The Travelling Pixie in London

Alyn Williams at the Westbury

 

For our third anniversary, my boyfriend booked for dinner at Alyn Williams at the Westbury.  I didn’t know what to expect as I’ve never had friends who has been there, nor have I actually looked up the restaurant myself.  So we went there with no idea how it would be like.  The hotel was just like any other hotel, so I just walked my way right to the restaurant itself, and I was really surprised with the interior decor.  It lights were dim, but the shapes of the decorations cast beautiful shadows around the restaurant.

 

 

We were led to our table in a private corner, and the bread basket was soon served.  I have to say, their creamy butter was marvellous, infused with salt and mustard, the flavours exploded on my palette!

Apparently, when my boyfriend made the booking, he has already ordered the tasting menu.  Priced at £70 for 6 small-portioned courses, it really was a great bargain!  There were also the options of regular wine pairing (£130), prestige wine pairing (£195) and even beer pairing (£115).

The first appetiser was Orkney Scallop, Muskat Grape, Truffle & Caviar Chantilly.  Already sounds delicious doesn’t it?  The scallops were raw, which is always a plus for me (because I just looooove scallop sashimi), but the luscious texture of the scallops and the slight tender sourness of the grapes created the perfect harmony on my palette.  It was a surprisingly wonderful dish in which I savoured every bite.

The second appetiser, Iberico Ham & Fig, was also unexpected delicious.  I was never fond of figs (or any kind of fruit in my food – I would always imagine them as sour and mushy), but this dish was unexpectedly good.  The figs weren’t sour, and the iberico ham was absolutely scrumptious!

The meal was off to a very good start – it has been ages since I have been this impressed with my food!

 

Next, the Wild Scottish Salmon w/ Ponzu, Watercress & Seaweed Oil was served.  If I had the option, I would never order fish in my meals, simply because I am not fond of fish.  But this dish was jawdropping.  The fish was so soft, tender, juicy and succulent, I have never had such well prepared fish before!  The flavoursome oil from the fish seeped through the whole of the dish, and to balance out the oil of the fish, the watercress served as a great ‘side’ to this dish.

The 50-day aged pork was the main course for this menu.  Again I was not disappointed, the texture of the meat was very tender, and it was cooked to perfection.  I hate it when my meat is overcooked, because the texture feels weird.  But with pork, you always have to be very careful to cook it right, as it could have many germs.  But this dish, apart from ‘cooked to perfection’ I am slightly out of words.  Again, it was succulent, but the pork itself was very lean, in fact, the dish itself was very lean.  With red meat, you might sometimes get an greasy mouth after finishing the dish, but this dish was so perfect in the way  that not only the flavour was sensational, but that it’s filling without leaving you with a greasy palette.

 

Last but not least, we have the desserts!

The Blood Peach w/ Maple Oats was one of my least favourites in the menu, as I’ve mentioned before, I was never fond of fruits in my meals.  I would imagine the dish as sour and unappetising.  But to my surprise, this dessert was refreshing and was perfect to cleanse the palette after the previous savoury courses.  It wasn’t as sour as I would imagine by simply looking at it, but instead it was the perfect refreshment served at the perfect time in the meal!

Finally, the Chocolate Cake w/ Ice Cream! YumYum even by just looking at it!  Chocolate-based desserts are always my favourite!  Even looking at the photo while typing this blogpost is making my mouth water…!  This chocolate cake was the perfect closing to a delicious meal, with its rich and creamy texture and the slight tinge of salt from the salted caramel ice cream, it was just heavenly!

and, a finally the petite-fours chocolate at the end of every great meal.  We ended up being too full to finish the chocolates, so the staff kindly packed them into tiny cute paperboxes for us to carry it home!

 

All in all, this was one of the best fine dining meals I’ve had in quite a while, I was particularly impressed with the main dishes being able to cooked to such perfection.  I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone who’s looking for a romantic place to enjoy their celebratory occasion, and I am definitely coming back to try out more of their dishes!

 

Alyn Williams at the Westbury

37 Conduit Street, London W1S 2YF

Price: £££

Ambience: 9/10

Yum Factor: 10/10