Its only recently that I’ve started to realise that sometimes eating off a set meal or special menu at these Michelin-starred restaurants is a bit of false economy – though you’re saving at least 50%, if not more, on your total bill you’re actually short-changing yourself on the experience because quite often the set menu will be quite limited in its choice and, whilst showing-casing some of the skill of the kitchen, is unlikely to offer the best options from the a la carte or official tasting menu. Still, it is a good way to sample the restaurant that’s friendly to your pocket and can pave the path for you to return should you like you’re experience enough. You do still get a Michelin-starred experience .. .which is what we got tonight at the 2-starred Hibiscus.

Hibiscus is chef Claude Bosi’s restaurant. Training under such big-name French chefs as Alain Passard and Alain Ducasse he earned his double starring for his Hisbiscus restaurant in Ludlow. He moved the restaurant to London in 2007 and managed to retain the double star rating.

Our dinner menu (4 courses for £48.50) read like this:

Appetiser
—
Warm Royale of Parmesan & Walnuts, Salsify Veloute
—
Poached Gurnard, Casserole of Pearl Barley, Carrot and Black Treacle Puree
OR
Roast Shropshire Partridge, Caper & Raisin Sauce, Glazed Savoy Cabbage, Smoked Butter
—
Ice Coconut Parfait, Lychee & Rose Water Sorbet

I love how the menu had a disclaimer “GAME: We kindly remind you that some Game dishes may still contain traces of shot.” Ha ha!

Our meal started with some lovely warmed cheese rolls. Lovely and warm and extremely cheesy I could have happily eaten them all night! Then we had some slices of warm brown bread and a lovely butter served on a gray slate.

We weren’t sure what to expect with our appetiser which turned out to be this:

A multi-Moroccan spiced soupy creamy froth in an eggshell concoction. And though its not the first time a dish has been presented in an egg shell it was still pretty cute. The soupy creamy froth was pretty tasty too.

Quickly following our appetiser (really what would function as the amuse bouche in other restaurants) was our veloute and partridges (both Sandra and I opted for the bird over the fish, especially when our waiter described the Gurnard, I must google that later, as an ugly fish!) We had really cool if not exactly function knives to go with our partridges.

The portion sizes of both dishes look bigger in the picture than they were in reality so we made sure to take our time eating the dishes. Both were quite nice and well seasoned though I think I’m a bit over game bird now – they are, well, a little gamey for my liking these days.

Before our parfait dessert we were presented with the sweetest little pre-dessert: Granny smith apple compote, celeriac jelly, chestnut foam. Very strong tasting though it was a bit awkward to try and get a spoonful of all flavours at once.

Finally we had the lovely dessert which included all the flavours I love – coconut, lychee and rose. Mmmm … tasty and even though Sandra isn’t a big fan of coconut even she enjoyed the dessert!

We had a lovely experience at Hibiscus tonight and though it may not seem like for all the food we appear to have eaten we were in and out of there rather quickly. It wasn’t like we were rushed or anything but I guess small portions don’t really take all that long to chow down! The service was very friendly and efficient. As an example when one of the waitresses was pouring the water out for us she accidentally spilled it outside of the glass so she actually took it away to replace/dry before bringing it back to reserve the water! Additionally because neither Sandra or I were up for a bellini the drink man produced a delicious non alcoholic cocktail for us which they went to great depths to explain the ingredients to us!

The room is quite intimate and small. You may also end up being quite close to the table next to you but despite that overall feel was of people carrying on discrete conversations rather than trying to shout at one another. We could probably make out the couple’s conversation next to us if we had concentrated.

An interesting experience and another 2 michelin starred restaurant ticked off my list. I would one day love to go back and try the Suckling Pig two ways …