REVIEW: CORD BY LE CORDON BLEU

2 days ago
3 min read

Flower festooned lamb and mind-blowing chocolate and scallop combinations - style meets substance at this gold standard for fine French dining

At CORD, you won’t notice the fancy clobber your dining partner is wearing for the occasion, or leave with any juicy gossip, because all you'll admire and discuss is the food.

This is to be expected, as CORD is the flagship restaurant of the famous Cordon Bleu cookery school - the gold standard for fine French dining since 1895, with institutes in 20 countries.

Housed in a beautiful Portland stone building on Fleet Street, the luxurious labyrinth encompasses a cookery school, cafe, private dining and softly-lit, midnight blue, gold, and dark wood restaurant, which we excitedly enter.

Here, the theatrical and inventive dishes unashamedly steal the show, so it’s fitting that we’re seated at the Chef's Table to face the open kitchen, for their brand new, Spring menu.

The experience begins by plucking beautiful seafood canapés from a giant shell - half pink Cornish crab, half crab mousse and dusted with spinach powder on a light tart base - it’s delicate, creamy, rich and already induces noises of pleasure ill befitting our elegant surroundings.

White plinths are brought to the table, topped with spiky, black truffle canapés, which we’re instructed to eat in one, dreamy bite, like an umami-loaded Ferrero Rocher.

These are washed down with an exquisite, Champagne-like Benjamin Bridge Brut, from Canada.

I begin with the Isle of Skye scallop tartare, which might be one of my all-time favourite starters. A perfect circle of scallop and oyster, topped with a glittering orb of Oscietra caviar. Head Chef Karl O’Dell travelled to Bordeaux to hand-select the caviar for this dish.

The creamy green and white sauce is artfully poured at the table. I can’t work out what flavour combination is making me want to marry the chef - I discover it is white chocolate.

If somebody served me scallop and white chocolate, I would quietly grieve their mental health. But this pairing - with the zesty kaffir lime - is extraordinary.

My friend has the Native Lobster Ravioli in a rich fennel and saffron bouillabaisse. It’s beautiful, but I win on the starters.

However, she wins on the mains, when a theatrical festoon of Chrysanthemum and snowdrops arrive at the table, framing a rockery on which a Turkish Delight pink, Salt Marsh lamb rack is artfully arranged.

These are carefully placed onto the beautiful sweetbreads, morel, peas and fresh mint on her plate at the table. They are tender, juicy, with an incredible depth of flavour, so I’m thrilled that she’s on Monjauro and I’m not, because I can polish them off.

I have the delicious poached Cornish Turbot, which arrives like beautiful sushi, wrapped in sea lettuce, with meaty fish on one side and prawn on this other, alongside wild garlic, black grapes, and topped with a rich, creamy sauce.

These are accompanied by crispy potato pavé with black truffle and Comte. Deeply French and desperately sexy.

This is perfectly paired with an amazing, Bulgarian Soli Pinot Noir - ripe, smooth and so good, I order more online when I return home.

Although I could happily sit here all week like Mr Creosote, ordering just one more wafer thin slice of lamb, all good things must come to an end.

So we finish with the Black Forest dessert for her, and Creamy Ossau with Iraty Cheese for me - it’s a draw on the pudding front.

Hers is light, not too sweet and full of Amareno cherry flavour, with Kirsch mousse and white chocolate.

Mine has the most exciting flavours - the perfect balance of sweet and savoury, like a futuristic cheesecake, with cherry, marigold and balsamic.

Before we grudgingly leave, we are brought a selection of Pâtes de Fruits petit fours, like dreamy, sugar-coated jelly cubes.

The staff are warm, attentive and rightly passionate about the food. As we chat with them and the chef at the close of the meal, I’m relieved the food soaked up our wine, or I might have hugged them for the experience.

CORD by Le Cordon Bleu, 85 Fleet St, London EC4Y 1AE