In the sure and certain knowledge that Aktar Islam’s Opheem would be awarded a second Michelin star in the 2024 awards ceremony - how could it not be? - I made a reservation some weeks ahead to return to the restaurant for the full 10 course tasting menu for lunch on just the third service after the announcement. I wanted to experience seeing the pleasure of people who had just reaped the award of sustained hard work, enormous stress and brilliant inventiveness. It was a joy to behold. It was also a joy to eat there again, though it had only been a couple of weeks or so since my last visit.
The menu - I mean the paper menu itself - was a pleasure to look at, now decorated as it was with 2 stars and the inscription, “We are absolutely thrilled to have received our second Michelin star this week and so happy you can join us for our third service as a TWO MICHELIN STAR restaurant”. Well, I was pretty proud myself and delighted when Chef took the trouble to come to speak to me and thank me for my support over the years. All I could say was, “Here’s to the third”.
The amuses gueles were as delicious and clever as ever. Oh! That lovely curried crab crumpet! Oh for the mango tuile with chutney and burnt lettuce. The apple macaron with beef tartare and duck liver and the Tabak Maas, the gorgeous tandoori barbecued mutton rib. Such stuff are dreams made on.
Everything was just unimpeachable. Not a fault. The greatest concentration pleasure that can found on a single table. There was Gajar - heritage carrot with a pleasing lentil pakora and then the sublime Badami korma, a perfectly cooked Orkney scallop dish, Aloo tuk - a dish honed to perfection over years, and then the delight of Allepy, Cornish monkfish served with green bean compote with raw mango and coconut. So many pleasures.
On, inevitably, to Pao, the delightfully presented milk loaf course with lamb keema and then to the estimable Saagwala, fine aged sirloin with braised cheek, spinach and barbecued greens.
Finally to two exquisite desserts -Aam, Alphonso mango caressed with the perfect blend of lime, yuzu and passion fruit, sharp to balance the sweet, and then Cheree, a beautifully executed Valrhona chocolate dish in exact rhapsody with cherry sorbet and hazelnut. Then, to finish, back to the lounge for coffee and Opheem’s own unique mignardises.
Rating:- 🌞🌞🌞.
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