La Dame de Pic Review - Chef Anne-Sophie Pic

Date of Visit - November 2019

Overall Rating - 6/10

If you're into cooking and enjoy eating at nice restaurants, you should without a doubt have heard of Chef Anne-Sophie, one of the most renowned female french chefs, with an excellent reputation in the industry.

I popped over to La Dame de Pic for a Friday lunch with a work colleague. Considering they hold 2 Michelin stars, they have an affordable lunch menu for £32 for 2 courses or £42 for 3 courses.

It's situated in the 5* hotel, The Four Seasons near Tower Bridge, which is a lovely location. As we arrived bang on 12pm, we were the first to be seated and we had a spacious booth to ourselves. It's simple and elegant, rather like the cuisine that was to follow.

I rather stupidly didn't take a picture of the menu but alas the photos will have to do the dishes justice. We went for the Starter & Main option with paired wines (an additional £19) but of course at any Michelin establishment, surprises are all part of the package. Before I jump to the dishes, the sommelier deserves a special shout out. She was clearly so passionate about her job and the level of detail she went into about the wines and why they were paired with each dish was genuinely interesting. Both wines I had, a rose then a white, were fantastic. Naturally I would never have paired a rose with steak tartare (always a red) and then we were served a delicious white to go with the duck, both were exquisite at complementing the flavours of each dish. Bravo indeed!

First Course - Amuse Bouche

Neither Antonia or I can actually recall what exactly these were, despite only having them an hour before writing this. You were told to eat them in 'one bite' as they had a liquid center, I imagine they used some form of spherification technique but I'm not entirely sure. We did what we were told and popped them in, I genuinely regret not having a camera ready to get our reactions as the shots would have been hilarious. I really am not a fussy human, I like most things but AWFUL is the only word I can use. Here we are at a two Michelin Star restaurant, with huge expectations only to be mortified by the first thing we put in our mouth. You bite in, it pops, then releases this alcoholic, perfumed, violet tasting liquid, which is anything but enjoyable.

Sourdough Bread, Damson Leaf Butter

Thank god for bread, we had a warm loaf to share with a lightly flavoured butter of damson leaf, which was different but delightful.

Second Course

Having decided we liked the look of two starters, we decided to share:

1. Steak Tartare

Beautifully presented, this was an interesting take on steak tartare. The meat was tender and it was seasoned with mustard and wagyu beef emulsion, served alongside beetroot, smoked pike caviar and lovage ice cream. Would I have it again? Probably not. Too much beetroot for me, I also wasn't a fan of the smoked caviar and the lovage ice cream was over powering.

2. Fresh Cheese Gnocchi served with wild mushroom, baby spinach, tonka and voatsiperifery pepper emulsion. This was surprisingly light and overall went down well. If I were ever to ask myself if I was blown away by it, the answer again would be no.

Overall, it wasn't an unpleasant start, but the high expectations we went in with certainly were not delivered on.

Third Course - Duck, Carrot Puree, Passion Fruit, Cardamon

This dish was a bizarre mix of flavours, that actually worked rather well. My instinct would never naturally pair passion fruit with duck but the sweetness made for a pleasant companion to the dish. The duck was perfectly cooked but the problem I have that neither this dish nor the ones before it were noteworthy or memorable.

When approached with the dessert options, nothing really stood out so we passed and asked for the bill.

Fourth Course - Petit Fours

It's always a nice touch when petit fours arrive at the table but here we have two marshmallows of different flavours, one was coconut, the other spiced hazelnut. Again, we nearly ending up howling with how terrible these were. Both had a perfumed taste to them that would make you think they weren't even edible. Why on earth do they serve these? I really was astonished but we certainly wouldn't complain considering they are an added little extra.

Fifth Course - Birthday Surprise

A lovely chap called Leo text me two days before to confirm the booking. I mentioned it was a friend's birthday and he told me he would sort something. He definitely didn't disappoint, soon after the petit fours a nutty, fruity choux bun arrived with a happy birthday message. A sweet touch to end the meal on and rather gratefully took the taste of the petit fours away.

Overall, was it worth the money? No. The service was excellent, the food had potential but did it deserve two michelin stars? If it was purely based on presentation and technique, then yes but if we assess the meal on how it tasted, then absolutely not. I wouldn't even give it one.

On a final note, something that I can't quite believe, yet hilarious all the same. As we were waiting for the bill, Antonia spotted a waitress drinking the last dregs from a customer's wine glass - WHAT!! I thought she was joking at first, but she caught the waitress's eye who raised her eyebrows, smiled and gave a little nod. I wouldn't even expect that sort of behaviour at the cheapest chain restaurants, how on earth did she get hired?!?

If you decide to visit La Dame de Pic, I'd strongly suggest going for dinner instead as their tasting menu appears to be a whole new level to what we had.

P.s get yourself a work colleague like this one.

*ignore the crumbs ha!

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