Only over three months late but Patrick and I finally made it to Rhodes Twenty Four for my birthday. The last attempt was derailed by delays at Heathrow Airport. Hmm … sometimes I really dislike Heathrow!

At any rate, better late than never as the aged old saying goes.

As can be guessed from the name of the restaurant Rhodes Twenty Four is celebrity chef Gary Rhodes’ restaurant. As with many top chefs this days Gary’s stable does not include only the one restaurant though this is probably the restaurant where he spends most of his time. I first heard about Rhodes Twenty Four from another Gary, a work mate, who could not say enough positive things about the restaurant. In addition, as a recipient of one Michelin star (awarded in 2005) (and Gary’s 5th of his career) I had high expectations for the restaurant.

Rhodes Twenty Four is located on the 24th floor of reportedly the tallest building in the City of London – Tower 42. Entry into Tower 42 is interesting. Reception is located about half a floor up at the top of a set of escalators. Interestingly on that floor, for security purposes, you cannot take any photos but on the next floor up you can. After we checked in at reception we were given a pass to activate the turnstile which was located about five metres to the right of reception. However when we got to the turnstile we simply handed the passes over to the security person standing there to open the turnstile for us. How odd!

The elevator bank to access the restaurant is up another set of escalators from reception. As can be expected in a building like Tower 42 there are a number of elevator shafts, one of this is totally dedicated to Rhodes Twenty Four as we found out when we stepped inside the lift and found there was only one button to press:

Stepping into the restaurant the first thing that greets you is the bar with an amazing view of the Gherkin.

Floor to ceiling windows wrap around the bar and the restaurant and it is indeed an impressive vista, even if the bar itself was surprisingly not that lively when we first started our dinner. In fact the restaurant was quite quiet when we first got there (an 8pm booking) though it steadily filled up. Must be a combination of the economic crisis and the hours that the local workers (it’s the City!) work. At any rate the amazing vista also sweeps around to the restaurant though of course by the time you’re in the restaurant its about the scene on the table rather than outside.

Rhodes Twenty Four is the type of restaurant which has a wait person for everything – the wine, the cocktails, the order taking, the food delivery, the water delivery, the new cutler delivery … you get the message! which can be intimidating at first but slowly you get used to being waited on by the seven or eight people. Ha! Interestingly though as the evening progressed the service levels started to deteriorated and Pat and I started to play our game – how long will it take for our tap water to be replaced without us asking for it. Answer: we’d probably die of thirst first.

Whilst we were deciding on drinks and food we were brought some warmed bread served in a cute little square wooden bowl. I was expecting the bread to be lovely but it was quite unexpectedly hard and tough which was probably a good thing as it stopped me from filling up on bread.

Though in hindsight after the GIANT cocktail I was served I could have done with more bread in my stomach before downing my drink. Patrick went for a more reasonable aperitif of English Martini I of course opted for a milky, more dessert appropriate, Banoffee Pie (Fresh Banana with aged rum, butterscotch, crème de banana, maple syrup, double cream and milk.) Priced at £9.50 and £10.00 respectively the cocktails were on the expensive side of London prices but they were quality drinks – lots of alcohol baby. The size difference between my flavoured martini cup and Pat’s martini was hilarious:

Dinner started with a cute little amuse bouche of cauliflower soup. Although intensely flavoured I’m starting to find that I’m sensitive to over-seasoning (that is, over salting!) and this soup was very well seasoned indeed, delicious as it was. Cute mini-mug it was served in though.

For starters both Pat and I targeted the seafood dishes. Pat opting for the Scallop dish (Roast scallop soup, buttered leeks and crisp pork belly – I’m thinking it was the crisp pork belly that sold him – ha ha) and I went for Lobster (Blazed lobster omelette thermidor.) I can’t speak for Pat’s scallop but my lobster dish was certainly interesting. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting. Served in a mini fry-pan the lobster was lost somewhere in the gooey bit that was the omelette thermidor. I quite liked the flavour though it was seriously eggy.

For mains Pat stuck to seafood plus pig (Pan fried halibut with a smoked bacon hash, salsify and Trompette mushrooms) but I moved on to pure meat (Beef fillet with truffle, cauliflower macaroni cheese and Madeira gravy.) I’ll own up to it the reason I chose this dish was the mac cheese … and actually it turned up to be the best part of my meal. Pat also admitted he chose his dish for the smoked bacon hash! Minor accompaniments certainly make the dish.

So, we knew we weren’t going to get huge portions but we certainly didn’t expect to receive dishes where the ratio of white space to ingredient was 90:10 okay maybe 80:20 once I spooned my mac and cheese onto my plate (we certainly did well to make our mains last 20 mins.) Still, the food was very good though, my tongue being as insensitive as it was, could barely make out the truffle flavour in the sauce on my beef. Beef was cooked to perfection however and I’ve already mentioned how the mac cheese was my favourite component. So cheesy, so good!

I desperately wanted to get dessert but my allergic reaction to my super strong cocktail meant I was feeling seriously full. Along with my throat closing dessert was in danger of not getting onto the agenda. That would have been a serious tragedy. Thankfully Pat convinced me to go for it … because dessert turned out to be the best of the three courses.

Pat’s Rhodes Twenty Four signature pudding plate consisted of a gorgeous trio of mini puddings. In order of deliciousness: a giant jaffa cake, a strawberry parfait served between two crackers and a bread and butter pudding. The bread and butter pudding was to die for – I think it was they way top of the pudding was bruleed. I opted for the iced peanut mousse, caramelised pineapple and butterscotch cream. Absolutely gorgeous though those who don’t have a sweet tooth should be aware that this dessert should come with a Extremely Sweet warning.

Finally, because Pat had some peppermint tea, we were also served with some delightful though at that stage entirely unnecessary petit fours: an orange cake, pistachio chocolate and my favourite white chocolate with raspberry flavour.

We were in Rhodes Twenty Four nearly three hours which is nearly as long as it took us to finish the large number of dishes at the Fat Duck which was rather a surprise considering how not large the mains were. Time, however, simply flew. Service was, as noted earlier, a little less efficient than expected and though we did appreciate not feeling like we were on a time limit there were times we felt a little disconnected from our waiters who were so busy looking busy that they didn’t have the greatest of personalities – not unfriendly but not friendly either. However, it was overall a lovely meal and I’m glad we made the effort to get a booking at this restaurant: stunning views, great detail in the food presentation and taste-wise (though oddly the mains were disappointing), and a pleasant atmosphere.

Definitely a place to note for that next special occasion (its not cheap!)