the ledbury

after having visited the taste of london last summer, the ledbury catapulted to the top of my wish list. a strawberry and hibiscus bellini blew us away, and the inventive ash-baked celeriac left us seriously impressed. themichelinguide results were post

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 2michelinstars 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 my lunch reservation 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

the ledbury has quite a reputation. they hold twomichelinstars and were recently voted the world’s thirteenth best restaurant in a poll which saw the fat duck come only thirty-third...

the ledbury had been on our hit list for quite a while. with a coveted twomichelinstars, and an australian chef/owner - brett graham - it really was more of a must-do. so we did - and we are so pleased we visited. it’s been permanently on the worlds 50 best restaurants and the worlds 120 best restaurants lists since 2011. for 2019 it sits just outside the top 50 at number 64 but it has been as high as 10th previously!

have not seen such a cohesive, harmonised team in operation for a while,michelinof not. all the stuff were fab but a special mention goes to javier and natalie. the food is fab, the highlights for me from the tasting menu were the smoked eel surprise, and the most amazing pigeon dish i have ever had! fantastic lunch! wine matching menu excellent!

it’s not often you get a chance to dine at the ledbury, but when the opportunity arises make sure you jump right on it. currently placed at 27th of the world’s 50 best restaurant list. the ledbury also has been accredited with twomichelinstars, one from 2006 and the second in 2010. brett graham is the man behind the acclaimed restaurant hailed from australia bagging the josephine pignolet award, giving him the opportunity to come to london.

i can’t think of too many restaurants that i’ve had both a strong desire to visit and an equally strong level of frustration to secure a table. given the reputation of the ledbury, a perennial #worlds50 best restaurant and twomichelinstarred establishment, i can understand that it’s a little difficult to get into.  however, the main reason that i’ve been unable to secure a table in the past is because you cannot get a table as a solo diner….

it's weird, i've never liked the look of the ledbury menu so i've constantly put off going despite it constantly coming out as the no 1 tasting menu in london and often the uk. every tasting menu i've had anywhere there's been an item on it that i don't think works, and i'm consistently proven wrong, given that, i figured that a menu where i didn't think anything worked must mean that i was again wrong about it, and i was - it was superb.

let's start at the beginning; the ledbury's a small restaurant in notting hill, located on the corner of 2 residential roads and is utterly unassuming, from the outside it could really be anything, inside it oozes style, the tables are laid out such that you're not sitting on top of each other and it's all nice and serene as you'd expect. so, to the food....

we had the 8 item tasting menu with paired wines, the first course was tomatoes and langoustine oil, i don't really know how to describe it except textures and flavours of tomato, each different but excellent together, the rich langoustine balanced it all and held it together really well. the white beetroot with smoked eel (and i admit i'm biased as i love smoked eel) was again perfectly balanced as i expected the beetroot to overpower the eel but no, it was mild enough to complement it perfectly. the warm bantam's egg with dried ham and truffle was a sunday morning fry up given an up market make over, absolutely awesome (i admit to holding some bread back to mop up the egg), it was the mildest dish with truffle i have ever encountered and this is a good thing as i find truffle more often than not kills the flavour of everything else on the plate, this was really well balanced and the truffle was just one of the flavours not the heavy flavour killer i'm used to. the steamed romanesco with shellfish, crab and parmesan crisp was full of the flavour of the sea and the parmesan just enhanced the sea flavours with it's own saltiness. the glazed aubergine if i'm honest was the weakest item on the menu, more a texture than a flavour but then i dislike aubergine, however the meat sauce was amazing. the galloway beef was to die for, perfectly cooked, melt in your mouth beef with bone marrow, just perfection. the first dessert was a set custard and doughnut, i loathe set trifle, mainly for the horribly gelatinous cold custard within so this was a massive shift from what i was expecting, far from being the claggy lump of vanilla i expected it was a light delicate little thing with tasted amazing, coupled with the tiny delicate doughnut it was a real surprise, two things that should be heavy both in taste and texture were light, delicate and refined. the brown sugar tart with stem ginger ice cream was a struggle, not because of anything to do with the food just because we were stuffed. even though we'd only eaten brunch that day and it was now 10 hours later we had to fight to make room for it.

