Estate Sauvignon Blanc from Coonawarra - a Sauv with body and lots of zesty citrus and apple.

Hampshire buffalo milk curd, Saint-Nectaire & grilled onion broth
(Truffle toast not pictured)

A shallow soup bowl is presented next. Across the base is a thin layer of Hampshire buffalo milk curd with uncooked French cheese, Saint-Nectaire. Small clusters of grilled onions and mushrooms are dotted around the plate. At the table, an aromatic, delicate broth of grilled onions is poured over the top and, on the side, waits a toasted brioche topped with large thin disks of earthy black truffle and puree. Again, there are delightfully balanced layers of flavour at work - just gorgeous.

With this, we drink d'Arenberg's 2008 "The Last Ditch" Viognier from McLaren Vale. It's exactly the type of wine I love. It's been aged for 6 months in French and American oak, and has a lovely, big honey and cream character.

Root vegetables

Next up, a colourful arrangement of root vegetables, a nutty, sweet and earthy mix, baked in salt and clay with roasting juices, hazelnuts and Lardo di Colonnata (the silky pork fat from pigs having spent their lives feasting on acorns and chestnuts in Tuscany). Oh my. What better way to turn vegetables into pure, indulgent gluttony? Our accompanying 2005 Katnook Estate Cabernet Sauvignon has rich fruit and tannin, but is light enough so as not to overpower this dish.

A plump, moist fillet of roast cod glistens beside a mellow truffle puree, cauliflower, parmesan gnocchi and, for some extra umami, sea vegetables. Again, it looks pretty and it's a perfectly executed delight to eat.

Roe deer

Finally, the loin of roe deer is baked in Douglas fir (coniferous tree) with beetroot and malt. There's an accompanying venison sausage, which is rich and gamey. The loin is tender and, although I think it lacks some flavour, it's topped with an oozy blob of rich marrow which adds depth.

We accompany it with the 2002 d'Arenberg "The Dead Arm" Shiraz. This is a big, gutsy Aussie Shiraz, with intense fruit, chocolate and spice. It's a gorgeous match for our rich, autumnal game dish.

Brown sugar tart

Before dessert, we cleanse the palate (ok, any excuse) with a tart passion fruit concoction in a shot glass, before finishing with a fantastic, sweet brown sugar tart. It looks like a long slab of foie gras and, praise the lord, is almost as rich. It comes with muscat grapes and a stem ginger ice-cream.

Coffees and teas at the end are matched with our choice from a delicious selection of jellies, merigues, macaroons and chocolates.

Although we didn't try it, the cheese trolley - or, more accurately, the smell of the cheese trolley - deserves a mention. Fantastic. When it moves about the room, it's like you just wandered into the cheese room at La Fromagerie with your nostrils fully flared. Save room.

Service was, as always, professional, knowledgeable and friendly without a shred of stuffiness or irritating fuss. Brett Graham wasn't in the kitchen on the night we ate (he was shooting in Scotland), and so our fantastic meal only goes to show what an all round strong team this is. Even the loos are good - mainly for featuring my favourite (Melbourne based) Aesop geranium leaf hand wash. It seems I'm bound to love this place right down to the finest detail.

Together, with service, water and corkage of £50 (which amounted to £12.50 per bottle) our bill came to £102 per head. The standard dinner tasting menu (6 courses plus amuse bouche and pre-dessert) costs £85 per head (or £130 per head with matching wines) and there's also a vegetarian tasting menu for £75. The set lunch menu is £27.50 for 2 courses or £33.50 for 3 courses. And, of course, the a la carte options are always available.

At just 30 years of age, Brett Graham has obtained 2 Michelin stars at The Ledbury and is part of the collaboration behind the 1 Michelin starred pub, The Harwood Arms in Fulham. That alone is enough to make you sick. But even more impressively, at The Ledbury, he has created a consistently excellent restaurant, brimming with easy going confidence, originality, finesse and food which is a joy to eat. It deserves all the praise it gets.

The Ledbury, 127 Ledbury Road, Notting Hill, London W11 2AQ (Tel: 020 7792 9090)

Hakkasan, Fitzrovia

Buttermilk bavarois

For his birthday this year, The Peanut Gallery chose to be taken to Hakkasan. I can only guess it is no coincidence that the papers announced the next day that it is the most expensive restaurant, per minute of dining, in London. Uncanny.

Hakkasan seems to be one of those places - you'll either love it or you'll hate it. I'm firmly in the love camp.

Soaring ceIlings, dim lighting and dramatic, dark wooden decor reminded me of Buddakan in New York. Unlike in New York, where great grub and a spectacular setting often go hand in hand, it's so rare in London for such a fabulous fit out not to mean the food is complete rubbish.

I have heard rumours of too cool for school service and door bouncers - there's NOTHING I hate more. Although they're glamorous with some gorgeous kit for uniforms (I'd wear those blue dresses on a night out) we found service at all times to be efficient, but quite friendly and helpful. I suppose the area when you first walk and face the line up in could be a tad intimidating. It feels like entering a night club and you have your name ticked off a list before you even step inside.

