New local resto - Hedone

I first heard about Hedone through Twitter and after establishing where it was on the high road, I then thought "so that place is FINALLY occupied"!! I had originally tried to get a table for our monthly anniversary dinner but at the time of ringing, was told that they were fully booked at the weekends for dinner for the next 2 weeks and then the resto would be closed for the 2 weeks after. I ended up making a booking for dinner about 6 weeks in advance but bizarrely, "c'est normale pour Londres?" To be honest, in the week leading up to dinner, I had thought about cancelling for a couple of reasons: another blogger who I follow didn't think her dinner was all that and I wasn't sure about shelling out a substantial amount of dosh for a tasting menu (which is all they serve). JD twisted my arm so in the end, the reservation stayed and we wandered down for a spot of grub.  

We were one of the first customers to arrive and got to sit in the corner by the window which gave us a great view of the rest of the resto and a slight peek at the open kitchen where the head chef was working away. Its a weird thing to say (and notice) but I really liked the decor of the dining room: light, airy, simple yet elegant, the only dodgy thing was prolly the pseudo "cave-painting" ceiling :)

As mentioned, there is only a tasting menu served with difference prices depending on how many courses you decide to choose. We decided to go the whole hog and do the whole 6 courses which works out at 70 squid per head. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the dinner - there were a few things food-wise that weren't quite perfect (especially if the resto has Michelin aspirations which it looks like it does) but despite that, it was a wonderful evening and the service was excellent too. A big thank you to the sommelier for recommending my glass of white plus dessert wine for the meal :)

 Aperitif accompaniment of Berkswell sable

 Amuse bouche of slighty smoked salmon with beetroot foam - nice flavour combination, I did pick out a little bone from my salmon which you might say is a little careless.

 The bread was "awesome" - we were also offered more during the course of the meal which was a nice touch (am tempted to ask if they might sell it cos I would definitely stroll over at the weekend for a fresh loaf!)

 First course of grelot (bulbous) and cébette (straight) onions with pear shavings - tasty, the former more so than the latter. We didn't think there was any point in leaving the roots on since they were too chewy to eat.

 2nd course of Scottish girolles tarte with coffee cream - pastry was a little soggy but it also had a layer of girolles puree for extra flavour. Wasn't sure about the coffee cream initially but it worked!

    

 3rd course of Cornish mackerel - really simple but absolutely delicious.

 4th course of Lobster with cavalo nero and coral sauce - very pretty to look at. Lobster was very sweet, yum!

 5th course (choice of main) - I had wild turbot with fennel. Very simple, fresh produce and well cooked.

 JD's main of aged Angus beef with endive - beef was surprisingly tough which was a shame. Also thought it was very brave for the chef to not serve any sort of sauce! 

 My pudding of peach millefeuille with fresh mint infused cream - pretty good. If I was nit-picking, the bottom piece of my pastry was missing a corner which is a little unprofessional. I also would've glazed both sides of the puff (impressive that its home-made) to give it a pro sheen. Finally, I woud've put poached peaches inside the millefeuille - didn't see the point in having raw, sour slices inside? One final gripe, if you are going to serve an apero accompaniment and amuse, why was there no pre-dessert??

 Petits fours of mini-madeleines served with tea/coffee - very nice and had "humps" too! :)

Home-made caramels to take home - nice touch!