Service, was generally good although the waiter pointed out to me that I seemed to be struggling through my wine, which was not the case.. as if trying to make me drink faster and thus order a second bottle. This is a bit of cheap trick and not worthy of a 2 star restaurant. Looking at the wine prices which were all 4 times market prices and you can see why.

Overall this restaurant takes itself too seriously. Marcus seems so obsessed with getting his 3 stars that he has forgotten his simpler roots and how to cook food that tastes great , not just looks great.

Please don’t get me wrong.. this is good food, but for the price and 2 star rating, it is not that good!

Not a big fan of wild honey/arbutus – they keep prices low by using cheap ingredients, and their cooking isn’t that adventurous to begin with (ie can be reproduced at home without too much difficulty)
In terms of cooking vs. price, I think if you venture a bit towards the outskirts of London you can get loads of good bargains. Off the top of my head:

1) Chapter One – a bit less than £30 for DINNER I happened to be working at Bromley for a short while so I did eat there quite often, esp lunch. Wine mark-ups are a tad less spicy than london. (p/s if you book via toptable, you can redeem a 2 course dinner meal for 3,000 points… book soon as I suspect they are going to raise their prices soon)

2) Chez Bruce – not bad £40 for 3 course dinner and around £30 for Sunday Lunch, which so happens to be the dinner menu. Getting a table might be tricky but I did get lucky. (Also they happened to hand me a 50% voucher to be used at their sister restaurant Glasshouse 3 course dinner £37.50) I will be doing a double review of Chez Bruce-Glasshouse soon.

Ah ledbury – i love that place. After Ambassade, probably my next favourite. But the restaurant is a bit of a trek – you need to walk through some druggy council estate from the tube station. Prices seem to be going up and up – a reflection of the restaurants ambitions. (previously the restaurant kept the prices low by using cheaper cuts of meat, but it is obvious they are guning for a 2nd star by using more expensive cuts/ luxurious ingredients). In terms of food, I would say 1* starters, very strong 2* mains, 1*/2* desserts. I actually enjoyed my venison dish more than the one I had at the Square, the suckling pig was vv. good and the souffle here is spot-on. Cheese board is small but in uniformly good condition. Another nice thing about the restaurant – not everyone gets served the same amuse bouche or pre-dessert!!! Service isn’t as polished as the Square.

re: mutton – my guess is that it was cooked sous-vide, then roasted.