Plates London

Absolute slice of fried gold. Food was exceptional and more than that it was intellectually just mesmerizing. How does pea mint and beetroot make one of the best desserts I have ever eaten when I don't even like mint icecream? No idea! The wild garlic soup with buckwheat and sour apple with the potato dumplings felt like it nourished my soul on a cold damp spring day. It was immense. The chocolate gateaux with sour cherry dessert (I generally dislike fruit and chocolate flavours together) again, just mind blowingly good. Each of the drinks pairings brought the flavours to another level ( I had the 50/50 and others had the full non alcoholic pairings) The Greek red wine which paired with the lasagna had a flavour profile I had never tasted before and had so many layers to it. I was expecting decent I got epic. The service was also phenomenal and there is a dearth of really great experienced servers around at the moment. Friendly service pitched perfectly. The sommelier was lovely and brilliantly knowledgeable. Our other two servers, particularly the waitress, were just great. Daughter has oral allergy syndrome and miso allergy which we didn't realize was in practically everything. It must have been a royal pain in the neck for them to adapt the menu for her but Kirk Howarth rang to check what she could have and they worked around it brilliantly. To bring a 15 year old who doesn't touch tomatoes, mushrooms or most veg and have her scrape the plate on every course is testament to the brilliance of his cookery. If I could get a table again tomorrow I would. Kirk Howarth is a bloody brilliant chef. You don't expect to find him also giving the loo a quick mop before you go in but I reckon that is testament to his approach to Plates, his eye for detail is there at every level. Seriously one of the best meals I have had in a really long time.