Michelin 3-Star Dinner at Alain Ducasse in London
Last Friday I had a mind-blowing gastronomic experience at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester in Mayfair, London. Imaginative modern French haute cuisine and unforgettable masterpieces. Let’s explore why it has a three-Michelin-starred status.
Before we start, a little disclaimer. As always, I’m not getting paid for any of my posts and whatever I write it’s purely based on my opinion and experience.
What Is A Michelin Star Restaurant?
1-Star: “High quality cooking, worth a stop!”
2-Star: “Excellent cooking, worth a detour!”
3-Star: “Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey!”
What Are The Countries With 3 Stars?
- France and Japan – 29 Restaurants each
- United States – 14 Restaurants
- Italy and Spain – 11 Restaurants each
- Germany and Hong Kong – 10 Restaurants each
- United Kingdom – 5 Restaurants
What Are The Restaurants In The UK With 3 Stars?
- The Waterside Inn in Bray – Chef Alain Roux. Awarded since 1985
- The Fat Duck in Bray – Chef Heston Blumenthal. Awarded since 2004
- Gordon Ramsay in London – Chef Gordon Ramsay. Awarded since 2001
- Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester – Chef Jean-Philippe Blondet. Awarded since 2010
- Sketch (The Lecture Room and Library) – Chef Pierre Gagnaire. Awarded since 2020
Who Is Alain Ducasse?
Alain Ducasse is one of the world’s most decorated chefs. He has created very innovative dining experiences and earned the respect a reputation for outstanding cuisine. He is only one of the 2 chefs to hold 21 Michelin stars throughout his career and the current living chef with the most Michelin stars in the world.
Our Arrival At Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester
We had our reservation at 6.30 PM for the Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester restaurant. We arrived a bit earlier to have a look at The Dorchester, one of the London’s iconic 5-star hotels where the restaurant is. You enter, go straight and you’ll appreciate breath-taking floral arrangements (the cover photo). On your left, there’s a bar but this time Kristina and I decided to skip it and go straight to the point. After 20 metres you turn left and you see Alain Ducasse. As all places, they had hand gel everywhere and we needed to wear face masks till the door of the restaurant.
The Wine Experience
The Sommelier greeted us and told us that due to the pandemic new rules their wine menu was online only. So, we scanned the code and started to check the 62-page-menu by Pierre-Marie Faure (Chef Sommelier) and Gérard Margeon (Wine Manager). The “Carte des vins” was structured by the glass, wine pairings, champagne, white wines, red wines and “vins de dessert”.
We shared with the Sommelier the fact that we were having the vegetarian tasting menu and what we liked and what we didn’t. So, we ended up with a 2015 Riesling, Heimbourg, Zind-Humbrecht. In other words, pure, ripe and stony on the nose, with concentrated lemon and crushed stone aromas. Also, quite dense and intense. Perfect for our vegetarian courses.
The Tasting Menu
At this point you know that Kristina and I are vegetarians. So obviously we went for 7-course-vegetarian-menu (or 8 if you included the petits fours at the end). Before jumping into the first meal, they brought us some delicious bread with 2 types of butter and dips. In fact, they kept bringing that stuff throughout the night as soon as we were running out. I didn’t want to it too much so I could enjoy the whole menu but it was so delicious that I couldn’t stop. And ready to start with the following:
1. Amuse-bouche
2. Carrot, sorrel and sunflower seeds
3. Eggplant, hazelnut and lemon balm
4. Cookpot of seasonal vegetables and fruit
5. Spelt wild mushrooms and fermented shallots
6. Assortment of French cheeses
7. Raspberry and watercress contemporary vacherin
Bonus Track. Petits Fours & Chocolate.
Bonus Track II. Leaving Gift.
Every dish was cleverly presented and seriously implemented. As Sketch, there was a high level of colours, flavours and textures. My favourite was the signature cookpot of seasonal vegetables and fruit, displaying a stunning seasonal British and French marriage of fresh ingredients.
There was of course a non-vegetarian (“Tasting Menu”) menu available:
- Dorset crab, celeriac and caviar
- Confit duck foie gras, grape, rocket and wasabi
- Sauté gourmand of lobster and truffled chicken quenelles
- Turbot, aubergine, shellfish and lemon balm
- Jaune des Landes chicken, wild mushrooms and Swiss chard
- Assortment of French cheeses
- Raspberry and watercress contemporary vacherin
The Pricing
As any other Michelin 3-Star restaurant, it’s expensive. In this case:
Jardin Menu (Vegetarian): £120 per person.
Tasting Menu (Non-Vegetarian): £150 per person.
Discretionary Service Charge: 14%
Clearly drinks are not included, so if you want to have some water, champagne and/or wine, get ready. For example, our 2015 Riesling wine bottle was priced at £115. The cheapest bottle starts at £65 and you can go up to 4 or even 5 digits if you fancy a vintage Dom Pérignon for instance.
Because we are vegetarians, we’re by definition slightly cheaper and ended up paying £411.54. This is the breakdown:
1x Still Water £6.00
1x Riesling (2015 Bottle) £115.00
2x Vegetarian Tasting Menu £240.00
14% Discretionary Service Charge £50.54
Final Thoughts
As also mentioned in Sketch’s review, it’s a Michelin 3-Star restaurant. The cuisine is top-notch, creative, innovative and delicious. The service is very good. The experience definitely has that “wow” factor. If there are 2 areas where they can improve, I’d say:
- Intensity. They have a lot of people working there, which is totally fine and surely needed as it gets very busy. However, I’d say that it was too much intensity for us. For example, I went to the restrooms and when coming back had 2 employees taking me to the table, helping me sitting and so on. Even when we finished each of the courses or drinks, they were there straight away. Just to be clear, this was perhaps a good thing as they wanted to show “they are there” all the time but I felt there was no need and it would have been completely fine at least to go slightly slower.
- Wine price. Undoubtedly, it’s a world-class place but I’m not sure that some of the bottles are worth the price.
Bottom line, this is a fantastic place, posh, elegant, refined and worth exploring if you can afford it for a special occasion.
