Telephone: 020 7493 3223

Website: www.princessgardenofmayfair.com

Date of visit: 2 October 2011

Costs: Dim Sum from £2.60 per dish. Certain main courses around £30-£40

Wines and beer: Did not check – I was a guest – but it won’t be cheap as this is Mayfair

Likes and dislikes: Nice restaurant, decent food at a decent price but the waiting – despite booking – is poor.

Cuisine: Chinese – north and south

Summary:

This is a very modern and chic restaurant south of Oxford Street. Bright and noisy. Everyone seems to shout in a Chinese Restaurant irrespective of nationality. On the day we went (Sunday lunch), the place was full of Chinese but there were a significant number of non Chinese eating lunch. I was told that the clientele and atmosphere is completely different on a weekday evening.

There is a lounge/bar and two separate dining rooms.

They make you wait in the lounge despite having booked empty tables in the restaurant – is this a ploy to sell drinks? On the day I went, most people were drinking mineral water or tea so the ploy is questionable. It certainly isn’t due to a lack of staff as there were plenty.

This was a lunch to celebrate a relative’s birthday. There were 7 adults and 2 children.

We went for the usual array of dumplings – sui mai, har gaw – turnip cake, chung fun etc. They were all very good. The pot sticker was big and fat but was not crisp enough at the base. We also had crab meat fried rice – they do not do fried rice with char sui – and pork julienne fried noodles.

Princess Garden is supposed to be a Northern Chinese Restaurant and they do have unusual dishes that you will not get in a normal Chinese Restaurant e.g. Chinese smoked fish.

The total bill including 3 ching tao beer and two glasses of dry white and 2 juices came to just over £140 and we all had plenty to eat.

The food here is above average and is certainly better than most of the dim sum establishments in Soho. I rate the food here as better than Kai’s – which has a Michelin Star – down in South Audley Street.

E

Telephone number: 0207 629 2999

Website: http://www.hibiscusrestaurant.co.uk/

Date of visit: 2 September 2010

Approximate cost per head: Set lunch £29.50 for 3 courses, a la carte: 2 courses £60, 3 courses £75

Comments on wine list/beer: a top class list from under £50 to hundreds of pounds – this is a serious list with a serious mark up

Summary:

Claude Bosi is the new darling of the London gastronomic world. He used to run a restaurant of the same name in Ludlow and decided to move down to London around 3 years ago is pursue of his third Michelin star. Hibiscus was recently rated as number 49 in the top 50 restaurants in the World.

The restaurant has a modern décor. The dining room is one medium size room with wood panelling at the back.

When I first discovered Claude some 6 years ago, I was blown away by his cooking. I had the menu degustation at £50. It was 7 courses of wonderful food excelling in taste and presentation. Alas with London rates and rent, his prices have gone up astronomically.

There were 5 of us and we had the set lunch. To start with we were offered a amuse broche of  water melon “suspension” which was very refreshing.

Most of us then had the terrine of pork and foie gras  with szechwan pepper and coffee whilst another had the volute of cheese and broccoli. Nobody went for the lobster and crayfish mousse (£5 supplement). From the sound of the menu, you will appreciate that this is very complicated cooking with all sorts of interesting ingredients. I had the terrine and have to confess that it tasted like rillettes with foie gras. I could not taste the pepper or coffee. However it was a master piece of cooking.

Next, there was a choice of silver mullet, mutton moussaka or Anglaise chicken with wild mushrooms , white beans and peanut sauce (£10 supplement).

The mutton moussaka came looking like a slice of terrine. It looked nothing like the moussaka that I knew. The people who had it said that it had all the ingredients – aubugine, lamb (mutton), béchamel sauce, tomato etc but tasted different. They said that it was very tasty.

The rest of us had the chicken which was a ballontine of chicken stuffed with a wild mushroom duxelle with a hint of spinach. It was sliced into rounds and sat on top of a small pilke of  borlotti beans in a light sauce. The chicken skin was crispy and the inside moist.

For desserts, they offered berries with ice cream and honey, blood peach parfait with a white peach sauce and a selection of cheese (£8 supplement). The cheese was served with walnut bread, some sort of crisp bread, grapes and dried figs covered in sesame seeds.

We had a bottle of Abarino (£45), two bottles of Minervois (£59) mand 3 bottles of San Pellergino with the meal. With coffee, the bill for 5 including service charge came to just over £450.

Now, you don’t expect to go to a temple of haute cuisine and get away cheap but, I have to say that the portions were disappointingly small. You get  just about enough to taste. All meals came with no extras – potatoes and vegetables. For example, the Moussaka was about the size of a packet of 5 razor blades. The cheese were 4 small slices. Each one about the size of a 50 pence coin and less than 1cm thick.

I did rate this place as one of the top place for lunch. I still rate it highly but it is not value for money. This reminds me of the old days of Cuisine Nuevo – very pretty, very tasty and a great place not to gain weight.

E

Web site: www.hush.co.uk

Telephone number: 02076591500

Date of visit: 20 November 2009

Approx. cost per head: £23

Comments on wine list/beer: Comprehensive wine list

Review:
Really nice contemporary atmosphere and decor. Dessert choices seemed more innovative – the mats bar cheesecake was a particular delight. I had the salmon which was a large slab rather Ghana sliver youmay get elsewhere. My colleagues had a steak and ale pie which was presented with a tremendously puffed top and in a copper saucepan. The Pinot noir from new zealand was good if not special. Helpful and attentive – but not over bearing – staff.

Nr_gill@hotmail.com