Reviewed by The Wild Boar
Highly recommended by a friend, the Suckling Pig, we were quite eager to make a reservation at Michael Moore’s especially when there was an offer for £45 for a 7 course dinner tasting menu with wine pairing (Mon - Wed only. £75 other days.). Located on the slightly less busy parts of London in Marylebone, parking was surprisingly easy to find on this occasion and the front of the restaurant was inviting with a full glass wall facing the street to invite in more of the ever dwindling sunlight.
The restaurant was fairly empty at 7pm on our arrival and remained quite empty the whole night, the sommelier saying that most of their regular diners are away in July/August and their business usually drops then. Nevertheless, the wife and me were quite happy, except that the table seemed remarkably tiny. I admit I’m near 6 foot tall and slightly larger than average size/height but I felt like I didn’t have a lot of space to manoeuvre myself about.
Upon confirming our order of tasting menu with accompanying wine, some bread came along shortly. There were three choices – white, rye and cheese. The cheese version was very aromatic and quite rich in cheesey flavour, considering it looked identical to the white bread to me.
The amuse bouche turned out to be black sushi rice with salmon and wasabi cream. While beautifully presented, I felt the rice was chewier than expected and probably undercooked. I’m not 100% sure as to the flavourings used in the rice but it overpowered the salmon. The wasabi cream however was a shock to the system (in a good way); although it looked quite demure, it was nearly as strong as fresh wasabi but sweetened a little to give it more body.
The first wine to appear was a white Chardonnay: very light and quite dry, probably the best way to start the first of five glasses to come that night. Accompanying it was celeriac cream with truffle oil. I admit that I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this, but I was pleasantly surprised by the overall quality and taste. Lured by the truffle aroma, the soup was actually well seasoned, incredibly creamy and lacked any taste of celery which the PigPig detests. The little slice of parmesan crisp provided even more competition for the tastebuds and the choice of pea shoots (I think it was pea shoots, I’m not the best identifier of green stuff in dishes) was well thought of as the taste could cut through the richness of the soup.
A glass of Riesling from Germany came next; still quite light but noticeably with more body than the first white, again I think it matched quite well as the next dish was more intense in flavour. The whiskey gravadlax with vanilla scallops was a real treat on the eyes. For a quick explanation, gravadlax is a Scandinavian dish whereby raw salmon is cured with salt, sugar and dill giving it a taste and texture similar to smoked salmon (but without the smokiness). Although I felt the gravadlax was too salty here, the scallops were incredible; fresh, perfectly cooked, very tender. The natural sweetness of the seafood was further enhanced by a sweet salad dressing.
I have to admit I didn’t taste much champagne in the champagne sorbet. It was reasonably effective as a palate cleanser even though it wasn’t sour.
Continuing the spectrum, a glass of rose was provided for the next dish. To me, the honey tilapia with fava beans was the outstanding dish of the day. The tilapia on its own was very good to eat; fresh, succulent, cooked quite simply really with just some honey glaze to sweeten the meat. However, the fava beans in ginger sauce (I didn’t really taste the ginger, but the waitress said it was ginger sauce) were so delicious I could have just eaten a whole plate of it and left the restaurant happy. The menu did say that it was wasabi cream but I can only assume that the chef changed his mind; I’m quite glad he did as I really enjoyed this dish.
A red Argentinian malbec accompanied the red meat for today; although very smoky on its own, it tasted better with some red meat to keep it company and when allowed to breathe a little. I had actually eaten a slice of the lamb cutlet before the waiter arrived again with a little jug of gravy; a shame as the lamb itself was seasoned very plainly, just salt and pepper, and it needed the gravy to make the meat more interesting.
The crispy belly pork with plum sauce looked a little dry to my eyes and it proved to be the case, a shame as the Suckling Pig was raving about it for at least 37 days after he ate here. I do have to admit though that the skin was very crispy and the dish would have been a lot better if the meat was juicier and more tender.
