the ritz restaurant

if you have the money to spend then theritzis a must! knocks away any posh restaurant by a mile in terms of quality 🥂. from the moment u walk in, until you leave, expect treatment like you are nothing but royalty ☺️ glass chandeliers, pure silver cutlery, 18th century louis xvi style architecture, and a massive grand piano are small examples of the things you'd find at the ritz. 😅

if you’re going to do afternoon tea in london, theritzis the place to do it.  the quintessential english favourite, it’s easy to see why it occupies the position it does. the team room is pure glamour – high ceilings, golden chandeliers, a bower of flowers alongside clinking china, hushed conversations and the scraping of plates. husband and i are at their 7:30pm sitting, a tad late for afternoon tea but treating it as our evening meal seems to be a sensible strategy.  certainly i’m not one to complain about cakes and scones for dinner. we start off with tea – orange pekoe with a side of champers for husband & having overdosed on tea earlier in the afternoon, i opt for the passionfruit & apple herbal number.  delicious.  sure beats the supermarket numbers i usually have. the sandwiches are chicken mayo, cucumber & chives, smoked salmon & ham with mustard.  the ham & smoked salmon were definite favourites and we cheekily took advantage of a few helpings of those! but for me, it was th

we had some concerns as you do, when visiting somewhere so prestigious and potentially wallet busting. high profile venues like theritzall too often live off past glories. fortunately this was not the case here, although there was no getting past the cost factor. the wine was very expensive. don't expect to find bottles at the £30 mark, the lowest price is around £50, but give it its due, the bottle of marlborough pinor noir we ordered was delightful. we very sensibly chose on this occasion to go for the set lunch which consisted of three courses for £45, rather than go a la carte, where you could pay the same price for a single course! i should also say at this stage, that the set lunch was very good indeed, so by going down that route you really are not slumming it.

there was the inevitable champagne trolley to avoid before the meal began. we were quite happy to just go with a jug of tap water (admittedly a silver plated one).

the amuse bouche was served in a champagne glass and we chose some rather nice bacon flavoured home made bread. the set lunch menu was certainly enticing, i started with a rather moreish mackerel dish and my companion had a very tasty salt beef and foie gras terrine. this was followed by main courses of duck and venison, delivered under cloches and revealed with some theatre. this was comfort food of the highest order, both were absolutely delicious. then for dessert we had a classicritzdish, the chestnut souffle with rum ice cream, a real treat. we did not order coffee but were still presented with what i can honestly say were the best selection of petit fours i have had in a restaurant for a long time. so in summary although the food is not cutting edge by any means, one of the reasons this meal stood out for us, was that nothing jarred, from the bread right through to the petit fours, everything was uniformly excellent and that is a rarity even in the best of restaurants.

christmas high tea with carols - one for the bucket lists!

over the christmas period, we got to experience the magical christmas high tea that theritzoffers.

🔆 the ambience was something i doubt i’ll ever experience again. the room was filled with beautiful christmas decorations that added to the overall feeling of elegance. the christmas carol singers beautifully sung accompanying a pianist. their voices filled the room without overpowering it. it really did feel truly magical.

👥 the service was outstanding with each waiter sticking to a clear role. they all seamlessly worked together to make such a smooth dining experience. it was actually quite remarkable watching them all perform their work.

whilst it wasn’t a cheap high tea, it was everything we expected plus more! it was an experience that i’ll never forget and truly cherish from my visit to london.

with great amusement both my brother and mother said “are you going to blog about the ritz?!”. the whole reason i blog is to share fun experiences that i’d like to remember and may go some way to answering questions may have about them. well theritzfits into those categories perfectly, a fun birthday experience for mum at an iconic london hotel.

visited oct 2013
they must be either artists or magicians in the kitchen who create such pieces of art on your plate. the amuse bouches and the starters gave my palate long lasting explosions of flavors on several levels and have therefore set very high expectations towards the main course and dessert. my lamb main course was perfectly fine - cooked just right as i like it and wonderfully presented.

however,ritzstill gets only four instead of five stars from me for two reasons:
1) the souffle dessert was way too sweet for my taste so that i couldn't even finish it, and
2) the prices for wines by the glass are simply extreme. to charge £15-30+ for a 175ml glass is just too much. the wines may be great (and mine indeed was), but maybe it would make sense to offer something more affordable to choose from as well.

overall, a very nice evening in a very special atmosphere, amazing food presentation and impeccable service.

i've been to theritzmany times over the years, mainly to theritzclub, however, which is an opulent and outrageously beautiful private members club in the basement of theritzhotel. last night i finally tested out theritzrestaurant upstairs in the hotel. it was as beautiful as the club, with gold everywhere and artwork that makes you swoon. every part of theritzmakes you feel as though you've gone back a hundred years, if it wasn't for the way people were dressed and the cameras and phones everywhere, you could easily have believed you were in an era where the monarch was a king and the party in power were the liberals...

