Restaurants

Building developments on a grand scale abutting the Mandarin Oriental partly obscured the view of Hyde Park from the aptly named Foliage restaurant for months. By the time you read this, however, the vista will be restored and a terrace added, from which you can sup both view and food. Deft service and refined cooking are still the order of the day, and Chris Staines’s innovative, ingredients-focused menu continues to delight. As well as the regular à la carte arrangement, a tasting menu is split into five pick-and-mix style sections. Within these, dishes are described merely as a brief list of ingredients; for example, our cheese plate was simply listed as stilton / poached pear / honey jelly. Thus the general drift of the dish is readily understood, but the bells and whistles are a delicious bonus – in this instance caramelised walnuts, port reduction and wafer-thin walnut bread. Two further courses demonstrated the kitchen’s versatility. Slow-cooked salmon with brown shrimps and horseradish foam was a warm, soft spoonful of comfort. A twist on comparable ingredients from Asia produced a dish of complete contrast; raw tuna on crab, garnished with wasabi ice-cream and tobiko (crunchy flying fish roe) was a triumph of cool flavours and textures.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009