But we quickly warmed up to it with a few martinis at the bar (lychee for me, classic for the birthday boy). It's fun place for some great cocktails, even if you don't stop for dinner.

Sesame prawn toasts



Crispy duck salad

 Once seated (for our strictly 2 hour time slot of feeding - we arrived early to linger at the bar for a while first), we started with prawn toast and a duck salad.

The large, bulbous sesame prawn toasts are in a different league to anything I've had in a long while. They're fleshy and sweet, topped with sesame and served with a side of fried seaweed and enoki mushrooms. (£13.50)

The crispy duck salad mixes moist strips of duck with crispy fresh greens, pomelo, pine nut and shallots. Very nice, if a tad forgettable. (£19.50)

Stir fry pepper beef

 

Roast duck with Chinese herbs


Our main serving of roast duck with Chinese herbs is soon pronounced by TPG, serious duck addict, to be the best he's ever eaten. It's full juicy, fatty flavour is spiced up by some generous seasoning, and the texture of crispy skin against moist juicy meat is spot on. (£21.00)

Moist chunks of peppery, stir fried, rib-eye beef with merlot come spilling from a delicate, spindly nest. Again, big flavours and execution is just right. (£18.80)



Warm coconut rice pudding


Desserts are artistic creations. Naturally, TPG has the warm coconut rice pudding with mango caviar and black sesame crunch. I have the gorgeous buttermilk bavarois with blood orange jelly and fresh blood orange. (£8.00 each). Both are stunning, with interesting, indulgent flavours - a party in your mouth.

Hakkasan, under chef Tong Chee Hwee, has held a Michelin star since 2003. The food is excellent and the atmosphere is buzzing. Yes, Hakkasan is expensive - expect to upwards of £50 per head for food, and prices can of course soar if you get stuck into the cocktails or the wagyu (there's pair of £58 wagyu dishes). However, you can experience the glamour and some great Chinese food for a fraction of the price if you go for dim sum. It's fresh, interesting and the flavours pack some serious punch.  I'll be back.

Hakkasan, 8 Hanway Place, Fitzrovia, London, W1T 1HD (Tel: 020 7927 7000)

If you're interested in dim sum, you can see my review of the dim sum at Hakkasan's sister restaurant, Yauatcha, here.

Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Mayfair

Rhum baba

Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester is one of only 2 restaurants in London to hold 3 Michelin stars (Gordon Ramsay at Old Hospital Road is the other). Although they come laden with expectations, in my experience, Michelin stars are no guarantee of perfection, nor that the chemistry will work for everyone every time.

While fine dining can be exhilarating and magnificent, committing to spend a significant portion of your pay cheque on a meal is always a gamble, if not entirely gut clenching and off putting for some. The food might show elements of perfection, but the atmosphere might leave you stone cold (hello Marea). But even if imperfections exist, when a restaurant charges a hefty price tag, you hope to be buying your own little piece of indulgence and luxury. As a queen for a night, you hope to be bestowed with an experience to remember, and one in which it all balances out in the end.

So when I was invited by Alain Ducasse's internal PR for a complimentary meal with 4 other bloggers, I was pretty quick to sign up.

Sure, with any free meal, you put yourself in an awkward position if you don't like it (and this issue is potentially magnified with the value of the freebie) but restaurants and PR  know the deal - a freebie does not guarantee a good review, and I'm entirely comfortable with that. Be confident about your product before you expose yourself to potential critics - and on that note, I must say, Alain Ducasse did generously open the floor. They allowed us anything we wanted on the menu, when they could have limited us to a smaller, carefully planned selection, suggesting a certain enthusiastic spirit and confidence. And I firmly believe that bloggers should put their integrity before the next free lunch to produce an honest and objective review, from which the thrill of leaving without paying has been carefully distilled. Enough said.

While some aspects fall short of perfection, the overwhelming impression when dining at Alain Ducasse is one of decadence and luxury. Service is faultless - relentlessly good but discreet, and so much friendlier, easier and warmer than I had expected. I was in a group which had been invited to review, so effort in this respect was a given. However, while all restaurants may try to put on great service for blogger doos, it is not the case that all succeed so well. And my impression was that this was not faked - although I can't, of course, guarantee it, it seems more likely than not that everyone is treated with the same genuine care, enthusiasm, attentiveness and charm of what is clearly 3 star service.

And the luxury. We dined at the private Table Lumiere - a table for 6 surrounded by a curtain of 4,500 bedazzling fibre optic strands falling like a shimmering waterfall from the ceiling. Guests dine off Hermes china, sleek silverware and a choice of glassware and crystal. There's a huge, shiny candelabra in the centre of the table. The area has the advantage of bestowing a sense of cloud-like privacy while not completely cutting off your party from the quiet buzz of the restaurant.

