Being married has many upsides, but apart from the obvious love,care and regular wotnot...
The main upside of meeting my good lady wife has been the way she has expanded my palate...
When we met I was a cul -de -sac of nutrition by Iceland,but in the years we have been hitched I have blossomed into a gastro ponce of the highest calibre.
Along with my taste buds being led down a culinary path and my stomach discovering all manner a new joys a terrors...I now love to eat out....It's has become a genuine passion.
So last night to celebrate the 4th year of our union we went to Maze Grill a Grosvenor Square based eatery that comes under the Gordon Ramsey umbrella.
With Jason Atherton at the helm this is a chic and understated establishment,In the main restaurant the food nods to the head chef's time at El Bulli,but in the grill you can expect fabulous meat and delectable sides.We opted for the grill,we were led to our olive green leather C-shaped seating by our attentive waiter, being allowed to settle before being asked what liquid pleasures we fancied I choose the classic Ricard and Nix had an apple and sage martini.The martini had that dangerous "I could drink that all night" vibe about it,and the Ricard...well you can't bugger that up,so onto the menu.
We were then shown the goods,our waiter brought over the slabs of varyingly aged and priced beef like a drug dealer with his best stash,he told us all about the texture,taste and history of the delicious looking flesh and then scurried off to get our starters.The menu allows you to mix 'n' match in a tapas stylee,so that's what we did, ordering- soft shell crab,beef and pimento peppers,salt and pepper squid and last but not least pigs on toast(bone marrow served on small toasts with Parmesan and rocket).
All were good with the soft shell crab rising to the top,it was a deep fried wonder, crunching first then bursting with ozone, a sweet seafood treat.
The sommelier then helped us pick out a well priced Alamos Bondara(big Argentinian red) to accompany our eagerly anticipated steaks,my wife went for the Hereford grass fed 25 day aged sirloin,I opted for the Casterbridge grain fed 21 day rib eye.To truly bust the belt buckle we added fries,and gratin to go with it,after all what is steak without frite?
The beautifully seared meat was presented on wooden boards along with the sides and a hand mixed at the table steak sauce ,which was sweet,tangy and with a little background heat.Mine was a perfect woosie medium and my cave women wife had hers blue.The chatter stopped and into the quiet world of masticating we sank,only breaking the silence to remark on how much we were both enjoying ourselves.The boards were wiped clean and the debris was cleared by the well drilled staff,then came the desert.........
A bitter chocolate brownie and selection of cheese,job done....
Just to add a little fuzz to my now pleasure engulfed body I had a 12year old Rosebank.
The combo of the decadent dark chocolate and tart cheeses washed down with the heady water of life really ended this experience on the right note.
Then came the bill.............
£170 notes, that included a pretty healthy tip..not bad at all.
To sum it up-
Nice atmos,great staff,great grub and not to steep a mark up on the booze...
Also this place does a very reasonable set lunch,well worth a look....
So on with the coats and off into the drizzle to hail a cab to speed us northward to change into
elasticated trousers.....
Maze Negotiated
When we met I was a cul -de -sac of nutrition by Iceland,but in the years we have been hitched I have blossomed into a gastro ponce of the highest calibre.
Along with my taste buds being led down a culinary path and my stomach discovering all manner a new joys a terrors...I now love to eat out....It's has become a genuine passion.
So last night to celebrate the 4th year of our union we went to Maze Grill a Grosvenor Square based eatery that comes under the Gordon Ramsey umbrella.
With Jason Atherton at the helm this is a chic and understated establishment,In the main restaurant the food nods to the head chef's time at El Bulli,but in the grill you can expect fabulous meat and delectable sides.We opted for the grill,we were led to our olive green leather C-shaped seating by our attentive waiter, being allowed to settle before being asked what liquid pleasures we fancied I choose the classic Ricard and Nix had an apple and sage martini.The martini had that dangerous "I could drink that all night" vibe about it,and the Ricard...well you can't bugger that up,so onto the menu.
We were then shown the goods,our waiter brought over the slabs of varyingly aged and priced beef like a drug dealer with his best stash,he told us all about the texture,taste and history of the delicious looking flesh and then scurried off to get our starters.The menu allows you to mix 'n' match in a tapas stylee,so that's what we did, ordering- soft shell crab,beef and pimento peppers,salt and pepper squid and last but not least pigs on toast(bone marrow served on small toasts with Parmesan and rocket).
All were good with the soft shell crab rising to the top,it was a deep fried wonder, crunching first then bursting with ozone, a sweet seafood treat.
The sommelier then helped us pick out a well priced Alamos Bondara(big Argentinian red) to accompany our eagerly anticipated steaks,my wife went for the Hereford grass fed 25 day aged sirloin,I opted for the Casterbridge grain fed 21 day rib eye.To truly bust the belt buckle we added fries,and gratin to go with it,after all what is steak without frite?
The beautifully seared meat was presented on wooden boards along with the sides and a hand mixed at the table steak sauce ,which was sweet,tangy and with a little background heat.Mine was a perfect woosie medium and my cave women wife had hers blue.The chatter stopped and into the quiet world of masticating we sank,only breaking the silence to remark on how much we were both enjoying ourselves.The boards were wiped clean and the debris was cleared by the well drilled staff,then came the desert.........
A bitter chocolate brownie and selection of cheese,job done....
Just to add a little fuzz to my now pleasure engulfed body I had a 12year old Rosebank.
The combo of the decadent dark chocolate and tart cheeses washed down with the heady water of life really ended this experience on the right note.
Then came the bill.............
£170 notes, that included a pretty healthy tip..not bad at all.
To sum it up-
Nice atmos,great staff,great grub and not to steep a mark up on the booze...
Also this place does a very reasonable set lunch,well worth a look....
So on with the coats and off into the drizzle to hail a cab to speed us northward to change into
elasticated trousers.....
Maze Negotiated
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