Reviews

Five Fields – mixed feelings

24 November, 2017

Five Fields in a restaurant hidden in the heart of Chelsea, few minutes walk from Sloan Square station. Its name is a reference to the name of this part of London from the 18th century. Led by chef patron  Taylor Bonnyman and head chef Marguerite Keogh offers modern British cuisine with some Asian influences.

I was following Five Fields almost from the first day I have arrived in London in 2013. From 2016 it holds 4 AA rosettes and 1 Michelin star. Also this year they won the AA Wine Award in England. I heard a lot of good opinions but never had the opportunity to eat here. Until this year, 3rd October when we went with my wife to celebrate our anniversary.

It as small, 40 seats place, opened only 5 days a week – Monday until Friday for dinner service exclusively. Bookings are taken 6 weeks in advance so if you want to eat here you need to make sure you book early as tables are disappearing quickly.

Upon arrival, we were welcomed by our waiter who showed us a beautifully set upped table in the middle of the room.  As soon as we sat down, the gentleman wished us a happy anniversary and had a quick chat with us. We found it really nice and very welcoming. Our menus were also printed with the wishes. Someone made an extra effort to make us feel special and this is what hospitality is about.

On the menu, you have a choice of three courses set or 8 courses tasting with optional wine pairing. We treated ourselves with the long version to get the full experience and know better the style of Chef Taylor.

 

The meal started with canapes. Chinese style chicken dumpling with a black truffle, ceps tarts and snails, hazelnuts and bonemarrow tartlets. Interesting beginning.

 

Amuse Bouche. Teriyaki chicken with cucumber and covered with dashi hollandaise served in the eggshell. Interesting taste and nice texture.

 

Before the tasting menu started we were offered house-baked bread in four varieties – lovage, soda, tomato and buttermilk. The last one my favourite by far!

 

The first dish was served in three different ways, Crispy artichoke with creamy shellfish puree inside, Jerusalem artichoke and apple sphere and lobster with shellfish bisque. Really great flavours, textures and presentation.

 

Another dish was langoustine tail served with pickled beetroots, bonito hollandaise, finger lime and green herbs oil in which the most powerful was chervil. Nice, delicate dish. Unfortunately, my wife found a toothpick in her langoustine. Little mistake but the details matters.

 

The half scallop was served with carrot and yoghurt spiced with Indian curry and crispy scallop which was the most interesting part of the dish.

 

The next course was served for both of us different. My wife had Irish goat cheese garnished with garden beetroot salad. Great presentation but the taste of cheese was much too strong for me – very citrusy. My wife on the other hand really liked it. I was served Fois Gras wrapped in crispy see weed. It was served with pumpkin puree and crumble and shiso sauce.  Very enjoyable dish and unusual mix of flavours.

 

Again two different selections. Octopus with coconut and ceps – dried, duxelles and pieces. Well balanced and tasty. Suckling pig belly, black pudding, onion and pears – fresh and dehydrated. Good composition and plating.

 

The main players of the evening. Beef and turbot served with its garnishes. Slow cooked short rib with popcorn, chard wrapped ox tail, burnt corn, creamy polenta, beef jus and beef bacon with Russian sauce. Fish in accompaniment of white roasted cauliflower and purple cauliflower puree, eel crumble, taramasalata on crispy ink and shellfish ravioli. Both were great pieces of food. Cooked perfectly, very tender and melting in the mouth. We both had the same impression that dishes are full with excellent flavours.

 

Pre-dessert was a perfectly composed to clean your taste buds after robust mains. Coconut mousse and ice cream, avocado puree and lemon.

 

The main dessert was raspberry dusted vanilla sponge cake, raspberry coulis and fresh raspberries with ginger ice cream. Light, easy dessert after flavour challenging diner. Great composition.

 

As the last element, we received a surprise in a form of the chocolate cake with wishes of a happy anniversary. Great touch after a whole meal which just confirmed that people behind Five Filed are taking hospitality very seriously. The cake was very rich and delicious, made of three different kinds of chocolate.

 

The bill was just over £200 including service charge and 2 rounds of non-alcoholic cocktails, what I find as a good value for money. Technically very well delivered dinner, good service, a lot of extras and sophisticated atmosphere. And you get Cannelas Bordelais to take home. All pricey but worthy.

Five Fields is a high standard restaurant with plenty of potential. An interesting fact is that they have their own garden that supplies them with some of the seasonal vegetables. Skills of the chef are on the high level as well as great attention to details. Unfortunately, in each dish, there are so many different ingredients that some of them are difficult to catch or overpowered by the other one. Also, none of the plates was mind-blowing or staying in memory for longer although all cooked perfectly.

French style, classic service was very attentive and proper. However, I’m not a great fan of a stiff way of serving food but all fits well with the concept and would suit to many customers. The atmosphere was very formal yet friendly. On the negative side, waiting time was too long for some dishes what was annoying and resulted in almost 4hours dinner with 70% full room. Not impressive.

My expectations were set very high as were rising for many years and were fulfilled to some extent but the food was without fireworks. I would definitely recommend Five Fileds for some formal occasions but think twice if looking for some more relaxed setting.

 

Five Fields

8-9 Blacklands Terrace

SW3 2SP

London

www.fivefieldsrestaurant.com

 

Five Fields
  • Food
  • Service
  • Value for money
  • Atmosphere
  • General

 

Cover photo: Five Fields

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