Bread Street Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay's New Restaurant

Gordon Ramsay's new restaurant Bread Street Kitchen is controversially just next door to Jamie Oliver's meat-fest eatery, Barbecoa ...and I could feel the healthy buzz of competition. BSK is the latest concept from Ramsay, a place to dine and drink, at any time of the day, in any capacity.

The venue, on Bread Street in St Pauls, is vast, an impressively industrial space with a touch of boutique-y elegance...I was reminded of a New York warehouse. I have never witnessed a restaurant so big. Ramsay has made this restaurant truly individual and exciting, old school lamps sit in clusters around the space and one special table uses second-hand gymnastic equipment for seats. Downstairs bar stools and little tables are provided for guests to munch on small dishes and snacks while drinking. Up a few (too many) stairs and you reach the proper restaurant, with an extensive menu and an army of staff.

I was invited along just a few days after the restaurant opened for a Blogger's Dinner. About ten of us assembled on the first floor, and after numerous handshakes and hellos, had a little tour and explanation of the restaurant's credo. Bread Street Kitchen cost a massive £5 million to launch and is designed by Russell Sage, a creative mastermind.

The menu is split into various sections: Raw, Salads, Hot Kitchen, Wood Stone, Sides. As the categories suggest there is a dazzling array of choice and hopefully something for everyone, though it seems a little sparse on vegetarian options. The cocktail list features some classics but really excels with the BSK speciality drinks. I tried the Lychee and Raspberry Martini, and the Bread Street Mojito that along with the usual components uses vanilla sugar and pears to add a yummy twist.

It was lovely to be eating with a group of similarly fanatic and eccentic bloggers, food came and everyone scrambled to take photos and taste each other's food, it was hilarious. I chose the oven-baked burrata, heritage tomatoes and onion tart (£10.50) and then the Poussin, with chimichurri and burnt lemon (£15.00) for my main course. My tart was tasty, though only lukewarm and needed a bit of extra seasoning. The poussin however was spectacular, deliciously juicy and succulent with the most wonderfully fresh and garlicky vinaigrette dressing. A fellow blogger and I chose a few (three!) sides to share all in the name of research: mashed potato that perfectly accompanied my poussin; it was so creamy I wondered if the proportions of butter and potato were equal. Then chips, of course, which were divine, soft crispy and chunky. Finally for a bit of greenery we chose the green beans with hazelnuts and lemon, which I thought was a little bit disappointing and sad looking so they mostly remained in the dish. Other diners tried many other choices, the rib-eye steak was delicious and the fish choices were beautifully presented. All in all, the group of hungry critics seemed very content.

The curse of eating too much bread, meant I had to choose the lightest of desserts, luckily there was the perfect dish, pineapple carpaccio with mango sorbet and passionfruit. The sliced fruit looked more like a sushi fish dish but was refreshing and light and a lovely palate cleanser. I did feel a little jealous watching the rest of the table tucking into their chocolate tarts and gingerbread cheesecakes.

In an area of London where busy city workers are desperate for a place to relax and enjoy a plate of good food, it seems Bread Street Kitchen more than satisfies. For a casual restaurant, prices seem a little high but then again, I guess city business folk have more spare change than the rest of us.

Visit the Bread Street Kitchen website here.

Petrus Restaurant

Petrus is one of Gordon Ramsay’s star eateries with experienced, Yorkshire born chef Mark Askew at the helm. Petrus was once the joint labour of love of Gordon Ramsay and his most successful protégé, Marcus Wareing. Together they set up at the grand Berkeley Hotel and were rewarded two Michelin stars for their efforts. However in 2008 an almighty falling out led Wareing to work at the venue alone, and Ramsay took the Petrus name elsewhere. That restaurant is now tucked away in luxurious Knightsbridge just round the corner from my workplace. I had never tried a Ramsay restaurant so was excited to finally have the opportunity to experience the food behind the TV personality.

Lunch begins at 12 noon at most of London’s smart restaurants, and so when we arrived at Petrus a little after 1.30 many diners were already gorging on desserts. We were seated at a spacious table overlooking the room and presented with large cream menus. Brushing past the tempting a la carte, I found the lunch menu ... three courses for £30, or including two glasses of wine and coffee, £45. The list of options was impressively long, with many alternatives. Note: If you are vegetarian you will have to opt for the £60 vegetarian menu as there are no veggie dishes in the set lunch.

To keep costs down we politely declined wine. We waited slightly impatiently for bread, which took longer than it should to arrive at our table. With the warm slices of white and brown came the first of our little extras, an amuse-bouche of watercress mousse with potato and horseradish, with a crisp crouton and raw salmon. It was light and delicious, with a refreshing flavour, though I did avoid the salmon.

I wasn’t overly impressed with my starter, a neat slice of pressed foie gras and confit duck, served with a mouthful of oily hazelnut salad and a lump of sweet carrot chutney. It was brave of me to order foie gras in the first place, an acquired rich taste that I like in moderation but still find ethically difficult. It was nice enough, but just not as special as I’d expected. My companion chose the beef carpaccio with celeriac remoulade, horseradish and capers... this was better, a complementary mix of flavours and textures.

When our main courses finally came I was preoccupied watching the surrounding tables receiving their numerous sweet surprises. Looking greedily forward to dessert (plus the extras) I was glad our mains were quite petite. I had roasted breast of poussin and leg stuffed with wild mushroom, and cep sauce and my friend had braised pork cheek with romanesco, turnips and spiced Madeira jus. The food came steaming, a divine aroma of sweet rich flavours. After a disappointing starter, I was delighted with my main, perfectly cooked meat and with a creamy salty sauce that was ‘lick the plate’ worthy. With the mains they kindly brought us two extras, steamed broccoli and potato dauphinoise.

Accompanying the dessert menus came two miniature ice-cream cones filled with white chocolate and passionfruit mousse: a little mouthful of sugary heaven and a taster of the treats to come. With seven pudding choices, I felt a tad overwhelmed and asked the waiter about his favourites - the chocolate ones came out on top and so we both went for those: white chocolate cylinder with coffee and mascarpone ice cream for me and chocolate sphere with milk ice cream and honeycomb for him. Both were yummy, though after trying each I can confirm the chocolate sphere the true winner at our table. The waitress poured hot chocolate sauce on top of the dessert causing the perfect sphere to collapse inwards revealing a creamy plump ball of ice cream.

It wasn’t over yet, I’d seen steaming silver pots being taken to other tables so I asked our waiter if we too could share in this fantastical freebie. Just as we paid the bill, we received our treat which had liquid nitrogen streaming out magically; the waiter lifted the lid and beneath the clouds were four adorable little round lollipops - some kind of alcoholic ice cream coated in white chocolate.

Though the Petrus food was below par in places, and the service could have been better, the tricks and excitement made up for it. Surprises and freebies are my favourite things about Michelin star restaurants, and as far as magic is concerned Ramsay didn’t disappoint.

Visit the Petrus website here.