Binny and I have been trying to catch up for what feels like years, but we could never find a suitable date for both of us. Many happy and celebratory occasions had come and gone but still no time to get together. When I was invited to dine at Roux At The Landau at the Langham Hotel, Binny was the first person I asked as The Langham Hotel is perfect for a well overdue celebration.
We were seated at the lovely booth in the centre of the restaurant, just like when I went to try the Sunday brunch. It’s known to one of the best seats in the Roux At The Landau, so I was honoured to have been seated there twice now. Whilst we settled, checking out the drinks menu, we were brought over a lovely little aperitif of a roasted red pepper potato ball. The outer was a crisp, fried breadcrumb casing and inside was red pepper flavoured mashed potato, which was delicious.
Binny and I decided on a bottle of Veuve Clicquot to toast to the many great things that have happened to us both in the past few months, including my end of exams/graduation and landing a job in the field I wanted.
As we started to fill each other in with what’s been happening in each other’s lives, our starters came. So quick!
Binny had the cherry and tomato gazpacho with half pitted cherries and quarters of tomato. Complete with a garnish of edible flowers balanced on a thin multi-grain wafer. So pretty.
I ordered the beetroot salad complete with yellow and red beetroot and apple peel filled with a light cream cheese/creme fraise. The beetroot was light, healthy and delicious. However, I felt like there could have been less filling within the apple peel to make it less rich.
For the mains I ordered the Fillet of aged Buccleuch beef with comté stuffed onion and bordelaise sauce. The beef was super tender even though it was cooked medium-well and the sauce gave it so much flavour. Again, a lovely light dish even though it was a meat based.
Binny wasn’t feeling meat so we she went for the Artichoke ravioli with barigoule of borlotti beans, nasturtiums and Ticklemore goat’s cheese. There was a double thumbs up from Binny, especially as she loves artichoke. It definitely looked lovely.
We had a bit too much champagne, so whilst looking at the menu we noticed they had a many whiskies that accompanied the desserts. However, neither of us are whisky drinkers so I sat back and had a think what other spirits or liqueurs would go nicely with dessert. In that moment, my mum popped into my head and I had memories of us drinking baileys together, as it is her favourite post meal drink when it’s a special occasion. I decided on having a Bailey’s, raising a glass to my wonderful mother and Binny joined me in my toast.
Binny was intrigued by the bitter chocolate mille-feuille with maple ice-cream and salted pecans. I remember it being told it was amazing when I came to the Roux for lunch a while back, so I encouraged Binny to try it. To her and my delight, she absolutely loved it – even though she was full.
I had the Crème brûlée on my mind throughout the whole meal, just remembering how delicious it was but to my dismay, they had changed it for the Rum Baba. The rum baba is a cake had is dipped in rum, allowing it to be soaked up by the cake served with mango pieces and coconut ice-cream. However, after quite a boozy meal, the rum baba didn’t really go down well for me. It was very strong and I couldn’t taste the cake very much. However, the coconut ice-cream and mango combination was lovely. If you’re a real rum lover, I suggest getting this dessert!
Overall, a lovely meal with exceptional service at the Roux as always. It was lovely to catch up with Binny over delicious food and drink in one of my favourite London luxury hotels.
Until next time…