for over a hundred years theritzhas stood in its commanding position on the corner of green park, famous throughout the world as the last word in opulence and luxury. and despite my own occasional weakness for a bit of glitz and glamour, i had never been, partly because i'd heard very little about the food in theritzrestaurant (and as most food bloggers eventually learn "nothing heard" usually means "nothing good") but mainly because they insist on male patrons wearing a jacket and tie, and i wasn't entirely sure my mismatched "granddad's funeral" outfit wouldn't make look like a bit of a tit. i quite like to feel comfortable during dinner, not like i'm being interviewed. yes, funerals and interviews, the only other times i've worn a tie.

we went to theritzfor dinner a while back for celebratory dinner and i can hands down say that it was the best dining experience i’ve ever had. all of us would agree on this. i would describe theritzas a dollhouse/fairytale palace - there is something so regal about the whole place. the interior of the dining room is flawless and truly has a wow factor. i was stunned as soon as i walked in and felt privileged to be dining there! the staff were great, very well mannered and sweet. 
the menu looked like any other restaurant menu and i thought this was yet another place you pay for the atmosphere. i was wrong - the quality of food actually blew me away.

ah, the iconic ritz...not too much else you can say! just kidding, so much to say! 

had afternoon tea and would highly recommend. the tea selection is amazing, and the staff are knowledgeable. the food obviously is amazing!

but what actually makes theritzso amazing is the ambiance. the  table settings are beautiful, the food and drink delicate and beautiful,  the floor plan and seating is sophisticated and comfortable. you really feel like you have to put your best foot forward to go here because they certainly do!

we made our way past the gorgeous palm court, where the iconicritzafternoon tea is served. i've tried the tea a few times, it's incredible but you need to book well in advance as it's very popular. 

the dining room of theritzis probably one of the most beautiful dining rooms i've ever seen. windows are floor to ceiling with heavily draped curtains, mirrored walls, neoclassical statues and colossal marble columns reaching up to the beautiful, ornate ceiling. 

and hanging from the painted ceiling are garland chandeliers so that you feel you're sitting under a sky of stars..
the table is of course beautifully set with a silver tray for the salt and pepper....

and the plates are a beautiful bluish-green colour with gold edging and aritzstamp on them. 

our gorgeous champagne glasses also had the special stamp of luxury on them.

on sunday evening we went to theritzfor a celebration dinner and i can hands down say that it was the best dining experience i’ve ever had. 

i would describe theritzas a dollhouse/fairytale palace – there is something so regal about the whole place. the interior of the dining room is flawless and truly has a wow factor. i was stunned as soon as i walked in - the staff were great, very well mannered and sweet.

starters
we were brought bread to start with followed by canapés.
cheeseballs, tartare on crackers and lobster-paste macaroons. whoever came up with the macaroon is a genius because it was such a creative and tasty little invention – i loved it. i ordered var salmon which was stunning. the texture was like sashimi and it was served with cucumber and lemon crème fraiche. the pate was starter was also delicious.

main
the way the dishes were served and lids were lifted up all together was very nice and traditional. the lamb was mouthwatering, one of the best i’ve ever tasted. this is what i call tender. i always ask for tender but never usually get it. the lamb was served with herb crust, artichokes and black garlic.

dessert
this soufflé was made very nicely but was the only dish that didn’t make my jaw drop. this is simply because fruity pastry isn’t my thing. i wish i had the blackberry parfait instead, it was beautiful. i had to dig my spoon into this dessert as well. after the desserts came a complementary set of sweets. this included vanilla/white chocolate macaroons, need i say more?

i would rate theritz6/5 if i could, perfect for a special occasion

luxurious atmosphere. chic and exclusive place.

theritzrestaurant makes you feel like in wonderland with its chandeliers and perfect high ceilings. it is the best place for a formal occasion with family and friends.

the menu is very well organized and divided through different sections. i had as my main course an artichoke veloute, which was very salutary and soft. as a dessert, i chose crepes suzette which are meant to be shared by two people and they will be prepared for you at the table!

i enjoyed the experience very much. the restaurant is obviously expensive and you should expect to spend a minimum of 150 £ for two.
excellent quality. book a table in advance.

being food bloggers we get to do a whole host of exciting things, meet interesting and passionate people, try a wide variety of food, stay in stunning hotels. never in a million years did we imagine we’d end up in the kitchens at the lavishritzhotel on a saturday morning for a dessert masterclass. but there we were, joined by a few others a little bleary eyed but very excited, lapping up every second and taking in every sight and sound of the vast kitchens buried underneath the hotel.

