amuse bouche: single quail egg, pea puree & pea dust

The Ledbury is by far my favourite high end restaurant in all of London, if not the world. I’ve been lucky enough to visit once and twice, and now on my third visit, I knew the service would strike a perfect balance between professional yet friendly and I trusted the food to be equally poised between comforting and delicious, while pushing the boundaries of conceptuality and creativity. I expected all that, but honestly? I didn’t expect, didn’t foresee, couldn’t imagine The Ledbury upping the ante on themselves.

But they have.

Let me take you back a few months. Remember when I was working in NYC? When I went to Momofuku Ko and was rendered speechless by the extraordinary “shaved foie gras”? Believe me when I tell you that even now, I still get flushed talking about that dish because it is still hands down one of the most unique and utterly inimitable culinary experiences I’ve ever had. The way the frozen flakes of foie land weightlessly on your tongue and instantly dissolve… a deliriously good memory forever seared into my consciousness.

So imagine my delight when the second course of our meal at The Ledbury – a salad no less – comes topped with non other than Momofuku Ko style shaved foie gras.

I died. I went to heaven. Where everyone eats shaved foie gras every day.

What number goes above #1 on a favourite restaurants list? Seriously, because The Ledbury has just shot itself into superstardom in my books.

Anyway, I’m not going to go on and on about how much I love The Ledbury. I think that’s all very self evident, so instead, here’s all the food that we had… everything beautifully plated as always…

taster from the chef: foie gras tartlets

bacon & onion brioche

flame grilled mackerel with avocado, Celtic mustard and shiso

salad of green beans, peach, fresh almonds and foie gras

Squeeee!! This is the dish! The shaved foie gras! Now you can see what it looks like… and imagine being at Momofuku Ko having an entire bowl of this magic dust, mixed in with peanut brittle and riesling gelée. CRAZYGOOD.

risotto of new potatoes with girolles and crisp Guinea fowl

Cornish seabass with lobster consommé, radishes and buckwheat

pork jowl roasted with spices

loin and shoulder of lamb with black sugar & garlic glazed aubergine

pre-dessert: olive oil pannacotta

brown sugar tart with red gooseberries & stem ginger ice cream

cheese course

petit fours served in a vintage Black Magic box

So there you go. Now, if you were to ask me if there was any one thing I didn’t like about The Ledbury, I’d probably say no. But if you held a gun to my head, or threatened me with an eternity without ice cream more like, I’d probably say that as awesomely delicious as it is, I’ve been served the brown sugar tart with stem ginger ice cream on all of my visits. Come on, Brett Graham, surely you can come up with another brilliant dessert?

But even if he can’t, I would happily eat that brown sugar tart for another decade or five.

The Ledbury
127 Ledbury Road
Notting Hill, W11 2AQ
0207 792 9090
website

The Ledbury on Urbanspoon

15 Thoughts on “just when I didn’t think The Ledbury could get any better…

  1. Now you have made me think I deserve a third visit as well! It is so good….

  2. Now I’m even more bummed that the Ledbury is fully booked when I’ll be in London. 🙁

  3. I almost started to cry when I read this. Birthday is Sat and I decided to cancel the reservation because of the impending baby pop. Decided going into labor at The Ledbury might ruin the other diner’s night. Well that and I just cant eat that much food right now. Glad you got to eat there once more before you ship off.

  4. Shari on July 4, 2011 at 10:03 am said:

    DROOLING. Want. want. want!!

  5. Gourmet Chick: Oh it’s so worth it, especially with the shaved foie gras now.. go go go!

    Average Traveller: Oh NO! That is a tragedy 🙁 I wonder if it’s worth calling back to see if they have cancellations? Definitely a worth while place to visit.

    London Lady: Well, you will just have to go again to celebrate the birth of your child 🙂

    Shari: Wipe that drool off your keyboard.

  6. My gosh, everything looks good. Especially the bacon & onion brioche and the olive oil pannacotta (never tried that!) I can see why this is one of your favs.

  7. Catty you can’t keep writing about The Ledbury without bringing me some meals back when you come back to Australia. M’kay? 😛

  8. Now I need a third visit. That only seems right…

  9. Adrian: And that brioche you can have over and over and over again! Just have to ask for more! 😀

    Lorraine: Hahaha okok, I’ll stop 😉 But if you ever get to London it should be on your list!

    Gail: DEFINITELY.

  10. Christine on July 4, 2011 at 10:59 pm said:

    Looks amazing…again!
    Since your last post about them I was thinking it would be the perfect place for our anniversary dinner – have just booked for August! *whoop whoop* 🙂

  11. Wow, the presentation is amazing! My eyes are on that cheese platter – yumm!

  12. gemma p. on July 6, 2011 at 6:06 pm said:

    I’ve always wanted to go to The Ledbury… my friends have been talking about it for years but I think it’s hard to get a reservation? Anyway, after reading all three of your drool worthy posts I think I should get off my arse and make the reservation!

  13. Everything looks amazing! Definitely somewhere we need to try before the end of the year 🙂

  14. I’m finally eating at The Ledbury this Friday!

    I can’t say how excited I am, even more so after reading your review and seeing your stunning photos!

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