Jason Atherton's Pollen Street Social just off Regent St has been on the cards for a while so i was really excited to finally come here. It was my mothers birthday and we'd come for lunch, my expectations where pretty high and i was unsure as to what it'd be like. It's only the second restaurant i've eaten in with a michelin star and im always excited to see why they've got one.
The cocktail menu is incredibly important.
East Side Julep
'Rum & Coke' (Literally all rum, nearly killed me.)
My mum had the Cornish crab vinaigrette, nashi pear, cauliflower sweet 'n' sour dressing & frozen peanut powder. She said is really resembled a thai dish, with the baby coriander being such a strong flavour, but absolutely loved it. All the flavours complemented each other but it was a rich strong flavoured dish.
I had the parsley soup, potato & leek, smoked eel & truffled hen's egg. It was the first time i'd ever had eel and i think having it smoked was a good introduction. The smokiness of the eel was so strong that when it arrived the scent wafted straight to my nose, very powerful! The egg cracked open with a good crusty outer shell and a soft runny yolk inside. It was sat on a potato and leek puree which went slightly unnoticed but it's something pleasant to hold the egg in place. The Eel tasted great and along with the horseradish cream and little bits of the crusted egg where just incredible, actually worth going back for. The parsley soup was intense but i left half of it there, it accompanied everything well and moistened up the dish. Amazing dish.
Rack of salt march lamb, braised shoulder, creamed spiced aubergine, savory & black olive reduction.
I had the roasted wild cornish sea bass, charcoal peppers, native crab & coriander with crab vinaigrette.
Perfectly cooked seabass with a crispy skin, bold flavours from the pepper with beautifully dressed crab inside it. The asparagus was cooked perfectly with a good bite to it. The main's were a very decent size and were just incredible.
I totally forgot to take a picture of the amuse bouche before dessert so i downloaded paint for mac's and did my interpretation of it as best i could.
It was a pineapple granita at the bottom with a lychee foam on the top. It was about twice the size of an average shot glass. The granita was lovely, im a huge fan of pineapple and lychee so this was instantly something i'd adore. The lychee foam was egg white based and made with an espuma gun i believe, from the texture and constancy. Lovely little thing, im definitely going to work with lychee's next.
My mother went for the strawberry & beetroot sorbet, basil ash meringue and wild strawberries. At the bottom was a pool of basil gel i believe was agar based. The way the beetroot and strawberry sorbet was tart and earthy, along with the sweetness of the basil ash meringue it worked great. Basil and strawberries are a great combination and im looking forward to using those flavours on my own creations. Lovely dish.
I had one of the signature dishes at Pollen St Social and the was there 'PBJ'.
It consisted of peanut butter parfait, textures of cherry and creamed rice puffs. Im not really one for sweet desserts but peanut butter and jelly is a love of mine. The flavours were fantastic, the different textures of cherry worked great and the little bits of creamed rice puffs were delightful. I think the parfait could have been colder, but it wasn't described as 'iced' so maybe they wanted it like that. I was hoping more for an ice cream texture. But it was a lovely dessert and it looked great.
I think my napkin would look great in the tate.
These little babes where mini almond cakes with a bitter lemon curd in the center and served hot. Amazing! very tasty & soft. The lemon curd being so tart really took the edge off the sweetness of the little cakes and it was just great.
All in all Pollen St Social was the best food i have ever eaten. The service in impeccable, offering us bread throughout the meal (two choices of mine hard baguette and sour dough), and being attentive and organised to a t. The cliental are business types, general lunchers & tourists. The decor is very minimal, arty and pretty. The waitress spent the day whispering to us but apart from that it's just an amazing restaurant and i cannot wait to go back.
I enjoyed it so much i bought these boots.
http://www.pollenstreetsocial.com/
