the ledbury

the ledbury is not somewhere you will easily get a booking at short notice, full for months ahead and for good reason too, it's a restaurant whose global reputation is well justified, we had a fabulous longlunchand some truly outstanding food. open up your calendars, flick forward a few months and pencil in a day, you won't be disappointed.

there were two menu options. the speciallunchmenu at £45 or the tasting menu at £75, both available with matching wine. such a tough choice, but it was the ledbury and we just had to go down the "more" route. we had matching wines for each course (including a matching wine for the amuse bouche) making a total of 8 glasses each (i think). pretty heavy forlunchtime drinking i have to say. in retrospect the "less" route might have been the more sensible choice.

we started with chantilly of colchester oysters with a tartare of scallop and oyster, horseradish and dill - a very elegant dish, this was followed by flame grilled mackerel with smoked eel, celtic mustard and shiso. then we had hampshire buffalo milk curd with saint-nectaire and truffle toast. the truffle toast was the highlight for me, delicious. we were four glasses down at this point when we moved on to the fish course of roast native lobster with broccoli stem, natural yogurt and indian spices in brown butter. this was followed by pork cheek cooked in pedro ximenez with puffed grains and spiced cream and roast haunch of fallow deer with white beetroot and smoked bone marrow and several more glasses of well matched wines. we finished with a light pre-dessert and the dessert of pave of chocolate with milk puree and lovage ice cream.

the food was universally good, we just felt that we had over done it. i am always happy to go to the ledbury but i think next time i will stick to the set lunch.

one tip though, if you do want to go down the tasting menu route, is to do it atlunchtime - the tasting menu is £30 cheaper then than the one offered in the evening.

i have been trying to go there for a while now, ever since i read about how this restaurant was attacked during the london riots last year (story which i thought was so peculiar as this was the only restaurant attacked like this) and ever since i read that they had become the 14th best restaurant in the world (from 34 a year ago, so a big jump, highest climber in the list), and they also now have 2 michelin stars and is supposed to be one of the best places in london (note this year the ledbury has climbed 1 more place to become the 13th best restaurant in the world), but something always happened, and i kept moving mylunchreservation around for half a year, but i finally made it. the ledbury is located on ledbury road in notting hill (not sure if this is named after a british town ledbury, located in hereford) and

they say thatlunchis the inferior meal of fine dining. then again, “they” are usually the same smh’ers that throw shade on british food, and once again they are wrong. though the ledbury may be more casual by day, their flavors are anything but. i often enjoy the amuse bouches even more than the apps. i love the sneak preview of all that is to come, and the momentary mouthful allows a glimpse into the fleeting whims of a beautiful mind.

when planning our recent vacation, realizing we would have a few hours in london, i knew i had to get my priorities straight, starting with where to eat.  as i polled various foodie friends who had been through the city, i received a number of suggestions, but one was listed over and over again — the ledbury.  thus, like any good global food lover, i watched the reservation window and pounced on an appointment for a longlunchon our one full afternoon in the city.  given our short stay in london (under 48 hours), i had booked a hotel in nearby notting hill — the laslett (more on that experience later).  i chose the property primarily because of its location, thus, we could easily stroll to lunch.  hubs and i lucked out for our brief visit, and had a clear walk to make our 1:15 reservation.

we visited here forlunchearlier in the year. we opted for the tasting menu and it didn't disappoint. the restaurant itself was a bit subdued being sundaylunchbut is very well presented and i'd imagine would have a great atmosphere in the evening. a slight criticism would be the tables perhaps being a little too close together.

the food and service were top notch as you'd expect. the snacks at the beginning were excellent (especially the dumpling) and the meal throughout was of a very high quality with the highlights being the agen prune and the belted galloway dishes. they even gave us an extra desert to share which was a really nice touch. the manager was very charismatic, knowledgable and passionate about the food.

this is rightfully in the upper echelon of fine dining establishments, it certainly won't disappoint.

really amazing choice for our first meal in london. we opted for the 4 courses setlunchmenu and although the dishes started out small we walked away perfectly satisfied. i wasn't a huge fan of the scallop cevice but couldn't fault how fresh the scallops themselves were. the strawberry tart is definitely one of my fave deserts ever. it seemed so simple in theory but the combination of textures and flavours were perfect.

ledbury used to be a restaurant i would frequent a lot back when i was living in london. back then, the restaurant had just obtained a michelin star and was viewed as a ‘lite’ version of the square. it was more of a neighbourhood restaurant rather than a destination restaurant. booking was not essential and you can literally walk-in and get a table on the day. i still remember alunchservice and where there were about 4 other diners.

