Meursault, London 03-2012

As this place is only a couple of weeks old, coming here made me feel at the front of London's eating scene. The Japanese-inspired addition to l'etranger revealed a sophisticated bar and a stunning dining room designed by a 30 year old Italian artist. I spent a good 15 minutes waiting for my company to arrive just admiring the ceiling.

Molecular mixology came in the form of 'Bang Bang You Shot Me Down' - three liquid nitrogren crumbled sorbet Mojitos layered above wild blueberry/raspberry/strawberry compote and topped with caramel carbonated sprinkle (aka pop rocks).

Food highlights were the Crab & Lobster mayo mini-burgers - tasty shredded crab and lobster chunks served with a rich cheese sauce. The lamb burger was also good, but both beef burgers seemed quite uneventful.

Tuna with osetra caviar had a little too much soy, but gave me enough to realise they have good quality fish (we didn't try any sashimi, but the platter served over dry ice looked fantastic).

Off the a la carte menu, the standout for me was clearly Pan Fried Foie Gras, Cinnamon & Date Pudding, with Yuzu infused Endive & Lagavulin Chocolate Ice-cream. This harmony of flavours and textures was one of my favourites - fatty salty foie gras, heavy sweet pudding, sour endive and chocolate sauce (effectively). Note that none of my company liked the combination, but I thought it was sensational.

We also tried the Abalone & Foie Gras Toban Yaki (excellent quality abalone and foie gras - can't go wrong), Charolais Beef Ribeye Steak (nicely cooked tender meat, but nothing out of the ordinary), Sea Bass, Nori & Asparagus Tempura with Truffled Ponzu Sauce (tasty, but again nothing special) and Miso Grilled Aubergine with Ponzu & Aubergine Caviar (plain grilled slice of aubergine with a miso dipping sauce - good sauce, standard aubergine).

The wide range of sorbets and macaroons (with the exception of salted caramel) were nothing special to me, although next time I'll try the formal dessert and salted caramel ice-cream (they didn't have any that evening)

Next time I would order definitely the platter of 3 Crab & Lobster mayo mini-burgers and Pan Fried Foie Gras, with consideration to the Foie Gras/Abalone only if I had people to share the foie gras with. I would also be interested to try the Caramelised Alaskan Baked Cod with Miso (and compare it to Nobu's) and Grade 9 Wagyu tartare.