var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-31504422-1']);
_gaq.push(['_setDomainName', 'luxlife-blog.com']);
_gaq.push(['_setAllowLinker', true]);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
I’ve been to a fair few Marylebone restaurants lately. I work in the area and it’s so full of amazing restaurants, I’m slowly trying to work my way through them all! There are quite a few that I’ve been to but haven’t written about on here yet, but you can see a roundup over on
my guest post for Culture Trip.
Also, you know how you have friends who you don’t see for ages due to clashing schedules, then all of a sudden you see them four times in one week? Yeh, so that happened with Bella and I this week. First I saw her at
Lotte’s birthday, then we went for dinner at Orrery, then a few days later I saw her when a few of us had a
girls night at Archer Street, and then I saw her again the following day for afternoon tea at
Quaglino’s (review coming soon!). She’s probably sick of me by now!
We’d had our dinner at
Orrery booked in for a few weeks, Bella’s quite happy to come and review places with me, she’s very good with letting me photograph her dishes. It’s funny, but there are only certain people I’m comfortable doing it with, as I’m sure you’ve noticed from my blog and the few select people who come with me to review places.
There are so many other friends I see but don’t blog our meals or outings (and even with the friends who I am comfortable doing it with, there are lots of meals and nights out where I don’t photograph or write about a single thing), I think it’s nice to have a good balance between public and private.
|
Photo from Orrery’s website |
Anyway, we decided to go for the 3-course set menu with a glass of bubbly for £30. A bit of a bargain considering you actually get three extra amuse bouches on top of your three courses. We had a cocktail on the roof terrace before we went down to the restaurant for dinner. I was far too relaxed and completely forgot to take any photos of the roof terrace or cocktails! Bad blogger. Here’s one of the
champagne instead to make up for it…
Part of the D&D group (the same people behind
Quaglino’s and
Avenue), it’s a fine dining French restaurant, which once had a Michelin star. Situated right at the top of Marylebone High Street, it’s just a 10 minute walk from my office.
We started with an amuse bouche of a cold soup. It was surprisingly delicious, and was very creamy with just the perfect amount of dill.
For our starters we both opted for the Buffalo mozarella with fig and truffled honey. Bella and I both agreed that the truffle with the honey was quite overpowering, and thought the dish might have worked better without it. I’m not a huge fan of honey though, so for others it might be ok. The mozarella and fig were perfect though, simple, but so satisfying.
For mains we again made the faux pas of choosing the same. Beef fillet with wild mushrooms, celeriac puree and madeira jus. The beef was fantastic, perfectly cooked and so tender.
Before dessert arrived we had another amuse bouche or palate cleanser. It was delicious – very fruity and zesty, and really quite refreshing.
For dessert Bella chose the strawberries, meringue, and strawberry sorbet. Despite being full she polished off the lot, so I’m guessing it was good! She did say that the sorbet was the best she’s ever had.
I chose the Chocolate panna cotta with raspberry sorbet and chocolate crumble. Oh my. The chocolate was rich and decadent and so fluffy and light. It melted in my mouth.
It was so good I scraped my plate clean. Oops.
To finish we had strawberries and cherries. An odd mix, especially as cherries aren’t very good on the tummy after a heavy meal.
We had a really lovely meal at
Orrery, Bella raved about it which is always a good sign as
she used to live in Paris and is a bit of a French food snob. We waddled out clutching our Gregory’s (our name for a food baby…), and groaning at how full we were. It was definitely a good full though. Every mouthful was worth it. I just had a salad for lunch the next day to make up for it.
Find me: Twitter | Youtube | Facebook | Bloglovin | Pinterest | Google+ | Instagram
Catherine Lux
Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of Content Marketing at Amazon by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
Find me on: Web | Instagram
Your pictures always make me so hungry! Fantastic job, it looks like you had a great time.
Courtney | Courtney Says What
I like to keep a balance between public and private too, some friends aren't keen to have their photo on the blog though most don't mind being mentioned. Your chocolate dessert really looks lovely
Suze | LuxuryColumnist
I completely agree about there only being a few people you're happy to take along to review restaurants – it can be a bit of a minefield so it's not for everyone!
This restaurant looks incredible though, and such good value with the set menu! Might have to try it out come payday…
Young London
Everything looks so yummy! 🙂
Simimaus
Right that's it, I need to make a trip to Marylebone! There seem to be so many good restaurants out that way to discover. I completely agree about striking the balance. Sometimes you just have to put the camera down and enjoy 'real life'…sometimes 😉
Polly xx
Follow Your Sunshine
The food looks amazing! Nothing beats a good meal out!
Lauren x
http://www.laurenapowers.blogspot.com
I love the Orrery, such a pretty setting but I haven't been in years! Some of my friends don't even go on social media so I definitely wouldn't put their faces on my blog. Btw the strawberry meringue dessert would be my idea of heaven!
Lots of love,
Angie
SilverSpoon London
My husband gets so confused when we go out for dinner & I don't whip out my camera – on the other hand I have a bevy of friends who don't know I blog however my camera finger might itch…