Maze @ Gordon Ramsay

Since I have come to London, trying out new restaurants have become an exciting new hobby. The only limiting factor of this lifestyle modification is clearly the pricetag that comes with it. And I have to say, London IS expensive. Not the regular Edinburgh life I am used to, where I can get by a whole month spending less than £200. Everything in London costs money. The minute I step out of the house, I start paying. Legs aren't enough to get you from point A to B, no, it's the public transport you have to rely on.

But the up side is there is endless deals available online, new dishes and restaurants sprouting up every minute, and if you are smart enough (or kiamsiap enough) you can get away with trying a lot of things for a non extorbitant amount of money outflow.

Toptable was doing an offer on Maze (Chef's Ramsay's latest sensation; French cuising infused with an Asian flair) - £25 for a 3 course meal. So book I did and dine I did with Mr C.


There are 2 parts to this restaurant, one half is Maze itself and the other Maze Grill which is joined to the Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square.The Toptable deal was for the Maze restaurant itself and I was shown to my table which was squashed between another 2 tables which in turn was squashed between the adjoining tables which in turn...you get the picture.
I put it down to maximal business use per inch square of the area as they are doing a deal on toptable at that time, but surely on a normal day one wouldn't expect to sit like sardines in a can? Who knows. 


The menu was understandably a set menu to choose from and with enough choice variation.
Unfortunately, for the life of me, I cannot remember the names of all the food we had, so a short description of what it is will do.

Starters:

 Beetroot with goats cheese and pine nuts

 

Foie gras chicke pate with toast

Comparing both starters, the beetroot and goat cheese option was probably a better choice. The pate was so-so, and it was a terribly small helping. Also, once you have tasted Meat Pie by Heston Blumenthel at Dinner, other pates have a lot to live up to.

Mains:

 Duck breast

 

 Szechuan grilled pork belly, which I will simply call 'Siew Yook'

The duck breast was cooked well, and the taste of the rice under it was very heavily spiced with Indian flavours. However, 3 slices was perhapes enough to fill 1/10 my stomach. Mr C's Siew Yook was also above average, but at times like this, think of the best siew yook you've had.... this probably would not be it.

Dessert:

 Honestly, cannot remember this. At. All

  Elderflower panna cotta with raspberry sauce and ginger sorbet

I think that was what the panna cotta was if I remember correctly, but it was nothing too special and certainly the other dessert failed to make an impression whatsoever. The ginger sorbet was amazing though.

All in all, I probably wouldn't go back to Maze as it wasn't a memorable experience nor was it too exciting food. It was cheap though, £25 for 3courses in a fine dining restaurant is an amazing deal. I suppose being Asian myself doesn't help when my palate is used to Asian food and I found the dishes not as different and tasty as I had hoped it would be. 

Oh, also, both of us managed a packet of instant noodles the minute we got home. 

Guess I forgot to mention how small the servings were.