Restaurant Gordon Ramsay

Restaurant Gordon Ramsay at-a-glance

Awards: 3 Michelin stars

+Consistent, well-edited plates with perfect execution

-The cost of the consistency was a lack of excitement, flavors were safe and without much soul

-Not an issue for me but they turn tables, leading to what could be a rushed experience

Verdict: I couldn’t find anything wrong with the food at RGR. Dish after dish was technically flawless, pumped out of the kitchen at a rapid pace without any lull. But something was missing. It felt like RGR was going through motions, checking all of the boxes you’d expect from a 3 Michelin star tasting menu but without any of the requisite excitement. For me, when I go to a 3 star I am expecting a little more personality in the food, to feel like I am eating something I haven‘t had before. RGR failed on that count, the personality of the chef not coming through in the food. That is not to say it is a bad restaurant or undeserving of its three stars. If you are looking for a slick, reliable dining experience with all of the bells and whistles, RGR certainty fits the bill. You will almost certainly have a good meal there, it just may not be great.

Should you go: If you have a special occasion and need a consistent, reliable option RGR will get the job done. If you are looking or something more you may need to look elsewhere.

Rating: 90/100

Cost: £160 for 7 course menu prestige

Value: 14/20

Restaurant Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road Background

Restaurant Gordon Ramsay (RGR) is where it all started for the eponymous TV chef who is now far more famous for his television tirades than his original three-star cooking. While Ramsay no longer does any of the cooking here the standard has remained high, maintaining its three Michelin stars for almost two decades since it originally earned them in 2001. The kitchen was headed up for a long time by Clare Smyth who left in 2015 and earned two stars of her own at Core by Clare Smyth. Since then, the kitchen has been run by Matt Abe who spent a decade rising up the ranks of the Gordon Ramsay restaurant group before taking over the crown jewel. Ramsay must be very pleased with Abe’s performance as he recently promoted him to Chef Patron of RGR.

RGR offers a 7-course menu prestige for £160 which goes through most of the classics while also offering a 3 course a la carte menu at £130. For more budget conscientious diners, stop by for lunch when they offer a £75 three-course menu. While this is near the top end of pricing in London, the cost is modest compared to the rest of Europe thanks to the ever depreciating pound. Even factoring in the 15% service charge the lengthiest tasting menu would translate to ~€200 which is not bad compared to

What we ate at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road

The meal kicked off with a series of amuses which included a cheese tart, hirshma kingfish with ponzu and shiso, the above pictured potato crisp with smoked creme fraice, dill and roe as well as an egg shell filled with a rich custard with a rogut of beef and a bit of beef powder. A good set of well made amuses but a little too familiar - the egg dish being done many times over at other restaurants and this actually being the third time in a month I’ve had an amuse use the lead stencil.

The first course was a hotly anticipated pressed foie gras, plum, pistachio with a smoked duck brioche, a mainstay on the RGR at RHR menu. While I prefer my foie gras seared this excellent terrine did just fine, having a nice silky smooth texture and good deep liver flavour and the plum jelly encasing providing the customary sweetness to go with the rich flavor. The liver was served with a brioche infused with smoked duck confit which was interesting but a tad over baked. My memory of this dish would be more fond had I not had an almost identical dish 3 days later at the Ritz which was better than this by some measure.

Up second was arguably the most signature dish of the restaurant consisting of a ravioli filled with lobster, langoustine, salmon and served with a sorrel sauce. This was a well-made ravioli indeed, the pasta being nice and thin an absolutely filled to the brim with seafood and the sorrel sauce binding everything together. In the grand scheme of signature dishes this didn’t quite wow as much as some of the top ones I have had but it was a fine dish indeed.

This was followed by the main fish course, Cornish turbot with zucchini, romesco, black olive, basil which was hard to fault but also hard to love, bringing nothing interesting or exciting to the table. The fish was accurately cooked at the flavors overall were nice and light but were not very memorable. The romesco could have used a bit more punch and for me the basil sauce was too similar in taste to the basil sauce from the prior dish,

Main was the choice of pigeon and beef. I can make proper beef at home so I went with the roast pigeon with beetroot, pickled blackberries. For me this was the second most successful course (after the main dessert), the combination of components being a bit on the boring side but the jus of the pigeon being deeply flavored. A very well executed dish but I would of preferred some bolder spices which I think works better with Pigeon/Duck.

After the pigeon, the prestige menu switched into dessert which I thought to be a bit odd as it meant there was three desserts to four savoury dishes. Anyways, I subbed the pre-dessert our for the cheese board which came with a hefty 20 GBP supplement. While it was pre-warned, this was weak as far as cheese board goes as the cheese was pre-selected and pre-plated in the kitchen (perhaps due to COVID?) which certainly takes away from the fun of a good cheese trolley. This procedural complaint aside, the cheese was in good condition and of top quality.

Apricot sorbet with saffron and sauternes was up next and to be frank it did not work for me at all, the sauternes being way too strong to be palatable. I am not sure if this is just a matter of taste or an error from the kitchen but it was a chore to eat. I had a similar style dessert but at Claude Bosi the next night with a chartreuse granita instead of sauternes and fresh melon instead of the sorbet and this was far more successful.

The pastry kitchen redeemed itself with the main dessert of Pavlova with summer berries, sarawak pepper, and lemon verbena. While this was more or less a deconstructed pavlova, all the key components were there and working in harmony. The berries were of surprisingly good quality given the climate in the UK and the texture of the meringue was spot on.

Petit fours were chocolate toffee with buckwheat, some jelly’s and lemon cakes. The toffee was particularly good and the kitchen kindly boxed up a portion for me to take home with me.

Stray thoughts

• Surprisingly the restaurant turned tables which might be a first for me in a three star establishment. This became an issue as virtually all of the early sitting tables other than mine (because I walked) were 30 min to 1 hour late due to traffic. This was handled with as much class as possible by the Maître d' Jean-Claude Breton but in the end several tables were told they could not order the tasting menu because they arrived too late or that they would need to take their coffee in the lounge. Reasonable I guess but I have been later to the restaurants before and generally would not even consider this to be a big issue as I would have assumed the tables are not turned.

• Perhaps because of this the meal was shockingly fast, clocking in at under 2 hours for 7 courses. This suited me just fine as I was dining alone but it would be a bit rushed if I was there to celebrate a special occasion.