Eat Like Ushi

Located in Vienna's Stadtpark, the world's #21 restaurant (and #1 in Vienna) was always going to leave me with high expectations. After a disappointing food experience in the region (ie. Prague), I had some doubts as to just how good this place would be. Suffice to say it was sensational.

The degustation menu gives two options for each course - I let my waiter select what he felt were the better dishes, with the exception of the cheese platter (as I know I can't eat that much on my own).

Part of what makes Steirereck in the top 50 is attentive and particular service. Part of what makes it special is the location. Part of what makes it unique is the small "cheat cards" for each dish which allow you to read them in anticipation and analyse what you are eating, rather than the usual procedure of having the waiter overwhelm you with a paragraph of information which is rarely remembered.

And so to the food; 4 appetisers appeared (radish with powdered rhubarb, basil leaf with morels, raw celery marinated in juice with housemade salted sherbet, a dish of apple and cabbage). All were nice introductions into the meal; the celery was the most unique with a powerful sweetness accompanying the usual raw bitter flavour.

In addition an enormous selection of bread appeared for the choosing. All kinds of white/brown/sourdough with nuts/fruit/herbs for the picking and served with normal butter and sour cream butter. Of particular note, the Loaf with Black Sausage was superlatively sensational - a moist rich buttery bread with flavoursome black sausage running through its texture. One of the best breads of my life - I wanted to buy a loaf to take with me but they politely declined.

Of the set course:
- Schwarzauer Mountain Trout with Melon, Cucumber & Purple Salsify Shoots (amazingly delicate raw trout enhanced by the sweetness of honeydew)
- Green Asparagus with Sheep's Cheese, Hop Shoots and Bergamot (asparagus with a sweet, slightly sour orange flavour)
- Danube Salmon with Broccoli, Black Rice and Camomile (a white-fleshed salmon superbly treated which restored my faith in ordering cooked fish from a restaurant; the side accompaniment had a slightly unpleasant bitter taste)
- Jerusalem Artichoke with Peppers, Red Onion & Duck Offal (duck heart was nice, the stomach and other ingredients unremarkable; a few too many flavours and textures to identify individual quality)
- Barbecued Cap of Alpine Forerib with Beans, Truffle Potatoes & French Sorrel (medium-rare, well seasoned, luscious soft beef with a crispy surface, salty sauce and potato and a citrus tangy sorrel to balance flavours)
- Moro Orange with Rosa Bianca Aubergine, Angelica & Malt (good orange and sorbet, but the puree and celery/orange mix was quite strange)
- Rapeseed Custard with Vanilla, Mango & Toffee Icecream (lovely toffee and salted caramel icecream, maiji leaves juicy and absorbing the mango/passionfruit flavours)

The course was finished with a selection of dried citrus fruit/rinds (much too strong for me) served with different types of chocolates.

All in all a great meal which restored my faith in the ability of food served in the region to be more than meat and potato stews.

Next time I would order the degustation menu again (although the a la carte options look like excellent alternatives) - definitely order both Trout and Salmon dishes, Forerib and the Rapeseed Custard as they were all fantastic dishes. I would swap the Asparagus for the alternative (currently Mushrooms, Cashews) and similarly the Duck dishes (for Duck Breast with Fennel/Prunes/Pistachioes). If you are a cheese person, the selection is well known here (more than 120 types) but otherwise i would omit the Blood Orange dish and get the 6-course degustation instead.

I hadn't actually heard of The Ledbury until a friend made a booking on our behalf. I didn't realise that it was ranked 29 in the World Top 50 for 2011 making it London's highest rated restaurant. To be honest since I hadn't spent much time researching or reading about it, I wasn't overly excited about going despite the reputation.

In a rather quiet road in Notting Hill at 930pm it seemed an unusual time to be preparing for a large degustation, but minimal daytime food prepared our stomachs.

We started with a light snack (seaweed cracker with savoury cream, roe & dill - correct me if I've remembered incorrectly) as a nice salty way to kick off the evening, followed by the first formal course Amuse Bouche (kataifi quail egg, chestnut puree & shaved truffles) - delicious, fantastic.

