Home >> Reviews >> Restaurants >> 2011 >> Jul >> Restaurant Review - Matthew Lewin looks at Pearl in High Holborn
Restaurant Review - Matthew Lewin looks at Pearl in High Holborn
Published: 28 July 2011
by MATTHEW LEWIN
HERE'S a seriously good, posh place for anyone who wants to save up some dosh for a really good meal out.
You walk through the imposing entrance of the Grade II-listed Chancery Court Hotel, High Holborn, and then through a side door into what was once a banking hall of the Pearl Assurance company and is now a very attractive bar and restaurant decorated with more than a million pearls. Well, not real ones, obviously, but pretty spectacular nonetheless.
Pearl’s extraordinary “salad bar” cocktails are well worth trying.
We tried all three of these special cocktails, from the exotic Waldorf (walnut-infused vodka with citrus notes of pressed apple and grapes, service with a little glass of walnut jelly) to The Greek (gin with a tomato consommé refreshed by cucumber ice cubes, served with a tiny feta and olive salad).
The third was the awesome Thai cocktail, involving a chilli-infused cachaca rum with fresh mango, papaya, lime and palm sugar syrup, which provides a startling kick up the cachacas, served with a little Thai noodle salad.
I was so disoriented by the cocktails that I quite forgot to photograph our starters in the restaurant.
My Chief Culinary Adviser had a stunning duck tortellini with pan-fried foie gras in a black radish and mushroom consommé – this is what made me sit up and take notice.
My starter was roasted bone marrow, served in the bone, with onion confit, little beef cheek croquettes and a watercress dressing.
For main course, I went for a herb-crusted veal rump with morel mushrooms and a little lasagne made with pasta and veal tail (pictured).
In a place like this you really dare not miss desserts. I was rewarded with an astonishing lychee jelly topped with raspberries, rose ice cream and bits of pink praline. The praline was just a touch too sugary for me, but the rest of it was superb.
SUMMARY:
Seriously outstanding French cooking from chef Jun Tanaka. Open for lunch and dinner Monday to Friday, and for dinner on Saturday. The dinner menu is £60 for three courses (£29.50 at lunchtimes). The tasting menu is £70 (£120 with wines).
Seriously outstanding French cooking from chef Jun Tanaka. Open for lunch and dinner Monday to Friday, and for dinner on Saturday. The dinner menu is £60 for three courses (£29.50 at lunchtimes). The tasting menu is £70 (£120 with wines).
Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)
PEARL RESTAURANT AND BAR
Chancery Court Hotel
252 High Holborn
WC1
020 7829 7000