I had an excellent lunch at Mauro Colagreco. The space is lovely and understated, the service is very attentive, and the food was delicious. And, for around 70gbp a person for a 1 Michelin star experience, an absolute steal.
I'd heard of the OWO Raffles hotel before but hadn't been inside. It's like many of these places in London: classic, calm, and with an air of history coloring every bit of the experience. This said, sometimes these places feel a bit too austere and dated to me so I often prefer interiors to be far more modern in their approach. But I didn't find this to be true of the dining space of Mauro Colagreco - it was calm and warm, and immediately I felt comfortable and looked after by the staff.
The food was fabulous. We had two lunch menu sets with three courses:
* Beetroot with Mackerel
* Kohlrabi and Crab
* Lovage Risotto
* (I believe it was) Ibérico pork
* Rosemary and Chocolate Cremeux
* Potato and Honey
The starting dishes were very good. The Mackerel and Beetroot was really surprising as these are two flavors I normally do not enjoy but the preperation here was savoury and fresh without either ingredient overpowering the dish. In contrast, the Crab was very fresh, light and with a delicious light citrus sauce.
But nothing could quite prepare us for the Lovage. My god what amazing dish. Every single bite was bursting with delicious, smokey savoury flavor. Instead of just being the usual texture of a risotto, there was crunchy quiona that provided the perfect balance with each bite. The Pork was also quite good but paled in comparison to its vegetarian partner.
An absolutely stunning meal for lunch and highly recommended, particularly if you want to try fine dining but don't to spend a lot of money to do so. I'll be back to try the proper tasting menu at dinner time! read more