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Thursday 21 January 2010

maze gordon ramsay


The complete photo album here.

super yummy beetroot w/ slipcotscallops

If you're in Central London and you wanted to have a super spontaneous and slightly pretentious Sunday lunch, I know exactly the place where you can make the most of the free parking and no congestion charge weekend. Tucked in the corner of a nondescript red brick in the not so nondescript Grosvenor Square is Gordon Ramsay's modern stake at nouvelle cuisine, and head chef Jason Atherton's baby: Maze (and Maze Grill, depending on which way you go upon entering the double doors - we decided to go left).


Maze was... really really good, but not entirely a-MAZE-ing. The stuff we ordered were actually very delicious, but some of them I think were a bit of a hit-and-miss. We had (and I will not give you the French terms because I am not a snooty food critic, just a girl whose favourite sin is gluttony):


yummy bread basketcocktails

  • 2 portions of homemade bread basket (4/5 for the olive bread, 3/5 for the stick)
  • marinated beetroot w/ soft cheese & walnuts (WOW! 5/5)
  • fisherman's pie aka scallops w/ pancetta (5/5)
  • red mullet w/ garlic aioli, bouillabaisse and olive tapenade (4/5)
  • halibut w/ some sort of broth & black pudding aka blood block (4.5/5)
  • pork cheek & belly cut served with mash potatoed butter (3/5)
  • lamb w/ a fruity puree and a faggot - aka lamb sausage ball with mash potatoed butter(2/5)
  • chocolate mousse w/ honeycomb ice cream (3/5)
  • coconut sorbet (4/5)
  • berry granita (3/5)
  • pear & vanilla mojito (4/5)

lamb cheek (very tender but i don't really like) and faggot


Overall, I'd give the food a 3.95 out of 5. Everything was actually cooked to perfection - the fish flaky enough, the meat super tender, the scallops were very fresh and the beetroot dish is to die for and is so good you'd order two portions of it. My coconut sorbet was oh my god, heavenly. The cocktails were great too. However some bits and bobs just didn't go well. The mashed potatoes were more like blobs of butter with a potato essence - it was too buttery we actually tried it on the nice bread and it actually worked. The lamb was slightly too salty and the chocolate mousse was a bit too... normal. You can go to Tesco & buy the Finest range mousse and not know the difference.

You don't go to Maze if you haven't eaten in decades as it is a tasting restaurant. Do not be fooled by the plate as big as your table, there are only three scallops on it. You can probably go for the set lunch but you might have to either a) pay extra for more dishes from the a la carte menu or b) run off to McDonald's straight after. Up to you. We opted for A which was tres bien. Good price for good food. We were full after our meal, but I can imagine some people who might not be. Funny the look on our neighbour-table's face when he saw the plates (WOW eyes) and saw the amount of food on it (OH..OH.. eyes). He should've gone to Maze Grill where they serve proper servings.

We asked for a booth table upon reservation and got the best seats in the house. Private enough to camwhore and go goofy whilst eating but public enough to feel the buzz. Our table minder (whom we named) Francesco was ever so attentive and made sure our food was well presented before allowing them to come to our table. They have an army of waiters queuing for inspection before delivering the food. Wow. We also cheekily asked for an extra bread basket and Francesco gave us the freshest one.


fake birthday cake



I got a free cake in the end, by the way. Boms cheekily told another table minder (whom we named Achmed) that it was my birthday (in December?!?!?!). Achmed gave us all the smiles throughout lunch and I was a bit creeped out. After dessert, he gave us the wonderfully decorated brownie cake and some petit fours. Francesco smiled all-knowingly and I had to give them a wink and two thumbs up. 3.5/5 for the cake but 5/5 for the absolutely amazing service.

The feeling we got from Maze was that we paid 70% for the food and 30% on the service and experience. Which I suppose is only fair, because you do get out feeling like you've ticked something off the gourmet list after all but at the same time remember enjoying the hospitality more than you've enjoyed some of the dishes. You just have to make sure you know what to get. Don't be afraid to ask - they'd be more than happy to help ;)

Maze Gordon Ramsay
http://www.gordonramsay.com/maze/

13-15 Grosvenor Square London, W1K 6JP Tel: 020 8897 4545
Lunch for 2: £100 with cocktails, not wine

2 comments:

  1. Hi Leng! What a good idea for a blog. Looking forward to your reviews and recipes!

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  2. ooh, thanks Aldo!
    btw, i'm on my 3rd week of meatless monday na tomorrow. =) i'm really enjoying it. so great we've got alternatives here.

    are you full-time vegetarian na or pescetarian?

    ReplyDelete