Unfortunately, it was soon time for dessert. Fortunately, the chocolate avalanche looked absolutely amazing, even more so after the waiter poured some milk chocolate over the dark chocolate cone. It proved a little tricky to eat though as the chocolate cone was quite thick and hard to crack open, even though it had a hollow surprise of ice cream (I can’t put my finger on exactly what flavour it was). The vanilla ice cream (presumably home made) was creamy and had generous flecks of vanilla beans, always a good sign.
The sommelier did explain more about the dessert wine, but he had quite a thick French accent so I couldn’t make it out; I suspect it was plum wine and it tasted quite nice, not overly sweet like how some dessert wines can taste like cough syrups.
The petit fours in the end turned out to be a little chocolate truffle which was quite nice, but I would have liked more.
Admittedly, there weren’t a lot of other diners that night, but the service was very good and attentive throughout the night. Although one of the waiters was obviously new at it, he would offer to refer the question to someone else and I would get my answer in the end. Also, Michael Moore, the head chef comes around to have a chat with the diners and is generally quite a charming fellow. I pointed out he should be upgraded from Michelin recommended to starred but he disagreed and said he preferred not to be starred, as he likes the situation as it is now with less demands and pressure and ultimately a more informal dining situation.
Altogether, the bill for the tasting menu with accompanying wine cost us £40 each (it’s supposed to be £45 but the waiter still charged us £40 despite me trying to correct him).
Food - 7.0
Service - 8.0
Atmosphere - 7.0
Value - 7.5
Although reviews online were generally quite good, Michael Moore’s is fairly low-key in terms of the publicity and general media coverage. I entered the restaurant not expecting much, but being very pleasantly surprised at the overall quality. I would heartily recommend this restaurant to other diners around London who are looking for good modern European food.
Would I eat here again? Ah well apparently Michael Moore’s tasting menu is changing 10 days from when I ate (27th July) and changes every two months or so. Anyway yes I’m quite looking forward to going back again with a new menu to sample.
Michael Moore
19 Blandford St
Marylebone, W1U 8
Tel: +44(0)20 7224 1898
Official website
Highly recommended by a friend, the Suckling Pig, we were quite eager to make a reservation at Michael Moore’s especially when there was an offer for £45 for a 7 course dinner tasting menu with wine pairing (Mon - Wed only. £75 other days.). Located on the slightly less busy parts of London in Marylebone, parking was surprisingly easy to find on this occasion and the front of the restaurant was inviting with a full glass wall facing the street to invite in more of the ever dwindling sunlight.
The restaurant was fairly empty at 7pm on our arrival and remained quite empty the whole night, the sommelier saying that most of their regular diners are away in July/August and their business usually drops then. Nevertheless, the wife and me were quite happy, except that the table seemed remarkably tiny. I admit I’m near 6 foot tall and slightly larger than average size/height but I felt like I didn’t have a lot of space to manoeuvre myself about.
Upon confirming our order of tasting menu with accompanying wine, some bread came along shortly. There were three choices – white, rye and cheese. The cheese version was very aromatic and quite rich in cheesey flavour, considering it looked identical to the white bread to me.
The amuse bouche turned out to be black sushi rice with salmon and wasabi cream. While beautifully presented, I felt the rice was chewier than expected and probably undercooked. I’m not 100% sure as to the flavourings used in the rice but it overpowered the salmon. The wasabi cream however was a shock to the system (in a good way); although it looked quite demure, it was nearly as strong as fresh wasabi but sweetened a little to give it more body.
The first wine to appear was a white Chardonnay: very light and quite dry, probably the best way to start the first of five glasses to come that night. Accompanying it was celeriac cream with truffle oil. I admit that I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this, but I was pleasantly surprised by the overall quality and taste. Lured by the truffle aroma, the soup was actually well seasoned, incredibly creamy and lacked any taste of celery which the PigPig detests. The little slice of parmesan crisp provided even more competition for the tastebuds and the choice of pea shoots (I think it was pea shoots, I’m not the best identifier of green stuff in dishes) was well thought of as the taste could cut through the richness of the soup.
