The Guardian
Grace Dent wondered what Michel Roux Jr was up to at his new restaurant in the Langham Hotel, when he made quite clear with the closure earlier this year of Le Gavroche that he was more interested these days in occasional television work and looking after his grandchildren than in slogging away in a restaurant kitchen.
There was certainly little sign of his presence in this kitchen, serving up a “menu of posh comfort food for the weary, moneybags traveller”. Some of the dishes met with Grace’s approval: “the crisp, soft, lemon sole meunière with lemon, capers and brown shrimp is utterly delicious, as is the rare Buccleuch beef fillet in a rich cognac and peppercorn sauce”. Others failed to hit the spot, including a dessert of ‘creamy vanilla rice’ that was in reality just cold rice pudding – which is tolerable “only if eaten from a tin during a power cut”.
“Somewhere out there, the great Michel Roux Jr was lying on his sofa, watching telly, eating snacks and nowhere near his restaurant. His was by far the better evening.”
Grace Dent - 2024-07-07
