Frog by Adam Handling (Covent Garden)

As another restaurant included in the Luxury Restaurant Guide, complimentary opening glasses of sparkling wine were very welcome in lieu of the house cocktails having run out and is always a nice introduction.  First up came some visually very pleasing snacks of egg custard, parmesan foam mushroom (maitake) and bacon crumbs which were delightful.  Another consisted of a delicate tartlet of cucumber and oyster emulsion and exmoor caviar which was just wonderful, it has to be said. A black waffle with butter, whipped cods roe, burnt lemon gel held subtle cods roe and perhaps could have been a touch saltier even with the caviar (also blander than expected) but was very nice indeed.  A wagyu beef tartare with kimche emulsion was an absolute winner, no question.  These snacks represented such a good selection from someone who knows how to please.

Bread came with a fabulous chicken butter, and final snacks of tomato, pepper and basil snack along with boneless chicken wings (which were quite sticky on the teeth) and chicken that was not powerful in itself, but cooked beautifully and tender.  Overall, less the chicken, these were a very strong statement of an opening to a meal.  

Scallop, pickled, carrot, chilli crumbs, marinated chilli and miso with seashell foam was a lovely dish.  The scallop itself was plump and cooked perfectly with the other elements complementing in spite of being punchy in themselves.  Steamed cod as the next dish came with charred grape, celeriac purée and lemon grass foam sea was genuinely knock out.  The smokiness combined with the with lemongrass, the creaminess, crunchy and light components came together beautifully – a superb dish.  

Herdwick lamb was the main with courgette, basil, lamb fat crust, basil emulsion & herb oil pickled courgettes, potato and beetroot tuile, with a lamb reduction served with black garlic & tarragon.  These ingredients were never going to be in danger of not working and the key was simply whether it was good lamb and the components done well and this indeed it was.  The fat on the lamb was rendered well, with fulsome flavour and quality reductions throughout. I tried the English wagyu beef as a £25 supplement with black garlic, truffle purée and wild herbs. This was pleasurable beef with a deep jus and I was pleased for ‘upgrading’.

A pre-dessert of lemon sorbet, lemon purée, sparkling wine foam and fennel pollen was ok, a little quite sharp, with biscuits that for me were a touch too hard for comfort, but it did it’s job to cleanse, albeit in a slightly too aggressive way here. Blood peach, lemon verbena ice cream elderflower mousse meadowsweet biscuit, potato leaves was more successful I thought, but the crown for the desserts went to the white chocolate mousse, strawberry sorbet, with pandan mousse, caramelised honey strawberry and jus.  Pandan leaves are notoriously hard to grind down and reduce and even harder to get the right balance as it can be very potent.  I have had numerous cakes, dips and even donuts in Singapore where pandan is used for almost daily consumption and this pandan dessert really did stand up well.

Petit fours were offered in an elaborate and fun treat box and included a clever egg custard served in a cold egg shell, served upside down, chocolate ganaches and passion fruit and apple jellies among others.  All of these were well chosen and agreeable.

Visually, this was a very strong performance and I was just delighted with the overall flavours of most of the dishes with only a couple of areas that were not quite as high which is actually a good strike rate for a menu of so many courses.  It is a classy and well-designed menu with dishes and combinations that are the sort you would naturally like to eat. The price tag is higher than average, but there are multiple offerings to make you feel well and truly catered for and I would heartily recommend this restaurant for going all out on a Romantic occasion or celebration –  you just need to accept well before going that it will be safe bet  to set aside £700 (I estimate) for two if you want to do properly with opening champagne and a reasonable bottle for the tasting menus with water, coffee and service charge all in.  It will be worth it and I’m looking forward to doing again when I can.

Food Grade: 86%