A glass of Riesling from Germany came next; still quite light but noticeably with more body than the first white, again I think it matched quite well as the next dish was more intense in flavour. The whiskey gravadlax with vanilla scallops was a real treat on the eyes. For a quick explanation, gravadlax is a Scandinavian dish whereby raw salmon is cured with salt, sugar and dill giving it a taste and texture similar to smoked salmon (but without the smokiness). Although I felt the gravadlax was too salty here, the scallops were incredible; fresh, perfectly cooked, very tender. The natural sweetness of the seafood was further enhanced by a sweet salad dressing.
I have to admit I didn’t taste much champagne in the champagne sorbet. It was reasonably effective as a palate cleanser even though it wasn’t sour.
Continuing the spectrum, a glass of rose was provided for the next dish. To me, the honey tilapia with fava beans was the outstanding dish of the day. The tilapia on its own was very good to eat; fresh, succulent, cooked quite simply really with just some honey glaze to sweeten the meat. However, the fava beans in ginger sauce (I didn’t really taste the ginger, but the waitress said it was ginger sauce) were so delicious I could have just eaten a whole plate of it and left the restaurant happy. The menu did say that it was wasabi cream but I can only assume that the chef changed his mind; I’m quite glad he did as I really enjoyed this dish.
A red Argentinian malbec accompanied the red meat for today; although very smoky on its own, it tasted better with some red meat to keep it company and when allowed to breathe a little. I had actually eaten a slice of the lamb cutlet before the waiter arrived again with a little jug of gravy; a shame as the lamb itself was seasoned very plainly, just salt and pepper, and it needed the gravy to make the meat more interesting.
The crispy belly pork with plum sauce looked a little dry to my eyes and it proved to be the case, a shame as the Suckling Pig was raving about it for at least 37 days after he ate here. I do have to admit though that the skin was very crispy and the dish would have been a lot better if the meat was juicier and more tender.
Unfortunately, it was soon time for dessert. Fortunately, the chocolate avalanche looked absolutely amazing, even more so after the waiter poured some milk chocolate over the dark chocolate cone. It proved a little tricky to eat though as the chocolate cone was quite thick and hard to crack open, even though it had a hollow surprise of ice cream (I can’t put my finger on exactly what flavour it was). The vanilla ice cream (presumably home made) was creamy and had generous flecks of vanilla beans, always a good sign.
The sommelier did explain more about the dessert wine, but he had quite a thick French accent so I couldn’t make it out; I suspect it was plum wine and it tasted quite nice, not overly sweet like how some dessert wines can taste like cough syrups.
The petit fours in the end turned out to be a little chocolate truffle which was quite nice, but I would have liked more.
Admittedly, there weren’t a lot of other diners that night, but the service was very good and attentive throughout the night. Although one of the waiters was obviously new at it, he would offer to refer the question to someone else and I would get my answer in the end. Also, Michael Moore, the head chef comes around to have a chat with the diners and is generally quite a charming fellow. I pointed out he should be upgraded from Michelin recommended to starred but he disagreed and said he preferred not to be starred, as he likes the situation as it is now with less demands and pressure and ultimately a more informal dining situation.
Altogether, the bill for the tasting menu with accompanying wine cost us £40 each (it’s supposed to be £45 but the waiter still charged us £40 despite me trying to correct him).
Food - 7.0
Service - 8.0
Atmosphere - 7.0
Value - 7.5
Although reviews online were generally quite good, Michael Moore’s is fairly low-key in terms of the publicity and general media coverage. I entered the restaurant not expecting much, but being very pleasantly surprised at the overall quality. I would heartily recommend this restaurant to other diners around London who are looking for good modern European food.
Would I eat here again? Ah well apparently Michael Moore’s tasting menu is changing 10 days from when I ate (27th July) and changes every two months or so. Anyway yes I’m quite looking forward to going back again with a new menu to sample.
Michael Moore
19 Blandford St
Marylebone, W1U 8
Tel: +44(0)20 7224 1898
Official website
