The Latymer

Absolutely fabulous. Each course was an artistic experience. Words can’t describe… see the uploaded photos.

This was my first fine dining experience and I found it to be absolutely wonderful. However, how could it not be wonderful, as The Latymer is a 2 star Michelin restaurant. No, I did not make a typo, I definitely said 2 stars which in Michelin world is defined as «Excellent cooking, worth a detour.» I think that is a fair assessment, so definitely detour outside of London and enjoy the Latymer.
Since this was our first dive into fine dining, we decided to partake in the 10 course tasting menu. The details on each course are at the end of the review for your enjoyment. Even though the courses may be small, you are incredibly full by the end.
They serve fresh baked bread that is made on site to start your food adventure off and it was amazing. Growing up I worked in a bakery for a couple years at the start of college, so I am no stranger to good, hot, fresh bread. However, this bread had such a nice, crispy crust, yet was incredibly light and fluffy.
The service was impeccable, which is what you would expect from a restaurant of this caliber. The staff is incredibly informative and I encourage you to ask as many questions as possible in order to make this food adventure a learning experience. If your staff does not know the answer, they will find someone who can answer it. The staff was not pushy with the drinks list as is sometimes the cases with nicer restaurants. We enjoyed a lovely bottle of white that was priced nicely. However, to our disappointment, the table next to us ordered a wine pairing with their 10 course tasting. I did not see this option anywhere on the menu, but that would have been icing on the cake.
Plan on spending at least 3 hours and throw on your best threads to impress. We booked dinner for 7 and were one of two couples in the entire restaurant. However, by 9, the entire place was packed. So, reservations are a must and apparently dinner is quite late in the world of fine dining.
10 Course Tasting Menu
1. Seared tuna, cannelloni with ponzu, broccoli salad, nunu with kecap manis
2.Loin of Loire valley rabbit, confit hens yolk, Monmouthshire ham, morels, cabbage glass, bois boudran
3.Smoked eel and feuille de brick cigar, chicken poached in Asian stock, spiced aubergine, yoghurt and coriander
4.Cod poached in single estate olive oil, Cornish red mullet, charcoal oil and scallop mousseline, Iberico lardo, garden peas and sorrel
5.Cassoulet of cockles, razor and palourde clams, cuttlefish gnocchi, soya beans, poached quail egg
6. Poached and roasted croisé duck breast, potato and rosemary purée, wild garlic leaf and bulb, char grilled white asparagus
7. St Nectaire, hazelnut milk, ruby mustard frill, macadamia nuts, semi dried pear, pear gel
8.“Exotic egg” –Mango, coconut, cinnamon «pain perdu»
9. Gariguette strawberry, peanut butter tuille and powder, warm doughnut, espuma, strawberry jelly and sorbet
10. Coffee parfait, jelly chocolate caramel, mocha butter, milk ice cream and almond espuma

What’s better than having a top class meal at a famous Michelin starred restaurant? It’s discovering an exciting fantastic new restaurant which you can then share with your fellow Unilocalers!
Though not exactly completely unknown, I don’t think the Latymer restaurant is on most foodies’ radars. Chef Michael Wignall was recruited from the Devonshire Arms Hotel in North Yorkshire where he won a Michelin star to head up the fine dining restaurant at Pennyhill Park, which is famous for hosting the England rugby team’s training camps
The Latymer won its first Michelin star this year and speaking to the staff, they’re hungry for success and aiming even higher. I think they are well on their way with top class ingredients, innovative cooking methods and combinations, pretty presentation and most importantly, great flavour
I took my sister and a friend here on Saturday for my sister’s birthday. The 50 cover restaurant is housed in a lovely snug part of the country house hotel
The service was very friendly and not overbearing. The staff were all well trained with all the servers able to answer questions about the dishes. There was also no hard sell on the alcohol, which can be annoying in some fine dining places
We enjoyed some nice canapes with aperitifs — G&Ts for the ladies and a non alcoholic cocktail for me. It was nice to see a choice of gin offered and eventually, Bombay Sapphire and slow gin were chosen while the barman concocted me a drink with cranberry juice, strawberry and raspberry purée. It’s nice for us teetotalers/​drivers to feel as valued as the alcohol drinkers
The canapes included tiny cigars filled with foie gras & truffle, mini prawn toasts, deep fried risotto balls, prawn sashimi and a variety of breadsticks with 2 dips. All moreish and we had to control ourselves with these and the variety of fresh baked bread
Although there were some yummy looking dishes on the a la carte, we went with the 10 course tasting menu
1. Truffle ballotine of marinated foie gras, seared foie gras, carpaccio of duck, beetroot caviar, pickled pear purée with pear crisp, butternut squash sorbet
Some of my favourite ingredients on the plate and it was fun to try and mix the different elements on the plate in different mouthfuls
2. Cannelloni of tuna, lime & soy sauce, octopus presse, ginger marshmallow, Oscietra caviar
The tuna was divine and matched perfectly with the lime and soy film it was wrapped in
3. Loin & spicy boudin of Lakeland hare, Hereford snails, marjoram cabbage, blck eye peas, bitter chocolate scented jus
Cooked sous-​vide, the hare was tender and had a gamey flavour. I also loved the marjoram cabbage. My dining companions were surprised how much they enjoyed the boudin noir
4. Seared hand dived scallops, poached quail egg, apple, cider & walnuts, apple emulsion
The quail egg yolk oozed out onto the sweet scallop. Yum
5. Warm sardine, Scottish langoustine, anchovy on toast, roast pepper, Bagna Cauda jus
The oily sardine was offset perfectly by the sweet pepper
6. Poached & roast croise duck with Agen prunes, coriander gnocchi, shallots, parsley root purée, jasmine jus
My favourite dish of the evening — perfectly cooked duck with some innovative and interesting companions. Yes, it did taste of lavender!
7. Fourme d’Ambert, Beaufort, poached quince, smoked paprika crisp, Pedro Ximenez jelly
8. Pear & almond tart, liquorice sabayon, pear sorbet
Lovely light tart full of pear flavour
9. Pineapple baba, confit pineapple, coconut cream, coconut sorbet
A nice fruity take on the rum baba but once again, very light
10. Warm chocolate moelleux, honey comb, lavender ice cream, honey jelly
A rich chocolate dessert with liquid centre. The obligatory popping space dust made an appearance
A top class menu. Michael Wignall demonstrated immaculate sourcing of top class ingredients, great knowledge and technique of classic and modern cooking techniques, introduced wow factor into his food and left us with a smile on our faces
Only slight disappointment for me was that my dining companions vetoed my wish to ask for a kitchen visit to thank the chef personally.
I’ve been very privileged to have eaten at some terrific 2 and 3 Michelin star etablishments this year — Fat Duck in Bray, Marcus Wareing in London, Aqua in SF and Momofuku Ko in New York. The Latymer is definitely up there with them. They should retain their Michelin star easily next year and be pushing for the next level