The menu rolled on as such:
- Cornish Oyster Chantilliy & Tartare with Horseradish & Dill
- Flame Grilled Mackerel with Smoke Eel, Celtic Mustard & Shiso (the best dish by far, uniting flavours of the world in each beautiful mouthful)
- Hand Rolled Macaroni Stuffed with Rabbit & Celery with a Veloute of Toasted Hay & Truffle (any excuse for truffles)
- Roast Cod with Crab, Pinenuts, Cauliflower & Blood Orange (quality cod, excellent crab salad. The raw cauliflower slices seemed odd and out of place)
- Berkshire Muntjac Slow Cooked Shoulder with Parsnip, Apple & Juniper (nice flavours but not as tender as I'd expect from slow cooking)
- Berkshire Muntjac Loin with White Beetroot, Red Wine Lees & Bone Marrow (wonderful cooked meats in different styles, the rare slices being my favourite.
- Pre-Dessert (burnt meringue, mango sorbet - of what I remember)
- Caramelised Banana Galette with Salted Caramel, Peanut Oil Parfait (galette was average, parfait with peanuts was wonderfully sweet, refreshing and creamy-crunchy end)
- Petit Four (chocolate ganache, macaron, jelly cube - all too sweet for my liking)

Overall I liked the food; but I found the Flame Grilled Mackerel to be the only course that made me think this is different, incredible and delicious. To their credit, all dishes tasted between the spectrum of good-to-great and none were declared plain nor strange. You are guaranteed to eat well here and £105 is extremely reasonable.

Next time I would order still the tasting menu. Considering a 3 course is £80 and the tasting menu is £105, you're getting much more diversity for a small additional price. The Flame Grilled Mackeral is otherwise the only dish I would without-a-doubt order again.

Excitement was high when booking London's biggest restaurant opening of 2011. After my experience at The Fat Duck in 2009, this was probably my most anticipated place when food reading about London.

Between 6 of us, we managed to try much of the menu. Excellent quality bread whet our appetites (the white being tastier than the wholemeal) before the entree procession started. The overwhelming favourite was the famous Meat Fruit (mandarin, chicken liver parfait & grilled bread) - a splendid presentation of the creamiest parfait (similar to pate) with a delicate sweetness. Simply superb. My other favourite was the Savoury Porridge (roast cod palette, smoked beetroot, garlic, parsley & fennel) - a warm tasty almost-risotto like dish with fantastic flavour. My colleagues were also struck by the Rice & Flesh (saffron, calf tail, red wine). We also tried the Buttered Crab Loaf (crab, cucumber, pickled lemon, herring roe & stone crop) which had good crab flavour but nothing especially unusual.

My main was the Black Foot Pork Chop (spelt, Iberico ham hock & Robert sauce). Honestly my pork chop was surprisingly tough and I wouldn't order it again, but the spelt risotto and pork crackling side with it was gluttonously tasty. I sampled some of the Powdered Duck (smoked confit fennel & umbles) which was a sensationally tender piece of rare duck (apologies about the photo). My company also tried the Cod in Cider (chard & fired mussels) which had the expectedly seafood punchiness and Spiced Pigeon (Ale & artichokes) which they didn't really comment particularly on. The Triple Cooked Chips (specially request them if you aren't getting steak) were the texturally best I've had - supremely crisp housing a moist core.

Desserts were the Tipsy Cake (spit roast pineapple), Taffety Tart (apple, rose, fennel & vanilla ice cream) and Chocolate Bar (passionfruit jam & ginger ice cream). My favourite was by far the Tipsy Cake which was basically a juicy sponge accompanied by tasty grilled pineapple.

Next time I would order an entree of Savoury Porridge (for myself) and/or Meat Fruit (to share) and try the main of Wing Rib of Aberdeen Angus for 2. The waiter told us outright the Hereford Ribeye was simply "steak and chips" so I think the Wing Rib would be more impressive (granted it is for 2 people and more than double the price).