Claude Bosi at Bibendum ** | London (UK)

A glorious and exemplary lunch from a kitchen in the top bracket of its 2 Michelin starred family. The whole experience was a spa treatment for the senses!

Michelin House is one of London’s landmark buildings on 81 Fulham Road, renowned for being Michelin UK’s former headquarters from 1911 to 1985. With large stained glass windows featuring Bibendum, the Michelin man, it’s a gorgeous building from the outside as well as the inside. Since 1987 it has been restaurant Bibendum, first opened by Sir Terence Conran and publisher and philanthropist Paul Hamlyn. The restaurant was most famous during Head Chef Simon Hopkinson’s years from the opening until his departure in 1994. After that it has seen different chefs come and go with highs and lows.

Head Chef Claude Bosi, born in Lyon (France) in 1972, has lived in the UK for the last two decades building up a grand gastronomic enterprise. In October 2016 however, Claude decided to close his famous restaurant Hibiscus ** after 16 years, of which the last 9 years in London. Only to emerge after just 6 months with an impressive new restaurant, Claude Bosi at Bibendum, a joint venture with the owners of the building. The restaurant opened it’s doors in April 2017 and Michelin was equally impressed, as they instantly awarded the restaurant with two Michelin stars in the 2018 Guide.

Claude Bosi at Bibendum is open for lunch from Thursday to Sunday and for dinner from Wednesday to Sunday. Besides à la carte (3 courses at £115), they offer a Lunch Menu from Thirsday to Saturday (3 courses at £65), a 6-course Surprise Menu (at £125) and a 9-course Tasting Menu (at £185).

We had lunch two weeks ago on a Saturday and had the 6-course Surprise Menu.

As a canapé, a faux black olive, with a crunchy shell of cocoa butter and a liquid centre of olive tapenade, coating the mouth with intense olive flavour as it bursts in the mouth. Takes me right back to that theatrical and culinary delightful dinner at Al Quimia in Albufeira (Portugal).

From left to right: Grey shrimps with shrimp custard on thin crunchy pastry. Tomato and Kalamata olive. And foie gras in white chocolate, sandwiched between bruschetta’s of black chocolate. Absolute joyful mouth pleasers!

Love all the Bibendum accessories! Like the salt and pepper set and what about this butter dish? Bread was pretty standard with slices of white and brown, together with some lightly salted butter.

Next to arrive was a signature Bibendum amuse bouche, presented on a beautiful silver Bibendum egg cup. At the bottom a simple, soothing mushroom duxelles, bold, serious and powerful. Topped with coconut foam and sprinkled with curry powder. A gorgeous and harmonious pairing of flavours. Mushroom curry extraordinaire.

Delicious Cornish crab mousse and crab meat, hidden under a layer of gazpaccho flavoured jelly and salty fingers. Earthy, delicate yet bold, deliciousness!

An alternative to the crab dish for Joanne. Large meaty Cornish mussels, with raspberries and a highly decadent foamy sauce of brie, which almost tasted like white asparagus. Mexican cucumber to add gently freshness and crunch. All flavours blazing in this superb bowl of comfort.

Been looking forward to this signature dish, since we had “Mushroom Risotto Claude Bosi” at The Coach * in Marlow. Nosotto is Caude Bosi’s invention and even the name of the dish is trademarked. Not a risotto, but a nosotto as the rice has been replaced by pine nuts. The pine nuts soft to give that risotto consistency, with plenty of Parmesan and heavy on the black pepper to give a lovely heat. Pomello freshness and acidity to immaculately balance this grand dish.

Claude Bosi’s take on mash potatoes involves slow-cooking the potatoes for no less than 8 hours! This makes the texture smooth beyond imagination. Start eating from the outside combining the mash with the egg foam and smoked pike roe. The chicken powder on top adding seasoning in an exquisite manner. In the middle a deep-flavoured chicken sauce, leading you to culinary ecstasy when reaching that point. This is just a magnificent showcase of skillful perfection.

Tender snails, with that mushroom-like earthiness. Herby basil enhanced by a sumptuously soft blanket of wild garlic foam. Crunch from plain tempura bits, so much better than your average croutons. Another utter delicious dish. It just goes on and on!

Before the main dish was served, they showed us how it was cooked. The pastry that sealed the lid on the pan was cut-off at the table, to reveal a fillet of beef submerged in coffee beans.

And this is how the fillet of beef arrived at the table. With macadamia nut mousse and a pickled walnut, almost looking like a truffle. A very intense and serious coffee flavour of the beef, almost overpowering. But the nut mousse turns the coffee flavour down perfectly and bring harmony with the nuts on top and the pickled walnut. Clever and astonishing!

Pre-dessert was Nantais cream cheese, (a red-flora raw cow milk cheese from Nantes, France), with frozen forest berries and macha powder. Nice palette cleanser. Refreshing, gentle sweet, fruitiness!

A delicate crunchy pastry cup lacquered with hazelnut, filled with fresh peach compote and some almond marzipan, topped with meadowsweet cream. A few basil leaves and petals and dusted with almond powder. Excellent dessert!

To finish, some house-made chocolates. I choose hazelnut praliné, coconut and raspberry. Delicious, but I kind of expected some more elaborate friandises. Not that we needed it, but it’s just what you expect in a two or three star restaurant. Or do I just sound greedy now?

Service is excellent and matches the high standards of the kitchen. That goes for each and every member the staff. So they are well trained and managed, before attending service. Something we often see differently. Reminds me of the service at De Leest *** and De Librije *** where the waiting staff is very present and around all the time, but it never feels that way.

A glorious and exemplary lunch from a kitchen in the top bracket of its 2 Michelin starred family. The quality of all the dishes was divine. Just blown away by dishes like the nosotto and the mashed potatoes. The whole experience was less like going to a restaurant and more like a spa treatment for the senses. We left totally relaxed, satisfied and as though we had been treated like royalty.

And so, we say goodbye to Bibendum, curious to see what Michelin will announce in a couple of weeks, when the 2020 Michelin guide for the UK will be presented. As far as I’m concerned, Claude Bosi at Bibendum is exceeding his culinary family and it’s time London gets a new 3 Michelin starred restaurant!