The Greenhouse ** | London (UK)

Dinner ranged from outstanding to underwhelming dishes.
Detached old-school service makes the tranquility stop when you leave the garden path.

Set in a secluded space down a low-key mews lane in Mayfair, London (UK) you’ll walk into The Greenhouse through a “garden path” surrounded by plants and sculptures. I must admit, that I was expecting to walk into an actual greenhouse. But besides a few subtle and understated references like the occasional glimpse of ivy or wood to liven up the white tablecloths, the dining room feels more like a standard, business oriented, hotel restaurant.

The Greenhouse has a long history. Opened in 1977 it featured many notable chefs over the years. The restaurant received its first Michelin Star in 1996, while Gary Rhodes was in charge of the kitchen. But lost it the following year when Gary Rhodes decide to leave. In 2003 the restaurant was bought by MARC (Marlon Abela Restaurant Corporation), which also owns London’s Umu **, The Square * and private members’ club Mortons. That year they regained their Michelin star under Head Chef Paul Merrett. The second star followed in 2013 just after Head Chef Arnaud Bigno joined a year earlier. The Greenhouse has held on to the second star ever since.

The latest Head Chef at the helm is Alex Dilling, who joined in August 2018 after Arnaud Bigno left. Alex joined from Hélène Darroze at the Connaught, where he was the executive chef.  Prior to that he had been Head Chef at Caviar Russe in New York, earning a Michelin star under his direction in 2013.

The Greenhouse is open for lunch from Tuesday to Friday and for dinner on Tuesday to Saturday. A la carte is only priced as 4 courses for £110 if you don’t count any supplements. Also on offer is a 3-course Set Lunch Menu (at £45), a 6-course Tasting Menu (at £125) and an 8-course Tasting Menu at (£155).

We had dinner two weeks ago on a Friday and had the 6-course Tasting Menu. The menu offers two options for two of the courses. But a Caviar & Tuna starter at £68 supplement and an Œuf Noir in-between course at £18 supplement were not really options for us.

A tartlet with celery, Fumaison cheese and a confit quail egg, Linzer potato confit with smoked eel and caviar, pie of smoked salmon rillette and on the spoon a refreshing cucumber gazpacho bomb. The amuses looked appealing and neat. The taste was fine, with different flavour combinations.
The annoying thing was that they knew that Joanne doesn’t eat cold fish as it was mentioned with our booking, we told the waiter when asked if their were dietary requirements and we also just discussed the menu to change a cold fish starter. And then they bring an amuse bouche with cold salmon rillette and the potato with smoked eel.

And for me a sashimi of yellow tail tuna as a final amuse bouche. Nicely flavoured with yuzu and shiso. However, there was no alternative for Joanne. This is just not right, certainly not at a restaurant of this level.

Three different breads on offer. A sourdough, a French baguette and a comté cheese and olive bread, which I had. Nice texture and lovely taste. A salted butter and one with Madagascan pepper.

Escabeche of lovely young Cornish mackerel under a flower blanket of heritage carrots. The apple and coriander sauce was crispy and herby and delicious with the mackerel.
Escabeche means that the fish is first sauteed before it’s marinated in an acidic mixture and then served cold or at room temperature.

For Joanne a beautiful take on a clam chowder. Excellent rich clam chowder sauce with a meticulous flower of clams, potato and crunchy cucumber leaves. A stunning dish and utterly delicious.

Waiting staff was not only very present, but also very active when it comes to pouring the wine. Just after the first course the whole bottle was poured and the waiter asked if we wanted another one. Felt a bit pushy, like they didn’t hit their beverage target yet We stuck with water for a bit, certainly at the prices of this wine list!

Before the next course was served, they showed us the whole prepare Andignac foie gras at the table. And the waiter explained the preparation of the foie gras. Poached in milk for 24 hours, then cured with five spice, with marinated Cévennes onion, lemongrass, champignon de Paris and lemon thyme. The foie gras is then coated with white chocolate and decorated with gold leaf. Looks beautiful.

After the presentation and elaborate explanation of the whole foie gras, the dish as it was served was disappointing. The foie gras tasted not much different to a standard duck paté. The quince jelly was okay, but the pastry waffle was like an ice cream wafer and was tasteless.

Pieces of braised veal sweetbread with a nice crust, covered by a deep flavoured veal foam. Some vegetables on the bottom to add some texture together with the puffed buckwheat on top. Excellent dish with very satisfying tastes, flavours and textures. Bravo!

Turbot with pickled endive on top. A lovely smooth artichoke and vanilla puree and a dark smoked jus. Unfortunately the turbot was a bit dry, but nice flavour combination and a lovely sauce.

A posh take on the French classic chicken chasseur (or hunter’s chicken), Normally a humble dish of braised chicken in a rich sauce of mushrooms, tomatoes, wine, and herbs.
Before serving they showed us the whole chicken breast at the table. That was a bit weird as they hardly explained anything that they couldn’t do when serving the plate. Perhaps they expect guest to take some instagrammable pictures?
Chicken breast filled with trompette and cep mushrooms and a chicken mousse. Alsace bacon bits sprinkled over and a very nice, foie gras like, sauce Albufera. In the bowl we got little pomme soufflée balls, reminding me a bit of the eighties, when we were served these as a special treat on Sunday dinner. On the side some rolls of iceberg lettuce and rocket salad. Didn’t get those at all. Too chunky and mainly iceberg lettuce. Should be more refined and no clue why you would not serve those on the plate.

Translated as “the Normand hole,” Le Trou Normand is usually served between courses to both cleanse the palate from the previous courses and make more room for the rest of the meal. So basically a pre-dessert. This one was with a delicious passion fruit sorbet, some basil and a sugar tuile. The tuile was a bit too thick and impossible to break with your spoon. Nice flavours though.

Inviting presentation of the dessert. Fresh figs from the Provence, fig sorbet and compote. Coconut foam, fig vinegar jus and a lemon tuile. Nice, but a bit monotone in taste, almost boring. Needed some freshness and the jus didn’t cut it.

A little choux bun with pistachio, a chocolate bonbon and a hazelnut macaron to finish the meal. Well made friandises, with pleasant textures and tastes.

A hospitable present to take home was given with the bill. A dark chocolate bar filled with salted caramel. Nice touch.

Dinner ranged from outstanding to underwhelming dishes. The Mackerel, Clam Chowder and Blanquette de Veau were just superb. Other dishes couldn’t meet that standard and had issues or were just disappointing. So the whole dining experience left me with reserved feelings.

The atmosphere is not helping. The website promises tranquil dining in Mayfair, but the tranquility stops when you leave the garden path. The real issue here is the service, which is old-school and just brusquely detached. Waiters are too present, glaring a lot and whispering amongst each other when approaching a table to serve, as if they don’t have a standard protocol. And not forgetting the pushy wine waiter and the cold fish in the amuse bouches. Far from the “immaculate” standard that should be expected at this level. And a far cry from other, if not all, two Michelin star places we have visited.

This evening’s performance was not up to the two Michelin star level. The bill came to around £340, including one of the cheaper wines of the extensive, but mainly very expensive wine list, and 12.5% service charge. I must say, I reluctantly paid this time.