The Surprise

Near the Kings Road, the Chelsea Physic Garden & Battersea Park The Surprise in Chelsea is the best Youngs pub in London for a drink close to the River Thames

The Surprise | Youngs pub in Chelsea near Battersea Park, London

http://www.thesurprisechelsea.co.uk

review of London French restaurant The Ritz in Piccadilly, written by ...

The shellfish were terrific, having lovely sweet flavour and the sauce was an ideal foil, delicately scented and nicely matching the langoustines.

This was another classy dish, the sweetbreads of high quality and cooked precisely, the Madeira sauce gorgeous (18/20).

It is great to see vegetables given the same degree of attention as meat, but then they need to be good, and the earthy flavour of the celeriac was excellent, given a luxurious twist by the Perigord truffle and the intense, silky jus (18/20).

Next was another classic dish, turbot with champagne sauce, French white asparagus, morels and cauliflower puree.

This was excellent, the apricot giving a touch of acidity to balance the duck, the dish accompanied by soufflé potatoes (17/20).

The Surprise Pub London | Chelsea Pub Reviews | DesignMyNight

I have been moved however in my Saturday morning fug to congratulate you and your colleagues on the ‘Surprise Experience’, not only your cooking but the superb quirky people front of house meaning Freddie, (not currently eating meat but superb recommendation of wine), and the nice lady, ‘The Blond’ whose name I didn’t catch, (who is eating meat and said “ignore Freddie, try this”) A lovely place from the outside so understated and a real Feng Shui, whatever the hell that means when you walk in.

I had ‘The Blonds’ recommendation of smoked duck’s liver superb, reminded me of foi gras I had years and years ago in a Flemish restaurant in Antwerp, using Goose liver of course.

The subtly of the smoked liver was superb plus the cooking, timing is of the essence here and this was the business.

The Kiev was not the dried up fried in breadcrumbs you normally get, it was moist and absolutely delicious, perfect accompaniments and quantity.

Sauces were superb, light exquisite flavors and balanced with the food, I had a supplement of roast baby parsnips beautiful, recommended by Freddie.

Dans Le Noir, London EC1 - restaurant review | Life and style | The ...

Dans Le Noir, 31-33 Clerkenwell Green, London EC1 (020 7253 1100).

Meal for two, including wine and service, £120 It was when the woman downtable from me said, 'I'm propping my plate on my boobs, so I don't spill any', that I concluded Dans Le Noir really was a restaurant like no other.

Dans Le Noir, on London's Clerkenwell Green, is the British branch of a Parisian concept, which invites diners to eat in a blacked-out room.

As my companion I invited Peter White, the BBC's disability affairs correspondent, on the grounds that to a blind man, it would be just another bloody restaurant.

The starter: some sludgy gnocchi swamped by a blue cheese and whisky dressing with, on the side, a scoop of nasty floral lavender ice cream, which tasted like the inside of an old lady's sock drawer.