Pollen Street Social
Sugar and Salt Smoked Nuts
Parmesan Cheese Foam, Mushroom Crumbs, Mushroom Consomee / Goat Cheese Churros with Truffle Honey / Black Pudding Croquette with sauce gribiche / Black Garlic Cookie with Taramosalata
Baguette, Whole Wheat Roll, Sesame Brioche, Tomato and Basil Biscuit – Farmhouse Butter and Brandade
Bent on Revenge – Grapefruit Juice, Espresso, Palm Sugar Syrup, Elderflower Cordial, Fever Tree Tonic
Chilled Pea Soup, Citrus Crème Fraiche, Peas, Gambas
Haslet Terrine with Mrs. Brown’s Black Pudding, Mustard Seed Dressing, Carrot, Toasted Sourdough
Pine smoked Quail “Brunch,” Cereals, Toast, Tea – Box smoked Quail, Brioche Toast with Liver Mousse, Quail Broth, Crispy Quail Egg over Crispy Grains and Mushrooms
Braised Lake District Lamb Neck – Jersey Royals, Nocoise Flavors, Black Olives
Roasted Squab Pigeon & its Offal, Honey Spiced Beetroot, Date and Black Tea Puree, Pickled Pears
Yogurt Foam, Strawberry Soup, Cucumber Granita
Strawberry and Calamansi Eton Mess
Goat’s Milk Rice Pudding, goat cheese ice cream, oat and milk crumble, honeycomb
White Chocolate Coated Strawberry Ice Cream Cone / Raspberry Financier / Frozen Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse
Postulated by many to be London’s next recipient of a second Michelin Star it was to Jason Atherton’s Pollen Street Social that I turned for lunch after touring The Tower of London and although duly impressed by the famous crown jewels it is still my experience at the sixty-seat restaurant that shines brightest in my memories of that day. Decidedly more ‘American’ in design than the majority of London’s top tables, with a front-side lounge largely secluded from the proper main room, it was in fact in the bar that I began when I mistakenly arrived 20 minutes too early and yet picking at mixed nuts as I sipped a complex mocktail while chatting with its creator I immediately felt at ease, not a bit of pomp or pageantry to be found. Eventually led to my seat when the restaurant officially opened and soon greeted by a server sporting both menus and a complimentary second Bent on Revenge it would not be long before difficult decisions were presented and with inquiries of portions plus presentation addressed a six-part order was crafted, though what followed in the ensuing two-and-a-half hours would prove to be much, much more. Undersold by Atherton as “casual fine dining” considering both the quality and creativity displayed in each bite from the very beginning it was in a quartet of culturally diverse inspirations that the eating began and proceeding next to bread service far more inspired than that of revered local restaurants I couldn’t help but overindulge, the eagerly replenished salt-cod spread something I regularly seek out menus and would have gladly paid surcharge for. Continuing on to things more substantial after a gift of pea soup from the daily prix-fixe the influence of Atherton’s time under Ramsay became quite apparent in both bright colors as well as complex herbal aromatics presented on the plate and with the tableside presentation of smoked quail stealing the show from beautifully gamey housemade terrine in round one a bird again shined for course two, the charred organ meats of a pigeon aggressively matched by soft flesh and just enough sweetness to keep it all in check. At this point assenting to finish the meal at Pollen Street’s signature pastry counter where a team of two tended to a half-dozen or so creative desserts it was once again to a gift that I arrived and with the light soup harkening the very essence of summer the plates that followed would prove equally inspired, the eton mess’ crunch giving way to a fruity cloud of flavor while the stick-a-spoon-up-straight pot of rice pudding was carefully boiled before my eyes and served to be ladled atop a savory sundae par excellence.
RECOMMENDED: While the tasting menu is indeed offered at both lunch and dinner with a prix-fixe offering the best of deals during the day it should be no surprise that the most creative of Atherton’s creations are found a la carte – the splurge well worth the expense for both the pigeon and the signature quail in a box that no diner should go without.
AVOID: Trying to rush the meal as a business trio next to me appeared to be doing; while certainly more casual than places like Ramsay and Ducasse the food at Pollen Street Social is perhaps even more labor intensive and well worth both waiting for and lingering over.
TIP: The pastry counter is open throughout both lunch and service for walk-ins and with an exemplary amuse plus creative mignardises gifted on even those presenting for just one plate it presents a veritable bargain, though similar can be said for the restaurant as a whole given the cost/quality ratio, canapés, and bread service.
