A collaboration between Simpsons and a burger joint, albeit an upmarket one, always seemed improbable but it is Simpsons’ 30th birthday year so Antona’s grown-up baby can celebrate its anniversary anyway it likes. And so, on the evening of Wednesday 6 September 2023,
First the fine dining -
A little bottle of Moët and Chandon accompanied by a soupçon of Oscietra, which was a happy start to the meal, then two snacks - the cauliflower bomb was brilliant - delicious, perfectly-cooked cauliflower, its flavour truly exploding with a wonderfully spicy sweet chilli sauce. A “wow” moment. There was nothing to complain about with the accompanying ham hock bon bon either. There was no complaining about either about the heritage beetroot dish. Beautiful to look at and cool to consume.
The Orkney scallop with chicory and citrus beurre Blanc was sophisticated and refined and as delicious a scallop dish as one couldd hope for.
Then the burger -
The ‘Cheeky Boy’. The precisely cooked burger was fine and the enhancement with slow cooked ox cheek, hence the sobriquet, made this a very edible confection. I particularly liked the accompanying truffle fries and walnut ketchup. I guess the ‘fries’ which took were crispy pleasures shot through with truffle were about as fine dining as chips can get.
The dessert was a perfect illustration of how the straightforward, or at least the relatively straightforward, or the apparently straightforward, is always best. Gorgeous croc en bouches with a perfect chocolate sauce.
A pleasurable evening. Simpsons was at the top of its game. I am a reluctant burger consumer but if I must have one then I guess these are the circumstances under which I like to eat them and to eat one so finely cooked was a treat.
Nice too, to see a great basin of Oscietra lurking in my close vicinity.
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