head pasty chef lewis wilson was our guide, he explained how we’d help create a vanilla, chocolate and hazelnut ice bombe with hazelnut daquiose and feullatine. easy for him, not so easy for us amateurs (no offence to the others). we whipped ice cream, melted chocolate (not any old chocolate – 63% amedei from tuscany), piped praline, moulded ice cream and glazed the bombe – we finally gave up when it came to the finishing touches of decoration, spindly ‘s’ shaped chocolate curls were as fragile as a house of cards. ade compared the topper to jordan’s wedding carriage from one of her many nuptials. it did look much grander than that, so stunning we couldn’t stop gazing at it, we were full of appreciation for all the stages and effort that this creation went through. whilst in the kitchen we learnt that theritzserve a staggering 400 afternoon teas a day.

the fun didn’t stop there, we were led back up to the splendour of the hotel and into the restaurant for lunch where we would be presented with the very same bombe for our dessert. the room was like something out of ancient greece, but then it has been there since 1906 – with marble columns, a vast golden glow sweeps the entire ceiling, gilded statues stand proud at the end of the room. this was absolute heaven for people watcher addicts like us (that sounded creepier than it was intended).

after our bread selection and an amuse bouche trio we leapt into our starter of var salmon with beetroot, horseradish and orange. the prettiest and tastiest plate, gently poached fish daintily embellished with dots of roe atop a beetroot smear that wouldn’t look out of place in a beauty feature. for wine loves there’s an infamous wine list, including some of their own wines that can’t be found anywhere else. our sommelier for lunch put us at ease with no wine babble, in fact the head sommelier, tobias brauweiler came in the top six of the uk sommelier of the year competition 2012. we fell in love with the red wine from bordeaux – theritzpauillac premium selection 2010 baron philippe de rothschild £64 a bottle.

next was loin of lamb with a herb crust, caramelised shallots and peas. a great juicy hunk of meat, balanced by the freshness of the peas and pea shoots. i am not normally a fan of lamb but this was really good, so much so i ate every last morsel. the herb crust was exactly that, a crust, not that powdery coating you can get from lesser kitchens. the peas were crisp and sweet whilst the softened onions offered a little change of texture.

and of course dessert was our chocolate and hazelnut bombe masterpiece, drawing admiring glances (and even a sneaky photo from other diners) when it arrived and served at our table. at table preparation and service, a lost art that theritzare proud of, so much so executive chef john williams mbe has even introduced a ‘les arts de la table’ menu at £75 per person for three courses. which includes a glass ofritzcuvée champagne and with dishes expertly carved or filleted in front of your very eyes, talk about adding theatre to one’s meal!

we weren’t finished just yet, coffee and ‘frivolities’ were yet to come and i needed a doggy bag. a silver tray of petit fours including macarons and gorgeous raspberry topped cakes complete with a teeny ‘r’ was placed before us. such seamless service throughout, but then we’d expect nothing less, it took me a while to get used to the only man at the table being served last, it’s ladies first all the way here. we’d never have thought about coming here to eat, not because we didn’t think it would be good, but because we assumed we couldn’t afford it. theritzis about much more than afternoon tea, and at £49 a head for a regularly changing three-course set lunch, it’s not that unachievable either.

we ate at theritzas their guests, this does not affect our review in any way. we always write with complete honesty.

this meal began with a few nibbles including unusually light and fluffy cheese gougeres, with lots of cheese flavour yet meltingly delicate. the first course was a mosaic of game, a terrine involving several different meats, quince, beetroot and a truffle mayonnaise (16/20). next was a single large langoustine tail, delicately cooked and served with cauliflower and spiced apple. the langoustine was palpably fresh, with a lovely sweetness; the only slight flaw was the cauliflower crisp was a little soggy, or i would have scored this higher (16/20).

truffled egg was served on a pomme puree with spinach and a garnish of white truffle. the potato was smooth and buttery, the richness of the egg balanced by the spinach (16/20). a generous slab of turbot from a large fish was served with pumpkin, mushrooms and a shellfish sauce, the turbot precisely cooked and having very good flavour, the mushroom also excellent (16/20). venison with red cabbage, celeriac and duck liver was lovely, the deer having excellent flavour, the cabbage and celeriac providing an earthy balance to the richness of the meat.

apple parfait with vanilla and calvados ice cream was excellent, the apple not too sharp, garnished with little spheres of caramelised apples (17/20). finally a classic mont blanc with caramelised pear completed the meal, the pureed chestnuts slightly sweetened and seasonal, topped with whipped cream (17/20). service was impeccable, each waiter in the large brigade knowing his duties, and even with a packed dining room dishes appeared and were removed at a steady pace, the topping up faultless.

theritzis one of london’s most enjoyable dining experiences, from the pretty dining room, the comfortable chairs through to the consistently excellent classical cooking. the bill with some wine came to £120 a head, though there is a three-course menu available at £49 a head.