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Visited about a month ago. In short, had a fantastic meal - one of the most enjoyable I've had in recent years.
The incredibly mixed reports meant I was more curious than anything before visiting and approached the visit with an open mind. I was sat at the bar overlooking the open kitchen which I would strongly recommend if you are interested at all in the provenance of the ingredients. We were given a lot of attention from Mikael which undoubtedly added hugely to my experience - no matter what people think about his cooking skills there is no doubting his passion and love for the food. For me this definitely added a lot - whilst one can say this is a case of the Emperor's New Clothes, the simple fact for me is that I love to hear someone talk about something they are passionate about and who wants you to enjoy it as they do.
Highlights were:
- the much-heralded Umami Flan which succeeded in its simple aim of delivering a moreish savoury bomb;
- raw scallops - still moving on the cutting board. served with radish and squid ink, beautiful sweet subtle flavour rivalling those i've had in japan
- the turbot cooked to a pearly shine with cockles - subtle tastes but incredible texture
- the (hand-strangled!) pigeon - the finest tasting pigeon I have had. Incredibly rich and soft with a deep savoury sauce made from the birds offal. Not overpoweringly gamey. Subtley smoked potato alongside.
- Beautiful canele - perfectly crunchy on the outside and custardy within. Chatting with Mikael, these seem to be a labour of love for him and something he has made a lot of to perfect.No real let downs through the meal. If being harsh I'd say the truffle served with the cevennes onion lacked punch but not the best season for them. The deserts were good but not something I could get overly excited about though I think this owes more to my taste than the dishes themselves.
Front of house (Auriele) was fantastic. End bill was c.£100 a head for the tasting menu, shared cheese board (good but hope one day he gets Bernard Antony on board!) and a couple glasses of wine towards the cheaper end of the scale. Not a cheap meal all in all but most definitely worth it and somewhere I am looking forward to revisiting - especially with the Spring/Summer vegetables to come
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Firstly - Chiswick W4 is in West London...District Line
We went to Hedone a few weeks ago and can honestly say that our meal was completely fabulous. The service was wonderful - professional but friendly and unpretentious. Atmosphere just right. The food was excellent. I tend to be a bit conservative, and as usual was a bit ambivalent about a fixed menu, but was totally impressed. My co-diners went for the lot. None of us was disappointed. It's great to watch the kitchen at play as well.
My only grumble (very slight) was that the wine list although an excellent selection, was overpriced.
Co-Snuff can be very picky but was totally impressed, both with menu, provenance of ingredients, as well as the food itself.
Cannot speak highly enough of Hedone. Go wild and come to Chiswick! (Nearest tube station Chiswick Park.) Incidentally Chiswick is a bit of foodie heaven with excellent deli, greengrocers, fishmongers, butchers and a host of other very good gastropubs and restuarants. -
abby d
Sep 26, 2011 04:08 AM
i went last week and it was hit and miss which saddened me as it's the kind of place you really want to succeed given how lovely everyone was and the appealing philosophy of the chef. we had the 5 course menu for £50.
my favourite dish was the amuse - fresh figs, raw thinly sliced ceps and shavings of a hard cheese (could have been parmesan) plus a drizzle of dressing. absolutely incredible flavours, which varied with each mouthful, and a dish that i ate slowly so it wouldn't end.
mackerel to start, with shavings of beetroot. absolutely beautiful. impeccably fresh fish with a lovely delicate flavour.
slow-cooked hen egg with grolles and apricots - this dish did nothing for me. the egg was served on a sauce which was flavoured with apricot, there was smear of apricot puree and a rocket leaf. i've seen rave reviews of various versions of this (he's done it with fresh peach too) and have no idea why.
plaice carpaccio with squid ink, chives and lemon zest - okay but nothing more.
45 day aged beef with endive and horseradish was my main - a few mouthfuls of the beef were melting and delicious but the rest was very chewy, sadly. my partner had the john dory with fennel and olive emulsion which was lovely (i didn't get much to try thogh!)
pudding for me was the chocolate bar which was nice but again, no more. however, the poached raspberries with lemon & faiselle (a type of curd/yoghurt) ice cream was absolutely amazing though. lemon madeleines with coffee were a bit dry.
good value wine list with some interesting things.
