• Beef carpaccio on parmesan sable with pesto: a perfect way to start the evening! The parmesan sable was cheesy and crumbly and a good contrast to the cold and thinly sliced beef.
• Lightly fried vegetable ‘Curry ball with lime mayo: warm, crispy on the outside and soft inside and delicious.
• Oat biscuit with goat cheese curd, Manuka honey with Kalamata dust: tasty once I wiped off all traces of black olives (my most hated food).
• Cashew blue cheese, pecan nuts tuile, port with juniper jelly: perfect pairing with the crunchy tuile and the blue cheese, with a drop of sweetness.

We then decided to do the five course menu as we liked the sound of every dish (not always the case) and it seemed like a better deal than going à la carte. The five course is £136 and most starters and mains were between £46 and £54.

We started the meal with absolutely delicious warm bread. I went for the bacon bread to honour Stewart, and Amy tried the potato beer option. They had several other kinds, but we were saving space for the meal that was about to come…

What we ate:

Fresh crab salad, grapefruit, mango, red pepper: a perfect way to start the meal as the crab was very lightly dressed and served with cubed ripe mangoes and red pepper bits. It was light, delicate and beautifully presented. Amy had also warned me not to eat everything on every plate, as she had been there several times before and said that there was a lot of food, and I wouldn’t have space for dessert (what she doesn’t know is that I learned from my grandmother that we all have separate space for dessert, no matter how much we eat…).

Risotto of wild mushrooms, Alba truffle: this was my favourite course and if I knew that, I would have eaten it all instead of leaving a couple of bites behind. In hindsight, I should have suspected as I LOVE mushrooms and this risotto was rich and earthy and addictive.

Spiced Cornish monkfish, mussels, saffron, gewürztraminer: I wasn’t as excited about this dish as the rest reading the menu but it beat my food expectations. The monkfish was rubbed in curry and was light, and the mussels served with it were plump, large and juicy. A very good dish. Amy changed hers for the langoustine.

Seared langoustine, Jerusalem artichoke and Périgord truffles: another example of perfectly cooked seafood. The lobster was very tender and paired well with the artichokes that came braised (I think), and as crispy chips. The textures were fun together and I kept stealing her fried chips.

Roasted fillet of Aberdeen Angus beef, braised Jacob’s ladder (short beef), red wine jus: this beef was so perfectly tender we could have used a spoon to cut it instead. On the plate we got the generous fillet and also a smaller short rib that was very tasty. The red wine sauce was perfect for the winter weather and the beef and the braised dark green veggies were doused in it.

Bitter cocoa sorbet nestled in a pistachio soufflé: I have never seen this before, but the sorbet was hiding inside the soufflé and didn’t melt! They said this is Chef Raymond Blanc’s specialty and innovations and the sorbet is super frozen and comes up in temperature as the soufflé cooks but remains cold. Amy doesn’t love pistachio that much, so she changed her dessert but actually ended up liking mine better. The soufflé rose beautifully and was light, delicate and not overly nutty.

Millionaire shortbread with salted caramel ice cream: we didn’t love this dish as much as the soufflé. The caramel underneath the chocolate could have been softer and the shortbread crumblier, but it was still tasty.

ps: a delicious meal in a traditional setting. We were surrounded by couples spending the night there, celebrating special occasions. The service was impeccable and the food was very good! I don’t find the actual dining room that spectacular but the setting deserves a higher rating because of the hotel grounds, garden, etc.

And for an amazing and special occasion in London…..The Ledbury is still my favorite!

Manoir aux Quat’Saisons