regardless of what santa might decide come christmas day, judging by how utterly spoilt i've been for my birthday, i must have been very good this year... or i'm just surrounded by the best people. probably the latter. the best of the best being, of course, my incredible husband e. he always spoils me rotten (not just on special occasions, and i don't mean in a material sense - he does a lot for me, all the time), and he knows me so well. he'd already gifted me a dreamy present from when we went to new york (i am subsequently obsessed with all things henri bendel), so i definitely did not expect him to take me out for what was the bestlunchi've ever had in london. a bold statement, and one that means it surpassed the likes of alain ducasse (ok, only by a hair, but still) and l'atelier de joel robuchon.

the best restaurant in the world!

from the casual ambiance to the friendly service. just perfect. of course the food is the star here.

been here twice for dinner.
have not triedlunchyet.

i visit this place often with my husband forlunchor dinner.lunchhave a less fixed with an excellent value for money, all the dishes are beautifully presented and delicious. excellent price and quality ratio. tasty food, cooked perfectly. do not hesitate; the restaurant is worth the trip.

had a long leisurelylunchhere and enjoyed every second of it. beautifully presented food with interesting flavour combinations. friendly professional staff. we found it very reasonably priced considering the attention to detail and the quality of the food. still dreaming about the passion fruit soufflé with sauternes ice cream i had for dessert. this place is a definite must when in london.

located in the heart of the memorable neighbourhood nothing hill you are going to find the ledbury restaurant.  the venue offer french, european and birtish cuisine. 
the resturant is also know with its contemporary cuisine with 2 michelin stars. 
would recommend to try theirlunchmenu set with four course with overall price of 45 pounds.
as i am a fan of fish i have been ordered in the venue wild salmon, tomato butter, crayfish & basil with a glass of white  wine! delicious meal and excellent services!

perhaps one of the few restaurants i have been so eager to go to in the uk is the ledbury. getting a booking in the ledbury that suited the occasion proved far more difficult than trying to solve a poirot plot, nobody but hercule himself knows. the ledbury is not a restaurant you just try to book two weeks in advance, no you must have the idea that you are going months in advance.
well to celebrate the bfs not so special birthday (any birthday that doesn't end in an 0 is not so special) i had the magnificent idea to book the ledbury in july and made a booking for september. so last weekend across we trotted to westbourne park to have sundaylunchthere.

so once we were sat, the bf and perused the menu. on a sunday you have two choices, either the al carte menu at £90 for four courses or the set menu for £45 for four courses with or without pairing wines. we opted for the setlunchwith pairing wines at £80 per person.

what i absolutely love about fine dining is the attention to detail, the crisp white table cloth and the flowers. for me there is something beautiful about sitting down and having a formal meal. to start our feast we had an array of amuse-bouche, which were all really excellent.

next came the gazpacho, gazpacho is one of those things if done well, then it is delightful and if done badly well it is just a disaster. the gazpacho had an ever so delicate tomato taste, i say ever so delicate because if i didn't know what gazpacho was it would be difficult to find the tomato in it, it's far easier when you know what flavours you are looking for. the dish was so light, with such beautiful flavours that it made me think i could have gazpacho everyday. i loved the way the gazpacho was served, first came the bowl, then came the waiter who delicately poured the gazpacho into the bowl and viola, an amazing gazpacho was ready for us to eat.

the seafood risotto followed the gazpacho and all i can say is what a delight. i make a lot of risotto at home and i profess not a single one of my risottos have remotely come to tasting as good as this. the risotto itself was creamy like a feather on your tongue and then you got the wonderful seafood taste just came through giving you that ahhh feeling without overpowering you.

the beef soon followed the risotto and this was the moment that i felt that i had to take galvin at windows of its podium and put the ledbury on. i absolutely love beef, so once i tried a slice of the beef my exact words were 'omg, omg, omg ....' at which point the bf looked confused but i when i finished my sentence with 'it's so good, it's better than my all time favourite beef experience at galvins' he chuckled.

to finish off our meal with i had the meringue with mango and vanilla. when i ready the setlunchmenu the desert was the only thing that put me off, i like rich, heavy luxurious chocolate deserts, so when i saw meringue with mango and vanilla it didn't jump out at me. more fool me. this desert taught me that light and creamy can be divine! the meringue was light, smooth and oh so tasty, and as for the mango well that was such a great compliment to the meal.

the bf opted for the cheese at an additional £10 supplement. the cheeseboard at the ledbury is not the best i have seen to date in terms of having an extensive selection but the quality of the cheese was certainly excellent.

great for - an extravagant meal for a special occassion . as much as i like amazing food and fabulous restaurants i think restaurants like the ledbury should be for a special occassion just because they are so special. after all the queen doesn't where her crown every day (secretly i think she does i know i would) so some things need to retain an element of magical moments only.

went for a weekendlunchand was completely impressed with this place. the food was excellent and the drinks were pretty decent as well. on top of all this, this one is pretty reasonable. the only problem with this place is that it is difficult to get a table here, especially on weekends and thus, reserve it beforehand only.