One can not be sure what the future holds for Simpsons given that Andreas Antona has put the restaurant up for sale and there are rumours of Luke Tipping preparing to retire (there is no substantial evidence that I have heard to say that Tipping is preparing to leave the stage on a high).
Regardless of all this, my regular dining companion and I resolved to have lunch at Simpsons. On the day we visited, Luke Tipping did not appear to be in the kitchen. The restaurant was certainly quiet - possibly about half a dozen of the tables had diners sitting at them. I have seen Simpsons much busier at a mid-week lunchtime in years past.
In the last three years, Luke Tipping has delivered some fabulous dishes and Simpsons has been at the top of its game. But would the food coming out of the kitchen in the absence of the Chef Director be as consistently good as I had come to expect in recent times whenever I have visited Simpsons?
We chose to dine from the ‘Prestige’ tasting menu, cost £140, and at that price we were looking forward to some fine dishes, accurately cooked with some luxury items.
The meal started with three pleasing canopés - admirably crispy potato rosti which was slightly oily, crispy coated cod which was very pleasurable and a tasty beef tartare tart. An individual brioche and a slice of sourdough were accompanied by what amounted to some taramasalata and some wild garlic butter, moderately potent Wikd garlic butter, the garlic, we were told, had been foraged that morning.
Then to the first course proper - a curious smoked cheddar dumpling with the texture of a panna cotta, reasonably tasty with fermented carrots, mushrooms, black garlic and dill pollen. I shoukd have liked the dumpling to have more body to it but the overall dish was pleasing enough. Then came a finely cooked, plump Orkney scallop with a toffee-like flavoured Jerusalem artichoke purée which did detract from the flavour of the scallop, Exmoor cavia, miso and katsuobashi dashi.
The third course was undoubtedly the star dish of the meal - superbly well cooked skrei cod with chopped mussels which I liked very much, trout roe and a wonderfully buttery smoked eel cream which brought the word “sensational” to my lips. Gorgeous to look at and even more gorgeous to taste.
This was followed by a slightly exhausting dish which brought an example of almost everything you can do with a beetroot to the table. There was a generous slice of golden beetroot, more of it than either of us could summon up the energy to finish, a toothsome beetroot sorbet, a nicely crispy beetroot tuile, an apt wasabi cream and best of all, little strands of sweetly pickled beetroot which added a thrill to a dish which had too many elements.
The main was very problematical. Some lovely sirloin pavé was served but it was undoubtedly overcooked, having a dryness to it and, felt my companion, a slight toughness though I found my slice to be tender. I have had some lovely meat dishes at Simpsons in recent years but this one was wide of the mark. Perhaps the apparent absence of Chef was the reason for this inaccuracy being sent out of the kitchen. The dish was lifted by some well-cooked new season asparagus, a morel, the reappearance of wild garlic in the form of a purée, a blob of truffle purée and macaroni, vigorously al dente, covered with cheese which, for me at least, did not travel happily with the sirloin, the cheese’s flavour too harsh for the beef. This is a dish, striving hard to incorporate the produce of the gathering spring, which needs some new thought put into it.
There was a pleasant first dessert of accurately cooked seasonal rhubarb which I had been looking forward to eating and which did not disappoint me, accompanied by vanilla cream and ginger crumble of which there was a little more than I wanted to deal with. But it was a happy, seasonal dish and served as a light, gentle introduction to the very impressive passion fruit soufflé filled with mango sauce and coconut Chantilly cream. It was a little sweet for my taste but was otherwise a fine soufflé about which no-one could have cause to complain.
I have had some very fine meals at Simpsons in recent years but this particular lunch was not quite to the standard I have grown to recognise - the overcooked sirloin, the overpowering of one or two key ingredients by the flavours of some other lesser ingredients. Perhaps it reflected the absence of the most senior chef in the kitchen.
Rating:- 🌞
13 March 2025
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