Launceston Place

December 13th 2012

Prior to a gig that me and MBH would be attending in the evening at the 02 Arena in London, we decided to have lunch in Kensington and try out Launceston Place. Hearing that Tristan Welch had left the helm as head chef, replaced by Tim Allen earlier in the year (who himself had worked at the 2 starred Whatley Manor for seven years) intrigued me further to see what this newly awarded Michelin starred restaurant had to offer. Promising "traditional British dishes with a twist. Dishes combine excellent British ingredients and are served at the table with a touch of theatre." This seemed to be an elaborate way of offering a Modern British affair, a term I have begun to dread with a number of restaurants jumping on this bandwagon.

Upon arriving at the restaurant it had a sense of grandeur, and was definitely not out of place in
this affluent area. The monotone exterior may have been slightly intimidating, but once entering, soft furnishings and neutral interiors were on show giving the restaurant some comfort in an atmosphere of which anyone would be deemed as welcome. Once seated we were bombarded with the hard-backed wine list, market and set lunch menus.

Due to it's location, the wines were on the dearer side, looking at £32.00 and up for the majority of the wines offered. Hearing that they had won "Best Wine List at the Tatler Restaurant Awards" the list had a mixture of wines from new, emerging wine areas, as well as old world wines from classically acclaimed regions. We were eventually swung by a Sauvignon Blanc from the Palliser Estate in Martinborough, New Zealand priced at £37.00- containing passion fruit and floral notes, with only slight acidity made it an easy-drinking wine. With our table full of menus and cramped into the corner of the restaurant, the canapes and water promptly arrived shortly after. Although, slightly uncomfortable these delectable morsels improved the situation- hot choux buns, filled with a rich, deep bechamel sauce were divine. Parmesan bonbons equally packed a salty punch, golden brown and crisp served on a spoon with wild mushroom puree was an absolute triumph. A wonderful way to open this gastronomic masterclass. Swiftly offered after was the amuse bouche, of curried lentils served with a cauliflower foam. The lentils were spiced delicately, but had a wonderful kick of cumin and coriander. The sweet and creamy foam acted as a perfect accompaniment to another superb dish.

We both decided to opt for the Market Menu, which came to £48 for three courses, although 3 courses for £25 on the Lunch menu was not to be sniffed at, offering incredible value for money especially in this area. The slow cooked duck egg took my fancy served with pata negra lardon, duck confit, white bean puree and a cep cappuccino. While MBH went for monkfish slow cooked in olive oil served with airbag pork, apple, bacon, onion and ras el hanout. Both dishes seemed to offer a bit of mystique and theatre in the wording, however with the restaurant slowly filling up around us anticipation of the dish was all we could have, for a good 35-40 minutes which for time to wait for a starter I believe is inexcusable. The fact that the waiting staff didn't keep us informed of the progress in the kitchen also made the wait alot more tiresome and frustrating. After some obvious hiccups in the kitchen we received our starters (without an apology for the wait). The slow cooked duck egg, was beautifully rich and cooked perfectly paired with the salty pata negra and crisp duck confit. The cep cappuccino unfortunately was a bit of a non-starter, not living up to expectations or resembling the cappuccino element that was promised, as the foam did not quite hold. Although, in its defence, the flavour was wonderful coating all the elements with the intense wild mushroom essence which balanced the dish splendidly. MBH's monkfish starter looked as pretty as a picture, with the airbag pork proving a huge success, almost resembling popcorn and tasting of crackling- a lovely addition. The other garnishes were woven together expertly with a hint of background spice from the ras el hanout, which was not too overpowering.

For the main event I was torn between a delicate veal dish or robust and hearty venison. I eventually went for the venison, the haunch was cooked in a steamed suet Pudding, whilst roe deer loin was delicately smoked in hay. Served with caramelised swede, swede puree, brussel sprout tops, poached pear and a light venison jus. The gamey, smokey meat, partnered with sweet swede and pear added freshness and vibrancy to an otherwise heavy dish. The sprout tops added much needed texture and the sauce was light and bound the dish together. MBH decided to try the Iberico pork loin, with glazed pork belly, cabbage puree, salt baked apples, roast onion leaf and fig water honey. This renowned high quality pork breed I'm sure tastes outstanding, but being that the loin isn't the most flavoursome cut of pork it lacked flavour. The glazed pork belly, however was a different story altogether. The tender belly, glazed in a sweet liquor was divine, partnered with salt-baked apples added a salty, sweet note like a salt caramel and was a wonderful addition to the dish.

For dessert we both opted for the 70% Vahlrona dark chocolate mousse, but before this we had the pleasure of a pre-dessert which proved to be wonderful palette cleanser. Sweet, but sharp rhubarb compote was delicately placed in a kilner jar, topped with a small quenelle of mellow pear sorbet. To finish it all off, candied ginger produced a subtle heat not overpowering the other elements. Superb. Swiftly after, we received our desserts. The dark chocolate mousse was placed opposite a soothing, mellow pear sorbet, adjacent to that the juicy, aromatic poached pear added an exquisite sweetness which was much needed to counterbalance the bitterness of the dark chocolate. The texture came from praline soil and Breton pastry, both adding crunch and richness with little pools of salt caramel sauce. Delectable.

Coming out of Launceston Place, we had mixed feelings. Obviously a restaurant on the up, with a very talented chef at the forefront of this surge. A few teething problems and service niggles however left us a tad frustrated, knowing that it could have been better. This place definitely deserves the attention and it's newly awarded Michelin starred status, but with more time for Tim Allen to settle into this new busy, city environment it should only get better.

Rating- 7/10