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Dinner last night was fabulous. As everyone else has said, simple preparations letting the flavours show through. The only bum note was the grouse - even though I knew from reviews how it would be served, the claw was rather off-putting! The wines the sommelier recommended were wonderful and perfectly matched. A great night :)
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re: ManInTransit
The grouse came as breast and a leg, and the leg still had the foot attached: claws, feathery ankle and all! Fingerbowl strongly suggested that one was meant to pick up the leg and nibble. The review I read mentioned pigeon that came like this so I guess they treat all their game birdies this way. The table of older ladies next to us looked absolutely shell-shocked when their plates arrived. As did my dining companion... Tasted good though!
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I went to Hedone for lunch on Saturday and I'm still trying to process just how incredible this meal was. Will write properly about it soon - Once I've found the words to do it justice!
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re: YSL
OK, I have written a longer version in my blog, but will try to keep it short for here:
My lunch at Hedone was easily the best meal I've had this year, possibly ever. I knew of Mikael's obsession with finding the best ingredients but I never thought that I would be so affected by it. It's no exaggeration to say that the dish of mackerel, caught that morning from the Cornish coast flame grilled with "Japanese flavours" was extraordinary - from the fish itself being so fresh and barely cooked that the meat was creamy in consistency, yet you could taste every single ingredient without them overpowering or conflicting with each other. So in this case, you got the creamy texture of the fish, then the flavours of mirin, soy, sesame oil and it's rounded off by the oily taste of the fish. I actually employed delaying tactics because I knew that once I had finished the dish, I would be sad that there was no more..
I've never eaten a meal where I was able to clearly recollect not only each dish, but the taste of all the individual ingredients before until I ate at Hedone. Too often, chefs who talk about "letting the ingredients do the talking" still muck about with them and you get your sauce reductions, foams etc. But here, not only do the ingredients have to meet Mikael's very high standards, but he truly treats them simply so that their natural flavours shine through. I know that I may not know exactly what I'll eat there next time I go, but I am very assured in the knowledge that the ingredients will have to meet Mikael's high standards and will be truly cooked simply and in a way so the ingredients natural flavours are highlighted. For me, not only is that incredibly exciting, but it's as close to perfection as you can get.
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re: YSL
zuriga1
Aug 10, 2011 08:30 AM
Your experience with the mackerel is very appropos. Last night, Rick Stein's visit to study Japanese food and techniques was shown again on TV. My husband who lived there many years recognized a few restaurants and most certainly, all of the foods. Their approach to cooking is amazing. It's wonderful to know you found this right here!
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re: mangeur
PhilD
Jul 22, 2011 07:39 PM
I am not certain anyone on the board knows where Chiswick is. With its opening would W4 make it to "must live suburb" for a food fan?
It is definitely one of the openings on 2011 - if I was in London I would be there in a flash. Already planning to have it on the itinerary for my next visit.
Andy Hayler has a blistering review of it: http://www.andyhayler.com/show_restau...
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re: PhilD
zuriga1
Jul 22, 2011 10:54 PM
I could make it to Chiswick for this place. :-) It sounds fantastic. Interesting about the English language... I think to an American (at least this one), 'blistering,' may not connote terrific but just the opposite. I'll leave it to the young'uns here to tell me if I'm perhaps wrong about that and way out of touch.
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re: zuriga1
Have got a reservation but not till mid-September what with holidays and all...but promise I will report back! In the meantime, there's a thread with pics and glowing praise on egullet if you haven't seen it already:
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/...
What with this and Roganic also garnering superb reviews and the Sportsman just being, oh, My Favourite Place on Earth...I think you've got plenty of reasons to give into temptation!
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re: PhilD
Sir, sir, please sir.....I know where Chiswick is.
My trips to the capital are usually to visit the National Archives and I stay just down the road in cheapo Brentford. I like a nice, if solitary, dinner after spending the day ploughing through the dusty files of 100 year old documents. On me list!
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