Who would have suspected that at the bottom of a Sheraton would be one of the nicest restaurants I’ve been to in a long time. Located in Knightsbridge I shouldn’t have really been surprised to find what turned out to be a high quality and impressive restaurant. As a hotel restaurant its not very large with capacity for about maybe 35-40 covers. From the get go we were set up for an impressive experience with only one real let down for the evening which I’ll get to at the end. Even better for our visit was that we had a 50% discount which made top quality seafood available to us at a very reasonable price.
The restaurant is oval shaped with the majority of the tables set around the outside with a couple of tables (for 
larger groups) in the centre. Diners were well-spaced out though we could hear everything from the two guys at a table next to us (a lot of business, start-up and .com type conversation) but they were talking in rather loud voices. The group behind were slightly distracting too because of one particularly loud American woman but otherwise a pleasant environment.
Its clear that the restaurant values its focus on its food. I was impressed with how the guy who took our order answered our questions because Sandra has some particularly tricky questions for him. Most please was that he actually considered what would provide a good balanced meal overall for us before answering the detailed question. For example, when Sandra was asking which crab leg dish he would recommend (One-O-One’s specialty in their Starters is their Norwegian Red King Crab Legs which can be served in three ways: On Ice with Mayonnaise and Lemon, Warm with Sweet Chilli-Ginger Sauce or Grilled with Virgin Olive Oil and Tomato Vierge) and before recommending the dish he checked with Sandra what her main meal would be. It was also obvious from how he answered our questions that he had an in-depth knowledge of the ingredients and cooking styles of chefs.
Whilst we were waiting for our meals to be served we were given some breads – white, brown and focaccia along with some butter. One normal butter and one a seaweed butter. Very strongly flavoured seaweed butter! We were also given an amuse bouche of salmon, crème freche, cous cous and some crunchy bits. It was rather tasty!
Here were our starters, Sandra’s Norwegian Red King Crab Legs from the Barents Sea Grilled with Virgin Olive Oil and Tomato Vierge and my Pan-Fried Norwegian Scallop with Onzen Quail Eggs Crispy Pork Belly, Truffle Potato Mousseline and Jus Gras. Phew – rather big descriptions so we were hoping for the dishes to live up to the build-up!
Sandra said her crabs were divine. My Scallops were fantastic too though it took me about less than a quarter of the time to eat them than Sandra with her crabs! The quail eggs were extremely cute and the truffle potato mousseline amazingly strongly flavoured. The scallops were served first as it was and then the waitress poured over the Jus Grus on delivery. The Pork Belly melted in my mouth. Great start!
I was pleased that the restaurant didn’t rush our food out. We had a decent amount of time between the finish of our starters and the serving of our mains: Slow Cooked Skrei “Arctic Cod from The Barents Sea” Joselito Chorizo Carpaccio and Squid A La Plancha for Sandra and Pan-Roasted Norwegian White Halibut and Lobster Dumpling Paimpol Coco Beans Truffle Cassoulet, Sauce Américaine for me.
Both dishes looked really good and had an amazing number of flavours going on at once but as a result it was almost difficult to decide where to start with our dishes. A very nice experience for our palettes though. The portions weren’t huge but I think at the pace we were eating and the richness of the food we were consuming it was just the right size. I absolutely adored my halibut – flaky and soft as fish should be.
One of the other specialty dishes that One-O-One has is the Whole Seabass Baked in a Crust of Brittany Sea-Salt Shellfish Champagne Butter Sauce, Sea Lettuce Mash (for two) which looked pretty awesome when it was served to the table next to us. The seabass comes out whole (it was huge!) and then the waiter or waitress cuts it up and plates it before your eyes. It was an absolute production to watch so you get entertainment and food. 🙂
Service at One-O-One is excellent. They brush off the crumbs from your table after every course and when Sandra made a bit of a mess with her crab legs (which we didn’t notice until they took the plate away) the waitress came along and placed a serviette over it to cover it!
We couldn’t leave the restaurant without indulging in dessert of course. Though Sandra’s Cinnamon Poached Pear with Warm Chocolate Sauce Meringue Stick, Almond Sorbet doesn’t come across as particularly appealing in the picture I’m assured it was yummy and I absolutely adored my Chilled Poached Red Cherry with Tonka Bean Cinnamon Churros, Vanilla Ice Cream. Mmmm ….
The guys next to us (remember – the ones having the business talk) were clearly pretty well-off or expensing the whole thing on the business account as they had an extra starter to us plus cheese and dessert. One of the guys had Coupe Liégeoise of Dark “Manjari” Chocolate Coffee and Salt Caramel Ice Cream which looked very impressive indeed. He must have caught us having a good look because he jokingly said that he didn’t know whether he was afraid to leave the table because of his dining companion or us! Ha ha!
I really enjoyed my meal at One-O-One and would definitely recommend it for seafood lovers (there is some meat on the menu but its fairly limited.) In fact, don’t waste time making your way down here (especially on the extremely good value 50% off offer) – come now and I’m sure you’ll agree that One-O-One is definitely a hidden gem in London.
As always I must make mention of the toilets. There is only one toilet but its pretty stunning – with a glass chandelier and everything!
