Now considered a mainstay of the Knightsbridge dining scene, Bar Boulud London at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park celebrated five years at the hotel last week by closing the restaurant to the public and putting on an anniversary dinner hosted by Chef Daniel Boulud for “special customers and guests, and a few select media.” What a pleasure it was to be included among the select few invited to attend.
Chef Daniel Boulud proved a gracious host – and a hilarious one too! If you ever get the chance to ask him for picnic advice, do. You won’t be disappointed with his practical tips presumably learned from experience dining in the field with a resident bull showing up as a unexpected guest.
His six-course tasting menu accompanied with wines served by the glass from a selection of three large format wine bottles was equally a delight to experience:
• Vichyssoise (chilled potato and leek soup with UK smoked sturgeon and caviar;
• Saint-Jacques (scallops, puff pastry, ceps, and parsley butter);
• Flétan (halibut, potted shrimp crust and wild asparagus);
• Selle D’agneau en Rognonnade (stuffed lamb saddle with peas a la Francaise and new potatoes);
• Fromage (Montgomery’s Cheddar and Saint-Marcellin);
• Omelette Norvegienne (Baked Alaska with raspberry, pistachio, and vanilla);
• Petits Fours.
I loved every bite, especially the halibut and the Baked Alaska, which running from the bar nearly to the entrance was without doubt this biggest Baked Alaska I’d very laid eyes on.Wines (Chablis Premier Cru Vaillons; Domaine Montcalme; and Le Soula Rouge) paired well with the dishes and, poured at the table from Jereboam bottles, added a touch of theatre to the service.
Also in town for the occasion was celebrated Parisian charcutier, Gilles Verot, whose amazing pre-dinner spread of charcuterie made it hard to save room for the actual meal – much (if not all) of which is available regularly at Bar Boulud and worth a visit there alone.
Bar Boulud London is located at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7LA. Find out more at barboulud.com.
