LONDON: DAY 4

On our fourth day in London, we didn't have any really big plans. The main one was lunch at Maze, a Gordon Ramsey restaurant that I'd made reservations for months before we arrived. So we spent the morning checking out chocolate shops and buying tickets to see Wicked that evening. We also went to Fortnum and Mason- yet another super fancy department store.

I know that some people compare it to Harrod's, but Fortnum and Mason is much smaller and lesser known. It also means it's quieter and makes for a more enjoyable shopping experience. It kinda reminded me of Takashimaya in NY.

Just like Harrod's, the also have a large food section in the basement. Here's a pick of some dried beef and another of the veggies:

After our little shopping excursion, we went back to the hotel to change into some nicer clothes. Then we headed off to Maze at Grovsenor Square (near the American Embassy). I'd chosen Maze because I knew I wanted to have one nice meal in London, and Maze has a 28 pound 4 course prix fixe for lunch. (yes, that's still quite expensive, but it's cheaper than anything else you're gonna find). Also, the current chef (not Gordon Ramsey) at Maze has become quite well known for his talent- he used to work at El Bulli in Spain.

The dining room is very modern and well lit by large windows overlooking the square. I like it's muted colors of brown and beige. When we arrived, the dining room was already half full, and it'd fill up more as we ate. And for the first time, we seemed to be the only Americans in the room. Everyone else was English. There were lots of business lunches going on around us, but there were also a few group of friends having lunch and a few couples like us. First, we were served bread with butter and salt. The butter is also a deeper yellow and more yummy in Europe. (higher butterfat content).

We were then given menus. Not surprisingly(for having a Spanish chef), it was organized in a tapas style, where you're recommended to get 4-5 courses( generally around 10-15 pounds per course). I already knew I was going to be ordering the prix fixe (you get two choices for each entree, and you can also order a 6 course prix fixe if you really want), but Tom decided that he was more interested in ordering from the menu, and so went for that.

My first course was this lovely pumpkin soup:It had little bits of caramelized chestnuts and onions at the bottom, and then the soup was poured over it. I loved the savoriness of the caramelized parts, and the sweetness of the soup- I just wish I could've had a bigger bowl of it. It was supposed to be served with this little brioche that looks like a mushroom (below) but the waiter gave it to Tom! (I let him have it, I don't like egg breads and he loves brioche)Meanwhile, Tom had his first course- some form of avocado mousse with creme fraiche, topped with crab and oddly enough, a quenelle of sweet corn sorbet and caviar. All these flavors my sound kinda crazy, but the sweet corn sorbet was surprisingly good, and this ended up being Tom's favorite course.

My next course was a seared scallop served with squid ink risotto and "micro squid" (really tiny pieces of squid which I gave to Tom). This was also a very good dish, I loved the risotto because it was packed full with butter. Oh, also, Maze is really into tableside presentation, so when I got my plate, the waiter actually came with a tiny copper pot and spooned the risotto onto my plate (I wish I could've asked her to just leave the pot- I know there was more in there). For Tom's second course, I had encouraged him to order a version of the croque monsieur, with Jamon Iberico and what really interested me- a 2 hour egg yolk. (which means the egg yolk was cooked for 2 hours via sous vide). Tom thought this course was ok. I would've liked it more had the presentation been different, but he found it hard to eat the sandwich with his hands while trying to spread the egg on top.

Next up, Tom got a chicken poached in butter. It was served with this little potato guy on the side. Personally, I didn't find it that amazing, but the sauce was packed with butter and the chicken was moist. I guess I just don't particularly like poached chicken, even if it is poached in butter.
As we ate, I did notice that table next to us- a business meeting of 4. They'd ordered wine and were having the same prix fixe meal as me, but I felt I was getting shafted. They got two scallops, rather than my one, and seemed to be getting more generous portions of everything! Tom thought I was being paranoid, but I think it'd because they were more likely to come back, and we were just tourists. Oh, but I will mention that service here is impeccable, as you would expect from a restaurant of this caliber. There's a ton of waitstaff on the floor and they are quick to refill your water (and at 4 pounds for a bottle of Evian, why not?) and meet your needs.

Ok, for my main course I had the "fish and chips". This wasn't my favorite course. The fish was just slightly over cooked, and not hugely flavorful. And the "chips" weren't potatoes! They were fried turnips. Lastly, the homemade tomato sauce that they'd served it with wasn't really tasty at all.

For Tom's final course, he ordered the beef tongue and cheek (aww, isn't that such a cute name?)I think he also found this course to be pretty good. It was well cooked and the meats were tender.

And now for my favorite course of this meal- dessert. Normally, I find desserts to be a major let down. I rarely say that I like them (even the desserts at Jean Georges were disappointing). I asked Tom when the last time is that I said I even liked a dessert. It took a while to decide, but I did love the caramel tart served at Enoteca. (oh, and the gelatos at Mozza). I'd eaten at both places in March.

I wasn't expecting much from this dessert- a mainly chose it because it came with a doughnut. (mmmmmmmmmm, doughnut). You'll noticed it as that little fried ball- and it was filled with a very nice apple filling. But the best thing was the apple caramel trifle. It's got a layer of apple gelee, a layer of caramel pudding, a layer of vanilla cream, and apple granita spooned on top by the server. It was DELICIOUS. I'm not even a fan of cream, puddings and gelees, but the combination of it all was great.
And of course, we ended our meal with a few petit fours: chocolates and rose gelees. By the end of the meal, Tom was stuffed and I was pretty full. I know that people on Chowhound had complained that the portions on the prix fixe were too small for the price, but I think Americans are always complaining too much about how small portions are. I found this lunch to be just right, and I didn't walk away painfully full (definitely a good thing). I really did enjoy our meal, but we certainly won't be doing anything like it again anytime soon. With everything included, I think it came out to around 90 pounds- you can do your own calculations into dollars.

After our large meal, we went back to the hotel to rest. But we were up soon enough. A tube strike had started that afternoon, and we needed to take the bus to get to theatre where we'd be seeing Wicked that night. We arrived a little early, so I consulted my Cheap Eats guide and decided to take us to a fish and chips place a few blocks down from the theatre. I don't remember the name right now, something involving Super Fresh and fish. At any rate, they have a sit down restaurant, but next door, they also have a take out part. We decided a cod fish and chips combo. We took it to go, found a seat on the sidewalk and began to eat (yes, we're super fancy like that). Here's the cod. It actually wasn't too bad. It was really really hot, but it was moist inside and pretty yummy. The customers in front of us had gotten a large amount of take out, so this had just been fried. (I could see how it'd tasty pretty crappy if it'd been sitting under a heat lamp for a while).

The chips were not as great. They were all different sizes, so they didn't fry evenly. And they were clearly frozen and not too delicious. Overall, it was a great little snack to have before we headed into the theatre- and an appropriate meal for our last night in London.