14th July 2007
Love the view, shame about the food
I have a rule that says that food gets worse as it gets higher: think airline food, ski lodges, revolving restaurants at the top of towers. This also applies to places with a view, as restaurant owners feel that a good view entitles them to jack up the prices 20% or so because people will be so taken with the view out of the window that they won't notice the bill.
It seems they are generally right about that, as Skylon was packed. The redevelopment of the Festival Hall completed just weeks ago and includes the Skylon restaurant in the place where the old People's Palace resided. However the refurbishment has much improved the space, which now consists of a vast, high-ceilinged room with spectacular drop windows overlooking the Thames. The menu features bistro British dishes, with three courses at 37.50 and two courses at 32.50. The wine list is very good with interesting growers from around the world, though mark-ups are fierce in places e.g. a dessert wine that retails at 16.50 for a half bottle was on the list at 75. Service is friendly though a little slipshod in places e.g. wine was not topped up on occasion, and there was a painfully long gap between the main course and dessert.
The meal began with tube-shaped slivers of chicken liver pate on toast, which was pleasant though not very strong in flavour (3/10). My starter of carpaccio of scallops with chorizo was surprisingly bland, enlivened by some toasted almonds but with capers that had little impact on the dish (2/10). A salad of Cornish crab on an avocado mousse was better, topped with a few coriander leaves and a few baby tomatoes (4/10).
Wild salmon from Scotland was surprisingly limited in flavour, though cooked correctly, served with a watercress cream and pomme mousseline (3/10). Chateaubriand was cooked well enough but had only fair quality beef, served with mash flavoured with truffle, a little spinach and a tiny amount of madeira sauce (2/10). Dessert of crepes Suzette was done in the traditional way, flambeed at the table, but the pancakes were much too thick. It is possible they were pre-bought pancakes but either way they should have been light and thin rather than plump and heavy (2/10).
I was hoping for more from chef Helena Puolakka, who worked for Pierre Koffmann at the Berkeley and cooked really well in her stint at Sonnys. She is "executive chef", which I presume means she is not very hands on, though I saw her here this evening. Overall I loved the room and the view but was rather disappointed by the cooking, especially given the hardly bargain prices. But still, there is that view.....
Loading...
Post to facebook
