The atmosphere of Thirty Six is quiet and reserved: one that indicates the evening is going to be wholly about the food, writes Nicole Holgate. Having opted for the à la carte three courses as opposed to the tasting menu, staff are more than happy to recommend a wine to go with our diverse food choices.
First up are delicate canapés: a small orb of duck in crisp breadcrumbs, pastries filled with cream cheese and a serving of crab, carrot and caviar. Then an amuse bouche of root vegetable foam and Parmesan that gets the taste buds going.
For my starter, I choose an artichoke salad with meaty mushrooms and quail eggs. Further depopulating the quail, my partner has a delicately roasted bird with artfully deconstructed Caesar salad.
My lamb main comes in three forms – sweetbreads, melt-in-the-mouth rib and roast, served with green beans and spinach that cuts nicely through the rich fatty flavours. My partner opts for chicken, which is roasted and as a pie with young leeks, onion and a delectable cream of sage as an alternative to stuffing.
Before dessert, the unexpected highlight of the evening is a deconstructed margarita of lime sorbet, tequila gel and golden syrup: both palate-cleansing and explosively tasty.
Finally arrives a chocolate pavé with sea salt caramel ice cream, popcorn and banana. The contrast in textures – granular chocolate, soft ice cream and crunchy popcorn – was gorgeous, but the banana is one flavour too many.
My cohort fared well with a blackberry sorbet alongside buttermilk panna cotta and liquorice toffee. The combination of liquorice and blackberry is a winner, contrasted with flair by the buttermilk.
Just as we feel we might burst, a small selection of sweets, including lemon madeiras and jellies with a powerful blackcurrant flavour, is brought out.
Thirty Six provides an incredible evening of indulgence, extravagance and attention to detail.
The dinner menu is £49 for two courses; £60 for three courses.
Thirty Six at Dukes Hotel, 35–36 St James’s Place, London, SW1A 1NY
dukeshotel.com; 020 7491 4840
