L’Ortolan * | Shinfield (UK)

An impressive and sumptuous dining experience,
with a really terrific, balanced mixture of taste and texture roaring through the menu!

L’Ortolan is located in the picturesque village of Shinfield, Berkshire (UK) just outside Reading, housed within a beautiful Grade II listed manor house. The handsome two storey red bricked building, once a rectory and then a private residence, has been extended by two conservatories, one a lounge, the other an extension of the restaurant. The high ceilinged dining room, with its large mirrors, well-spaced tables and comfortable upholstered chairs, breaths a formal, yet relaxed atmosphere.

L’Ortolan takes its name from an illegal dish in France. A small songbird drowned in Armagnac, roasted in the oven and then consumed whole (bones and all), under the veil of a napkin. Not being convinced by this “delicacy” however, I was relieved not to find them on the menu!

Head Chef Tom Clarke worked at a couple of other restaurants before he, at age 22, ended up at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons **, where he worked for 2 years. In 2009, Tom had his first stint at L’Ortolan as a Chef de Partie and soon worked his way up to Sous Chef. He left L’Ortolan to work in France at Le Strato hotel ** in Courchevel and the legendary L’Oustau de Baumanière ** in the Provence. Returning to L’Ortolan in August 2012, Tom went from Sous Chef to acting Head Chef, before he took over the kitchen in January 2015 as Head Chef, retaining the Michelin star held for 13 years by Tom’s predecessor Alan Murchison in the process. A star the restaurant still holds today.

L’Ortolan is open for lunch and dinner from Tuesday to Saturday. On Friday and Saturday evening you can choose between Head Chef Tom Clarke’s inspired 7-course Menu Gourmand (at £79) and the 10-course Discovery Menu (at £105). Friday and Saturday lunch and on weekdays, à la carte is also available.

We went for dinner on a weekday two weeks ago and had the 7-course Menu Gourmand. During our last visit, more than a year ago, I couldn’t do a review as I didn’t make notes. So let’s correct that now.

The canapés were served in the conservatory, where we had our aperitif. A beautiful venison tartare, with charcoal mayonnaise and grated cured egg yolk on a flax seed cracker for me. Delicious. For Joanne a scrumptious mushroom arancini with a peppery nasturtium mayonnaise. Don’t understand why there was only one for Joanne though. Would have liked one too!….

Slices of sourdough bread and buns with green olive and Parmesan with a light salted butter. The buns were particularly nice, both texture and taste-wise. I must admit I ate two of them.

Dark flavoured dashi custard, with ponzu dressed fresh halibut, grapefruit segment, pickled fennel and avruga caviar. Punchy flavours, but very well balanced. Great appetiser!

Joanne got a small leek and potato soup instead, as she doesn’t eat cold fish. Smooth comforting texture, yet interesting taste with the leek oil. Lovely.

Beautifully cured salmon with a crispy fish skin cracker on top. Nasturtium powder, nasturtium mayonnaise and nasturtium leaves with the herby peppery flavour. Some sweet-sharp tangy yuzu curd and bitter radish discs to bring balance. Cucumber juice with liquid oxygen creates cumcumber snow, which was added to the dish at the table. Pretty dish and utterly tasty!

A dish from the vegetarian Menu Gourmand for Joanne, as a substitute for the cured salmon. Different preparations of beetroot, giving an interesting texture variety. Looks simple, but hidden complexity on the plate. Earthy yet refreshing, with the horseradish and dill working beautifully with the beetroot and a subtle floral note of the violas

Goose liver parfait exquisitely enhanced by the raspberry powder in which it’s coated with. Looks like a dessert and intriguingly plays with your senses. Love the poached apricot and apricot gel to the goose liver. Beautiful and tasty smoked duck ham. Raspberry jelly and pickled raspberries for additional freshness, cob nuts and a pain d’épice tuile for crunch and sweet apricot meringue stick. A worthy signature dish!

Well poached halibut was lovely and a great combination with the leek fondue with confit lemon underneath. The charred baby leek adding a touch of smokiness. Parsley puree and seaweed adds to the seasoning of the halibut. But the lobster ravioli was simply to die for. Together with the avruga caviar and the truffle sauce, which added pure luxury. What an absolute joy!

Perfectly seasoned pink loin of hogget with a braised leg bon bon (Hogget is a domestic sheep between one and two years of age. So between a lamb and a mutton). The bon bon was on the dry side, but delicious in taste. I love the combination with the sweetcorn, which came in various preparations: sweetcorn powder and ash, charred sweetcorn, sweetcorn salsa and sweetcorn puree. Pickled girolles, some spinach and an excellent lamb jus. Another great dish!

Cleverly deconstructed Pimms in a glass. Lemon balm and yoghurt panna cotta, Pimms jelly, mint compressed cucumber, orange segments, sugar tuile with orange and strawberry powder. Love the cucumber with the citrusy flavour.

A colourful painting on the plate! Nectarine parfait in a white chocolate shell, dusted with red powder. Parfait was still a bit too hard, so difficult to eat, but tasty! Loved the almond crumble and caramelised almonds with the matcha tea soil. Nectarine gel and smooth nectarine sorbet. Not too sweet dessert and perfectly balanced.

Service is friendly and efficient and the staff is welcoming, attentive and very helpful with the menu. The sommelier was great, with his clear enthusiasm for organic wines. He let us taste three different red wines, so we could select our favourite to go with the hogget. That’s hospitality!

Far from being the experience of eating a tiny hedgerow bird veiled in a napkin, L’Ortolan is an impressive and sumptuous dining experience. There is a really terrific, balanced mixture of taste and texture roaring through the menu, with the hogget with sweetcorn, the cured salmon with cucumber snow and the goose liver with raspberry being the perfect highlights of this.