A continuation of last weeks blog – find part One- HERE
It’s the next night and we have reservations for Dinner. We’ve already checked out the menu and decided to go with the Chef’s choice, which is a five course selection of what chef considers to be the best for the evening.
We decide to walk, Jamie’s Fifteen is just around the corner from our hotel, M by Montcalm. While we still have a bit of London Mist to deal with its nothing like a good old NL rain storm and not to mention the hotel has kindly supplied us with an umbrella.
Upon arrival, we’re greeted with a smile and shown to a great table in the centre of the upstairs dining room, right across from the wine storage. As we’re handed menus, we realize two things
a) the chefs choice of the evening is not the same as we saw online. The new menu had cured mackerel as a second course. We both dislike mackerel, so it would be a downright deal breaker for us both. We mentioned this to our server, and presto..the offensive fish was replaced.
b) we had previously (How could we!!) missed the option of wine flight with our meal. Having the wine professionally paired with our food courses took worry from our evening and we were able to fully sit back and be entertained.
Our first course was a surprise amuse bouche. It was cod caviar, with creme fraiche, dill and ?? on a cracker. Lovely and a bonus to boot
Burrata, courgette, lovage – Fresh Italian cheese, summer squash with sea parsley mayo/aioli. Together these items created an incredible starter. A sign of some good things to come.
Heritage tomato, black olives, Cardo goat’s cheese, linseed cracker What incredible taste! The heritage tomatoes were on a bed of regular tomatoes, which highlighted the exquisite flavour of the heritage fruit.
Gnocchi, onion squash, goat cheese, sage and brown butter- I’ve had Gnocchi before, or rather, I thought I had gnocchi before. These cooked to perfection pasta/potato dumplings were crisp on the outside and melt in your mouth inside. Teamed with the goat cheese and onion squash. I was prepared to end my meal there. I was in heaven.
Hereford short rib, grelot onion, King Edward mash, Montgomery Cheddar- We felt the meal was going to fall flat here. A friend of ours back home makes THE most incredible short ribs. There was no way these could compare. The meat was fall off the fork and full of intense flavour. Chris, you may have to share the throne on this one. These were brilliant!
At this point I mentioned this to the Resto manager Karolina Psykala, who had stopped by to inquire if we were enjoying our meal. Karolina is a very professional and outgoing hostess who hails from Poland. Her killer smile and polished manner are a definite plus for Fifteen.
Upon hearing our satisfaction with the meal/short rib, Karolina whisked us downstairs to pay our compliments to the chef. We were given a grand tour of back of the house and met the chef team on duty. One of which was Shaun from Canada who was travelling home to Toronto on Saturday. Have a safe trip, Shaun!!
Black fig, fig leaf ice cream almond brittle – For pudding (and all desserts are pudding in London,) we had fresh figs paired with fig leaf ice cream. For that perfect bit of crunch, the almond brittle, which was the star of this course for me!
We’re about to leave the restaurant and I’ve come to the conclusion that we won’t get to meet Jamie. I take a quick trip to the loo before we head back home….where I accidentally bump into Jamie himself. After a quick chat and much note comparing on which chefs we both know in common from Canada, we snap a quick pic. With that, Jamie bids us a good evening and steps off into the London Mist. #Goosebumps
Now!! That’s a successful mission! Meeting Celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver? Check! What a night! My only regret this evening was, we didn’t tuck Geoff into the picture as well.
That’s it for this time, if you have any questions, or comments, I’d love to hear them. If you’re really enjoying the BPA blogging adventures and don’t want to miss out, click ‘follow me’ and your name/email will be added to our growing list of blog subscribers.
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Now then, whats going to be our next adventure in London?
