London Restaurant Festival - Gourmet Odyssey - Oct 2010

There are very few things that will get me out of bed early on a Saturday morning. The promise of champagne before lunchtime and three courses at three of London's top restaurants is undoubtedly one of those. As part of the London Restaurant Festival, they're hosting a series of events, or odysseys, taking people around the city by foot or open topped bus in an audacious attempt to do three courses at three different restaurants. I've tried this style of smash and grab dining a few times, as both guest and organiser, and it's not an easy thing to do, so my hat was already partly off to them for even trying it. In the main, it succeeded. There is a top end bias to the London Restaurant Festival, but it's not surprising in a city with so many fine dining restaurants. This is particularly true of the Odyssy tours. That being said, you're not going to drop £125 per ticket for anything less than the expected best.
The Met Bar
We met at London's original 'it' bar and, of an evening, the go to pick up joint even now for the out of town elite (or expense account business types rolling in from Nobu upstairs). They've got a door policy, but these days it seems to extend as far as checking whether you can pick up a tab stretching into the hundreds for premium cocktails and sold up bottles of champagne. I've been a few times (never by choice, please believe that) and thought it an odd start place for our Restaurant Odyssey. In the daylight it suffers. A small space with a handful of deep red leather banquettes, an impressively long bar and a tiny dancefloor for the tiny models and style fascists who occupy it nightly. There's little to no design to speak of other than lacquerwork walls and a couple of generic chinoiserie frills. The staff were fairly clear that this was a 'free' event and had that level of bitter cynicism that comes from anyone who has been around journalists and drink. My request for an orange juice gave the instant response of "that's not free you know, you'll have to pay for it". And pay for it you did, £4.50 for an ice-filled shotglass of juice. Not a good start. At £125 for the event, I was amazed that they hadn't laid on soft drinks at this time of the morning.  
Starter at Koffman's 
Cassolette D'Escargots et Girolles
Things looked up from there as we (eventually) boarded our Routemaster bus like overexcited wedding guests and headed to Koffman's at The Berkley. Taking over the old Boxwood Cafe site wasn't a particularly challenging return for the doyen of 80's expense account cooking and London's first holder of three Michelin stars. The site has hardly changed since Ramsay's departure, still a library-like space of silk and grey. The hushed reverential surrounds feel fitting for the former owner of Tante Claire and darling of the nascent gourmet restaurant scene, but it feels at odds with his gutsy French cuisine. The starter of choice today was a cassarole of  plump earthy snails and sweet mushrooms served on a bed of pureed potato, more cream than spud, covered with a velvety green blanket of garlic and parsley foam. A little full on choice to start, and slightly too much for my companion, but it went down well with a glass of crisp pinot blanc. If you do go to Koffmann's, and go I think you should, then their £22 three course lunch menu is available all week and is very good value, though you don't get to try the unctuous pig's trotters stuffed with mushroom and sweetbread that made Chef Koffmann's reputation. This is worth a trip of its own.
Main at Hibiscus
Label Anglais Chicken with wild mushrooms, white beans, ginger, lime and peanut sauce
By now we were all a few glasses to the good and despite being inevitably behind schedule, were relaxed and happy for the trip back into Mayfair for Claude Bosi's slightly more gentrified and experimental take on French cuisine. The two starred Hibiscus was upended from foodie Mecca Ludlow and the chef has stuck to the kitchen, resisting the temptation to turn businessman and expand brand Bosi. An imposing and genial man, Chef Bosi can't be missed, arms folded, ready with a joke or retort, while his sharp eyes scan the room. He looks almost at odds with the refined and delicate food he serves in the small, unfussy space on Maddox Street. You'd expect rugby player hands the size of hams to be more at home with big meat butchery or at least the more rustic cuisine of our previous locale, however it's clear in his cooking that he possesses a surgeon's delicacy. There's a fussy attention to detail as high as you'd expect from any two starred chef. The chicken was slow poached then roasted, arctic rolls of meat served with a rough mushroom filling. The white bean came with a kick of lime, but the other flavours were too subtle for my palate, despite that, I could have eaten the whole thing again. It went very well with a light Rioja.
Dessert at Sake No Hana
Mitsumame with green tea ice cream and sticky rice cake
It's a beautiful building with huge high wood slats and a soft pine colour scheme. Sadly from a foodies point of view, the best wasn't saved till last. I have to be honest and say that Sake No Hana felt like an afterthought, though it's difficult to follow the previous two courses with a dessert, no matter how good. This holds particularly true for a subtle Japanese dish of jellified seaweed cubes served with fruits and a green tea ice cream (no sign of that rice cake sadly). The dish was fine, but not worth the additional leg of the journey. The fragrant Reisling served with it was the best part of the meal, a shame as I've had some good experiences at the St James Japanese. Particular note on previous visits to some spectacular maki rolls, beautifully flavoured katzu and an excellent dunburi, slivers of ribeye served spiced over a bed of fragrant rice.
Overall
It's a good fun concept, and I'm glad I took part. The company was superb in the main and the organisation was well held together and strong. It was a shame some of the 'free guests' crowed about it so much, we sat near a couple who had obviously saved for it and were slightly crestfallen by the number claiming that they wouldn't have paid for it. It's certainly not the way I'd choose to eat my way around three restaurants. For the price paid, you could easily and happily do separate set menus in each and achieve a much better experience of what the kitchens are capable of.