The biggest faults for me came in the imperfect execution of some aspects of the menu.  The food is there to impress as much as it is to be eaten. While the overall impression is one of over the top decadence and luxury, not every dish hits the mark perfectly.

We tried the seasonal Autumn Menu comprising 7 courses for £180 per head (plus extra for matching wines and service).

An impressive bread basket comes with both butter and a fluffy cream cheese mousse. The only failure here was a bacon and onion fougasse which tasted lardy to me - not my thing.

Marinated scallops were sliced thinly over "a rich nage" (a creamy sauce) and topped with Kristal caviar - salty, creamy bursts of opulence cut through the silky goodness of the scallops and blended well with the mellow nage beneath. A promising start.

A generous serving of seared duck foie gras was rich and melt in the mouth indulgent. The accompanying potato gnocchi was excellent, coming with cep mushrooms and fresh almonds - an uncluttered, earthy compliment and I liked the drizzle of rich duck jus.

The roasted Scottish lobster was a disappointment. The lobster was overcooked, chewy and lacked sweetness and flavour. It was overwhelmed by a strong red wine sauce with heavily spiced apple and quince cooked in salted butter. All sense of delicacy was lost. This dish seems wrong both in concept and execution.

A meaty fillet of turbot was, on the other hand, executed perfectly. Served "florentine" style with shrimps, walnuts and Arbois wine, a lovely combination of flavours rich, sweet and boozy was matched with pretty presentation (like the delicately cut mushrooms).

A hefty fillet of beef was served with a yet more plentiful slab of seared foie gras Rossini with "sacristain" potatoes and Perigueux style sauce. Yes, this was a second serving of foie gras, and you won't hear a complaint from me on that score. The black truffle and madeira jus in the sauce was sweet and sticky, and went some way to holding a life line to a piece of beef which was otherwise fairly bland and slightly overcooked. The fillets around the table were all (surprisingly) cooked to varying levels of pink, despite all being ordered to medium rare.

A wedge of delicious, crunchy lettuce dressed with balsamic vinaigrette was a highlight in its own right, but also helped cut through the indulgently rich and caramelised foie gras, lazing atop a long brioche crouton. The long, twirly crisp-like sacristain potatoes on the side didn't do much more than add to the decor for me. However, this was the ultimate indulgence course that, had I adored the beef, could have had me weak at the knees.

A truffled Brie de Meaux came with a small simply dressed salad on the side. The earthy truffle gave depth to the creamy cheese and this was a thoroughly enjoyable end to the savoury courses.

The gorgeous rose and raspberry pleasure

We were treated to each of the 6 desserts on offer. The highlight was a deliciously light lime souffle with Sichuan pepper sorbet. Alain Ducasse's famous rhum baba was fun and boozy - if not earth shattering - served elaborately in a silver dish, before being split, drenched in your choice of rum and slam dunked with vanilla cream. The other puds pictured were also very good, even for someone losing her sweet tooth more on a daily basis. Delicate little macaroons and chocolate truffles were gorgeous.

Praline-chocolate biscuit with
very salty milk-salt flower ice cream

Lime souffle with Sichuan pepper sorbet

Coco caramel delight with lemon-vanilla sorbet

Chocolates & macaroons

As is often the case at restaurants of this ilk, it's often the small finishing touches that stay with you. We showed an interest in tea to finish, and out rolled a trolley laden with foliage - your chocolate mint tea is nipped fresh from the plant, followed by another trolley with big lolly shop jars of salted caramels, nougat, chocolates and marshmallow.

The tea trolley

And just when you thought
you couldn't eat another bite...

Each of our wines along the way was well chosen, but my favourite was the 2009 Saint-Joseph (Ro-Ree, Domaine L. Cheze), which was paired with our scallops at the start. Creamy, some oak, full but well balanced - this was the wine that most blew me away.

Given the price of this meal, the noted imperfections in execution are of course disappointing.  However, while it's easy to isolate the shortfalls in execution, it is more difficult to articulate how the meal as a whole was still more than the sum of its parts. How the mood, the service, the frivolously indulgent touches combined to make a chemistry that will either win you over or it won't.

For me, this was, overall, a beautiful experience - and a fun and memorable one. If spending in excess of £200 on a meal which has some glaring faults makes you baulk, you can obtain a piece of the luxury for a lower price over lunch - a £45 lunch menu buys you 3 courses with 2 glasses of wine, coffee and a half bottle of water. The 2 course lunch menu offers the same extras for £39.50, or you can try an a la carte lunch at 2 courses for £55 and 3 courses for £75. At dinner, the standard tasting menu is £115 or a la carte dinner packages come at 3 courses for £75 and 4 courses for £95.

On these less financially extravagant options, the Michelin stars might still carry a heavy burden of expectation, but your wallet might be slightly more forgiving of the shortfalls, allowing you to loosen up and let the charm and the opulence work its magic.

Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, Dorchester Hotel, 53 Park Lane, Mayfair, London W1K 1QA (Tel: 020 7629 8866)


Greedy Diva was a guest of Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester