reviews

We have been delighted to receive favourable reviews since opening and we are growing year on year. Listed in the Good Food Guide, awarded Two Rosettes by the AA, Two Couverts in the Michelin Guide and a top score for cooking in the Hardens Restaurant Guide.

"Just off for a bowl of soup", we told colleagues one luncthime. But this proved to be something else. Laurie devised a fennel soup, richly flavoured with fresh fennel, onion and pernod. But you don't just pour soup in a bowl if you're fine dining chef of Laurie's calibre. He adds gnocchi (made using a fresh and zingy goats curd), crab from his home territory of Lyme Bay, cucumber tagliatelle for freshness and a dried fennel fan for texture contrast. It was playtime for the tastebuds as they were assaulted with so many contrasting flavours and textures. The judges called it "deeply seductive" and named it the best soup in the land.

Sandra Carter, Limited Edition January 2008

The Artichoke set out to be a good-quality neighbourhood restaurant & it has never strayed from that path. The neutral palette, old timbers & smart tables of the restaurant create the perfect backdrop for meals worth lingering over. And with a seven-course tasting menu for just £13 more than the £36 a la carte, you have the perfect excuse. From the amuse-bouches (a little glass of fresh pineapple juice & coconut foam & a light girolle soup with grain mustard creme fraiche) to delicate petits-fours, every mouthful is a joy. Highlights for us included a starter of langoustine with pea mousse, wild French asparagus, globe artichoke, wild baby endive & an orange vanilla dressing; salad of breast of quail with a stunning ravioli of confit quail & toasted hazelnuts; & sweet, tender roast best end of lamb partnered with a melting nugget of slow-braised shoulder, fettucine of spring vegetables, pomme anna, roast aubergine & smoked new season garlic. A tart strawberry Champagne soup & a refreshing selection of fruit sorbets awakened the palette ahead of a surprisingly light poached white peach atop a raspberry vanilla pannacotta with raspberry granita. All matched with a pleasing selection by glass or bottle from across the wine world. Day-tripping Londoners should know the restaurant is at the end of the Metropolitan line – perfect for lunch.

www.squaremeal.co.uk

Dorset-born Gear is mainly self-taught.. His energy and industry are remarkable. There is a set lunch menu with three choices in each course, an extensive a la carte menu and a seven course tasting menu. Our meal starts with an amuse-bouche of pigeon breast wrapped inn slightly sweet pastry, the synthesis of a Moroccan b’stilla and very good.
To follow foie gras, chicken steamed en papillote sounded pure and simple arrived with burnished skin as if roasted or sautéed …. It was delicious and made more so by the gratings of the Perigord truffle and a mixture of lightly cooked vegetables swimming in the juices. Cannon of roast lamb from the set menu was slices of defiantly rare meat surrounded by a clock face of Provencale vegetables aubergine peppers tomatoes and accompanied by intensely good puy lentils and another beignet flavoured with sage. Then with coffee came tall liquorice sticks shaped like shepherd’s crooks, balls of chocolate-covered mint ice cream and delectable cassis jujubes.
Fay Maschler, Evening Standard (excerpt)

The room is a smart renovation of an ancient beamed house, with some lovely glass panels and tasteful paintings. The wine list is short and intelligent. And the food, which is what counts is stylishly French with some butch touches. What we did buy was impressive, Amanda's starter of 'ravioli of goats cheese sun dried tomato fresh basil sauce beurre blanc' brought two fatly filled parcels of light pasta with a stuffing that managed to be assertive without any of that claggy-mouth feel that goat's cheese can deliver. I began with dainty caramelised scallops accompanied by a precise chicory tarte tatin, which was as intriguing in texture as flavour.
A main course of roast partridge brought the legs, confited, dressed with a little of the liver, on top of the roast breast. Beneath was a layer of bread sauce which, in turn, lay upon a little braised red cabbage. This was serious game cookery, which showed a light touch with hefty ingredients, so that careful spicing - a little clove and nutmeg - were allowed their moment on the plate. The Artichoke is a smart outfit, the kind of restaurant you'd hope any fair-sized British town with a modicum of taste could support.

Jay Rayner, The Sunday Telegraph
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