#16 - Pollen Street Social, Central London (*)

I took half a day off work today to go with Jarl into the city for my first Michelin star since Oren left in April and the newest star since March 2012. That is just too long inbetween and I really need to find myself a new fine dining buddy now that both are about to be back in New Zealand.

I've been wanting to go to Pollen Street Social since I read about it opening, Jason Atherton is an ex Maze chef and was tipped to have a pretty awesome restaurant. He proved this by getting a star pretty much within six months.

Jarl was late so I sat at the empty bar beside the reception. I was uninspired by the cocktails but intrigued by a giant decanter thing that seemed to be full of red wine (but probably a poor uneducated guess) and there as an obsession with stainless steel as I watched the bartender pour a drink into a goblet. I finally got bored of waiting and was taken through to the restaurant section, which was deceptively larger than I thought from outside. The setup was fairly usual, booth tables on the back wall and free standing tables in the middle beside a bar where drinks were kept and the service staff gathered together everything. There was a bar to the side with gorgeous hanging lights and there were also candles encased in what were supposed to resemble light bulbs. I really liked the wooden panelling touches.

There is a set menu at Pollen Street Social, £27.50 for three courses. An amount you could easily spend at a local pub without the dessert and unlike some set courses in Michelin star restaurants, there was an inspired number of choices.

My courses were (accompanied by a delicious Spanish red, slowly getting rid of my red wine phobia):

Pressed ham hock & foie gras, fennel & English radish, squid, piccalilli gel The fois gras was marbled through the ham hock and the squid was so amazingly cooked. Everything went together perfectly on the plate. We also were given fantastic brown bread and baguettes beforehand with salted butter and this garlicky fish paste. Oh and green olives, wasted on the both of us.

Slow cooked salt marsh lamb neck, pickled girolles, creamed Lincolnshire potatoes The lamb was heavenly. I just wish there was just a bit more jus for my delightly smooth potatoes.

Chocolate “Black Forest” fondant, praline, liqueur sponge, cherry sorbet This was the absolute highlight. There were liqueured cherries on the plate that just burst in your mouth and that fondant was like a mousse with a soft inside. We enjoyed this with a chilled port as suggested by the sommelier. Port is a new thing to me as well but I really do enjoy it (need more port and cheese evenings in my life). Before this we had a pre dessert as a palate cleanser which looked like a tiny frothy wheat beer but was in fact this mango/pineapple sorbet with a meringue froth. We also got these little lemon cakes at the end. We didn't order coffee but the table beside us did and were offered a chest of draws filled with goodies such as peach macaroons to pick from.

I went downstairs to use the bathroom and the cellar is sort of glassed up into the middle of the room so you can see all the wines and a bunch of meat is also stocked in a glass refrigerator. It's quite random but I found myself standing there staring at the duck and steak fillets.

Again, this was an excellent priced meal. With our wine, service and Port it came to £60 each. It was a great last hurrah for Jarl and I'm glad we did it. We parted ways at Oxford Circus with promises to see each other somewhere in New Zealand later in the year but also the fear of how you go from Michelin stars in London to local restaurants in New Zealand. We made a promise that we would go to any NZ michelin star restaurant if it ever happened, as Jarl suggested probably in 2053.