Hélène Darroze at the Connaught, London, UK, 4,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (28-02-2014 by Nenad Jelisic)
Two Michelin-starred restaurant, Hélène Darroze at the Connaught is located in the very beautiful and elegant Hotel Connaught, which in turn is located in one of the most exclusive and fashionable district in London, Mayfair Village. As the actual hotel, the restaurant is very elegant and beautifully decorated.
I felt welcome as soon as I walked through the restaurant's door. The first appetizer (hors d'oeuvre) came lightning-fast and the same happened to my aperitif, Jacques Picard Brut Reserve Champagne (3 NJP). All six courses both tasted and looked perfect. The most amazing of these six courses was the absolutely fabulous scallops or as it stood in the original menu "Pan-roasted hand harvested XXL scallop with Tandoori spices, carrot and confit citrus mousseline, spring onion reduction with Lampong pepper and fresh coriander”. Owing to that I really like the scallops, I have eaten them many, many times but I have never tasted as good as these.
The reason that the restaurant did not get 5 NJP is two. The first reason is that one is forced to order two desserts, better to say a cheese plate and a dessert or two different desserts. If I have flown from Sweden to eat dinner at Hélène Darroze at the Connaught, I obviously neither want to try different cheeses, which I can buy in Sweden, nor I want to eat two desserts at the end of the six-course dinner. I think that the same way think people from other countries and Londoner. The second reason is that after 8 pm, when the restaurant was fully occupied, the wait between courses was far too long, at least 40 minutes. The long wait can probably be explained by that the restaurant's kitchen cannot handle the pressure when the restaurant is fully occupied. I think both problems can be fixed quite easily. The first one, by Hélène Darroze at the Connaught stop forcing their guests to order two desserts and the second one, by one or two tables with accompanying chairs are removed from the restaurant.