Alyn Williams at The Westbury
Hotel in Mayfair has been on my list for a while, despite the occasional
appearance on TV, Chef Alyn seems to go about his business quietly. Reports of this
one Michelin starred restaurant are consistently positive; however it has
always slipped the mind under the bombardment of new openings and more media
centric Chefs in the capital. Searching for a tasting menu for a recent dinner
the restaurant popped up and at a cost of £65 per head, it seemed a good deal
for what was being offered.
The hotel itself is a classical
five star affair, and the dining room reminded me of Simon Radley at The
Grosvenor in Chester. One difference being floor to ceiling wine cupboards
dominated the centre of the room at Alyn Williams. As we were presented with the menus a barrage
of nibbles were sent from the kitchen, the pick of which being oyster leaf and
lemon gels.
The first course of langoustine,
lemongrass, chilli, coconut and cucumber was obviously Thai inspired and was a
light refreshing start to the meal. The langoustines were plump and sweet and
the broth was well judged and did not overpower the dish.
A fish course followed with hake,
nasturtium, asparagus and sea urchin foam. Flaking fish with rich sea urchin, what’s
not to like?
French fine dining wouldn’t be
complete without foie gras, and the next course delivered this in the disguise of
a semi fredo with prune, celeriac, bacon and espresso. I’ve never been too fussed
over foie gras and this didn’t change my mind, although it was well presented
but felt like it was getting the ingredient on the menu for the sake of it. I
guess some connoisseurs would be in uproar if foie gras was omitted.
The next course was Iberico pork
with spices, spring salad and tarragon emulsion. The dish was presented with
the pork hidden underneath the salad which I soon swept out of the way to get
to the main event. This was my favourite course of the night so far with the
Iberico pork being sensational, full of flavour, perfectly pink and tender.
Attempting to keep the cost down
we restricted ourselves to a glass of white followed by a glass of red wine. We
opted for an unusual white Rioja which proved to be a great choice for the
first few courses. A short while passed before the next course and the
sommelier kindly topped up our red wine for the overdue last savoury course.
We chose one of each of the main
courses of Lomeswood Farm duck, wild garlic and barigoule and new season Welsh
lamb, jersey royals, seawood and black truffle. By now food fatigue was beginning
to settle in due to the delights of the previous courses, but the pick of the
mains was the duck for being more interesting.
The first dessert acted as a
palate cleanser of mango, avocado, meringue and sherbet. This was followed by a
sweeter medley of chocolate, melilot, date and salt.
For quality it lives up to its
one Michelin star billing with nicely executed dishes. For pricing the tasting
menu is pitched at the lower end of comparable menus at other starred restaurants,
which is a nice surprise as it easily outshines most.