Portland. London. 25th January 2017

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Warm gougeres with Mimolette cheese
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Chicken skins with chicken liver parfait, walnuts and grapes
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Smoked eel with pear and kohlrabi
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Cauliflower panna cotta with raw sea bass, pear and caviar
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Mushrooms with beer sabayon and buckwheat granola
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Cornish monkfish with oca de Peru, nasturtium roots and brown butter sauce
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Guinea fowl with crosnes, chestnut and Jerusalem artichokes
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Denham estate deer with alliums and mustard seeds
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Game taco with cep ketchup and horseradish
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Pumpkin, citrus and nitro cheesecake
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Rhubarb, white chocolate and poppy seed
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Chocolate and caramel cremeux, Jerusalem artichoke ice cream and frozen sable biscuit
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Seville orange pate de fruit and pistachio financiers

Portland

113 Great Portland St, London W1W 6QQ
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We are really lucky in London to have chefs like Merlin Labron-Johnson cooking for us: his dishes are beautiful! And I am not talking only about their visual impact – the presentation is in a complete harmony with the flavours and textures pampering our palate.
The cauliflower panna cotta was beautifully paired with the raw sea bass and accented with a succulent pear and the salty grains of caviar. The beautiful umami of mushrooms in the next dish, topped with a delicious beer sabayon and sprinkled with buckwheat granola, could easily be served as a dessert. Such a lovely creaminess and explosion of flavours! The meat and fish in the main dishes were cooked to perfection, the dishes themselves being set up with the right measure of creativity and with a great sensibility for a harmony of contrasts. The desserts are a chapter on it’s own. I really enjoyed all of them, but the chocolate and caramel cremeux, with the Jerusalem artichoke ice cream and frozen sable biscuit was one of the most intense chocolatey indulgences I had lately. I am very much looking forward to returning to Portland to discover Merlin’s flavours of spring or summer.
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