Café Royal and Mortons
The beautiful places
David Fingleton
FOOD AND WINE sponsored by Fortnum & Mason
Restaurants writes of 'approachable haute cuisine that deserves a wider following', and the 1999 Zagat London Survey, although finding the 'reception is mixed', states that some informants report 'spec- tacular classic French food'. With such commendations I cannot understand why the former chairman of Eurostar, Sir Derek Hornby, and I should have been the Only diners there one Wednesday evening last month. The room looked exquisite, the service was impeccable, the cooking superb, yet not until 10 p.m. were we Joined by anybody else. It is true that the rest of the Café Royal has a depressingly functional, lowering atmosphere, and that I was horribly abused by a member of the Green Room staff upstairs when I asked for some help with the lift, but of itself that Should not keep customers away. I can only think that the dinner prices are daunting — if only by repute — and that if the owner, Marco Pierre White and Granada, were to add a tempting prix fixe dinner menu under £30 things might look up. It must surely trouble Marco that his glamorous Mirabelle draws consistently full houses, While the equally enticing Café Royal stands so empty. Sir Derek and I refused to be daunted by the absence of fellow diners, particularly When the charming Spencer Patrick came over to welcome us and discuss what we Should eat. Helped by his advice, Sir Derek decided to start with terrine of foie gras With gelee de sauternes, and I with the potage of shellfish with chives and cucum- ber, and to follow, in Derek's case, with !And to think that your sordid little affair began in the personal column of The Big Issue.' turbot poached with aubergine caviar and sauce antiboise, and in mine with a pigeon dish which Spencer was planning for his new menu (en cocotte instead of en vessie) with morilles, girolles and truffles. So we sat back enjoying our wine, our magnificent rococo surroundings, and an amuse-gueule of scallops with petites legumes. Derek's foie gras was greatly to his liking, perfect consistency, well flavoured and with a gor- geous jelly of sauternes around it. My shell- fish potage was equally impressive: more a ragout than a soup consisting of such fish as mussels, scallops and langoustines, the ample gravy miraculously perfumed with shellfish — a dream of a dish. Standards were maintained. Derek's turbot was impeccably fresh, perfectly poached and of generous size, with aubergine caviar on top and a fine sauce of vegetables and herbs. My plump Bresse pigeon came cooked per- fectly a point, accompanied by an assembly of wild mushrooms, spinach, shallots and baby broad beans, the whole infused with the scent of truffles: magnificent. We could not manage cheese, but when the maitre d'hôtel suggested that as they were not overtaxed with guests it might be nice to make us crêpes Suzette, we enthusiastically agreed. As the trolley, burner, copper pan and ingredients were wheeled towards us Sir Derek looked like a small boy confront- ed by his Christmas stocking. The result of the master's efforts at the burner yielded the greatest of treats: perfect, light pan- cakes, wonderfully intense orange sauce magnificently flambe, and a rich vanilla ice cream placed on top: sheer bliss. Impecca- ble coffee and petits fours followed, and this sumptuous meal in London's most sumptuous dining-room was declared a total success, undiminished by the absence of fellow diners. We were very kindly stood our wine, and the meal came to £117, ser- vice compris: not cheap, but worth every penny. Don't hesitate to investigate Lon- don's best kept secret.
Another beautiful dining-room has always been the first floor of Morton's Club in Berkeley Square, but up to now it has been restricted to members and guests, with food of traditional British variety and few fireworks. All has changed. The man- agement have gone public with the dining- room, which has had a revamp that has retained its style with new panache, and engaged the much admired young chef, Garry Hollihead (ex Quo Vadis and MPW, among others) to cook for it. The results are fairly sensational, and word seems to
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have got around, for within a month of the reopening the elegant room was virtually full, and the downstairs members' bar and light dining-room was also doing a roaring trade.
Morton's have a set lunch, which I had eaten two weeks earlier with much enjoy- ment (£16.50 for two courses, £19.50 for three), and in the evening offered a prix fixe menu for £29.50, and an a la carte. I went there with my bon vivant friends, David and Jacqui Gemmill, always eager for new gastronomic experience, and they immediately approved of their surround- ings. Jacqui started with one of chef Holli- head's simpler dishes: splendidly fresh crayfish, served whole with a vegetable and yoghurt dressing, plus mint and cucumber, which she enjoyed immensely. David had pave of tuna with beignets of scallops, again much enjoyed, the tuna strongly flavoured, the scallops in their little light beignets perfectly offsetting it. I took the prix fixe dinner and started with an amaz- ing consommé of pigeon, wonderfully aro- matic and intense, containing ravioli of foie gras and tiny cubes of beetroot. Next Jacqui ate an excellent saddle of lamb, served with tomatoes and courgettes and tapenade jus, the lamb perfectly pink, the accompanying vegetables excellent. David tried Garry Hollihead's remarkable fillet of rabbit, stuffed with tender langoustines tails, with further langoustines in the sauternes butter and girolles sauce round it: superb. From the prix fixe I chose confit breast of veal with carrots, well prepared if slightly rich — veal breast is after all already a rather fatty meat. None of us had room for dessert and so moved on to good coffee and petits fours. The bill for this fine, imaginative meal in glamorous sur- roundings, with a good bottle of pinot de bourgogne and 15 per cent service, was 'Animal rights activists.' £138, which seemed fair value for a serious newcomer to London's dining scene.
The Café Royal Grill: 68 Regent Street, Lon- don Wl; tel: 0171 4371177 Closed Saturday lunch and all day Sunday.
Morton's: 28 Berkeley Square, London W1; tel: 0171 499 0363. Open every day.
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