Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
Chelsea, London
After a quarter of a century, you could forgive Gordon Ramsay for turning his fine-dining flagship into a culinary jukebox of his greatest hits. Such is his enduring worldwide fame, he’d be assured an audience for whatever he served up. But, apart from the crowd-pleasing signature lobster, langoustine and salmon ravioli that’s been on the menu since day one, the kitchen’s elegant and sometimes playful dishes are resolutely modern. Take a main course entitled ‘100-day aged Cumbrian Blue Grey, panisse, cosberg, pontac’, described by one of the smartly suited waiters as ‘our take on steak and chips’. Despite the long ageing, the perfectly medium-rare piece of rare-breed sirloin had a mild flavour and was oh-so tender, while the garnish (a nugget of beautifully rendered fat) delivered a delicious whack of gamey, savoury funk. The crisp, refreshing cosberg was also a revelation: a cross between iceberg and cos, the lettuce heart was glazed with dashi vinegar and garnished with a multitude of pickled shallot rings, wild garlic ‘capers’, herbs, flowers and tiny croûtons. Its palate-cleansing freshness counterbalanced the pastrami spice-dusted, crinkle-cut panisse chips served on the side, and the umami pungency of their accompanying black-garlic purée. Needless to say, classical saucing is of the highest order here: pickled mustard seeds added welcome acidity to that beef jus and red wine-based ‘pontac’, while brown butter lifted the ‘jus noisette’ served with a roast veal sweetbread to another level of deliciousness. This was our dish of the day – a generous piece of precisely cooked, honey-glazed offal, encrusted with puffed grains and allium buds, all bathed in a velvety macadamia ajo blanco. Heavenly. Everything delights and every single item we sampled was faultless, from an ethereal gougère filled with smoked Montgomery Cheddar (one of a trio of stunning canapés) to a benchmark cherry soufflé with coconut ice cream and a selection of petits fours including a wonderfully full-flavoured, cushion-shaped blackcurrant pâté de fruit. Chef-patron Matt Abé (namechecked on the menu cover) and head chef Kim Ratcharoen are doing a fine job, not just by protecting the jewel in Ramsay’s crown but also by expressing their own highly attractive and accessible culinary creativity. After a decade, it is perhaps time to refresh the intimate dining room's rather dated lilac and grey interior, although it still feels like a special place in which to dine. Regulars may also lament the retirement of charismatic maître d’ Jean-Claude Breton in 2022, but the quality of service remains undiminished and is arguably the finest in the capital (perfectly paced and perfectly judged). We felt like royalty, even when we asked for tap water – which was poured with as much care and ceremony as a vintage Bordeaux. As for the wines themselves, don’t expect to see anything under £50 on the exhaustive and opulent iPad list, although there are some relative bargains that will ensure the bill doesn’t spiral into the stratosphere.