so, the service, there's no dress code, which is great, and the service is as informal as the dress, this is no bad thing, no stuffy waiters, just attentive, friendly staff who realise that the slightest slip up from them can ruin your meal. sam was excellent, a really nice guy, happy to answer questions about the food and everything a good manager should be, he gets himself out to the front of house and meets the diners rather than hiding out the back. our sommelier was excellent (i'm really sorry i can't remember her name which is appalling as she was fantastic), explaining every wine and very helpful when i explained that i don't particularly like red so she swapped out the heavier of the 2 reds (a malbec) for a south african white which was not dissimilar to a white burgundy and could hold its own against heavy flavours (great choice btw). and of course dylan with his very dry sense of humour. i have to say that i think the service here was better than at the waterside inn under diego and the food was on a par, perhaps the waterside has 3michelinstars because it's a prettier building, who knows? but the ledbury blows the only other 2 star restaurant i've visited, the hand and flowers, out of the water. well done guys and thank you very much for an excellent anniversary meal.

the 2michelinstarred, the ledbury is a gastronomic explosion of foams, foie gras and finesse.exquisite fine dining, perfect for a special celebration and definitely worth booking months in advance. the ledbury, 127 ledbury road, nottinghill, london, w11 2aq. about conciergeangel. view all posts by conciergeangel →

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 amichelinstar 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 a lunch service and where there were about 4 other diners.

earlier this month, i had the pleasure of dining at the ledbury. it was three of my friend’s 30th birthdays (one of them including tim!) and matt had managed to get us a table at this incredible restaurant, one of very few to have twomichelinstars! chef brett graham has won countless awards since beginning his career in australia at the age of 15, working in a fish restaurant. at the ledbury he is joined by head chef greg austin, also from australia.

an extremely overdue post, due to a few busy days (holidays, birthdays, visitors from italy) and the looming and now passed, deadline to hand in my write-ups for next year’s restaurant guide. amongst the places i was asked to cover this year was the ledbury, michelinstarred establishment in notting hill. partly owned by phil howard, i had sort of always wanted to try but it was  not exactly on top of my list, partly, i confess, because notting hill is, for lazy me, quite a trek. i asked my friend and fellow restaurant aficionada the chaotic cook to join me for dinner and i finally made my way to the far west (not really).

we went to london for a week to visit our chosen son. during our visit we ate at nine excellent restaurants. the most memorable after the fat duck in bray had to be the ledbury a michelinrestaurant which was number 10 on the san pellegrino the world's 50 best restaurants list 2014. other than the fact that they tried to take our table before we had had dessert, it was a most delicious meal. the scottish langoustine with asparagus, shiitake and smoked dulse was a standout course followed closely by the roast breast and confit leg of pigeon with cherries, red vegetables and leaves. pigeon is a course which is rarely, if ever, served in canada. the impeccable professional service was lively and friendly. the ledbury is an excellent restaurant worthy of its two stars. we drank notting hill blonde ale moncada brewery and ate three amuses bouche of green peas and crispy brawn cubes; new season beetroots with smoked eel and dried olives; flame grilled mackerel with pickled cucumber, celtic mustard and shiso; warm house bread and house butter; scottish langoustine with asparagus, shiitake and smoked dulse; poached new season’s morels cooked in earl grey tea with truffle and wild herbs; aged fillet of belted galloway beef with celeriac baked in juniper; roast breast and confit leg of pigeon with cherries, red vegetables and leaves and the inner bits, separately; whipped chocolate carmel with frozen jasmine tea and citrus; passion fruit soufflé with sauternes ice cream; brown sugar tart with stem ginger ice cream; passion fruit soufflé with sauternes ice cream (very light and fluffy); and petit fours - buckwheat chocolates, dandelion and burdock jellies and juniper and fernet branca "sticks;

the gf and i didn't have as many days in london as we did in paris. but even with our limited time, i knew we had to make it out to notting hill. not for the blue door. rather, i was looking forward to trying chef brett graham's offerings at the ledbury. first thing's first. i was lost. a good thirty-plus minutes lost. yet, without a frown or any expression of dismay, we were welcomed with a smile and taken to a wonderful table showcasing the dining room. it should be no surprise considering the ledbury has consistently maintained 2michelinstars and, at the time, it was ranked 10th on san pellegrino's world's best restaurants list (it's now ranked 20th). regardless, the warm welcome was appreciated amidst my disarray.

so i'm trying something new this time. instead of writing extensively about all the dishes, i'm just going to post the pictures of my experience there. i'll comment briefly at the end. please note that this is an occasional thing; i'm still going to be writing other full reviews. a fantastic culinary experience at this two-starmichelinrestaurant. some dishes pushed my ability to appreciate certain flavours and the presentation was all-round stunning. a very expensive meal (£100) but nearly worth every penny. posted by kojo london at 21:39