The Sugar Bar

Always looking and envying and never doing it myself, I thought it was about time I got involved in the famous Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24. And I did!

Because ‘24, 24, 24’ is a global food event covering 24 meals on 24 blogs in 24 hours, tasting Italian-accented modern cuisine in the heart of the busy, cosmopolitan and stylish London city’s Mayfair seemed like the perfect idea. Dinner is a special event and amongst my girlfriends and I, it is a wonderful ritual comprising getting excited, getting dressed up, and savouring the eating moments and banter. It is a time where our greatest memories occur and the worries of the week melt away. And I couldn’t think of anywhere better to take my bestie for her birthday dinner than Murano.

Murano comes under the Gordon Ramsay Holdings umbrella but is run by executive chef Angela Hartnett. Having worked frequently with celebrity chef and my bestie’s crush-of-her-life Gordon Ramsay, Hartnett is one of Britain’s best-loved female chefs. My bestie Anna is all about good food and she’s a great cook, whipping up amazing Sunday roasts or delicious lasagnes without really thinking about it. A great female chef, a bestie who’s great with food - it was just all falling together and I thought it would be a lovely treat for my bestie’s 22nd birthday. And what an experience it was - for the both of us. 

Murano recently won a Michelin star in 2009 and offers a menu of Hartnett’s trademark Italian cuisine with a modern twist. Sounds amazing doesn’t it? And it was! We went for the a la carte 3 course menu and never looked back. It was gorgeous but I’ll let the pictures do the talking for the food.

The restaurant’s pretty small but very stylishly decorated. There’s even a little window where you can look into the kitchen and see the chefs at work. You can also request for a kitchen tour but make sure you do it quick as the head chef leaves (which means the kitchen shuts for visitors) at 10.30pm. Upon entering, the waiting staff attend to you very quickly and are so welcoming and friendly. They take your coats off and tuck them away somewhere you can’t see and if you’re early for your reservation, are prompt to serve you any drink you desire, customized or no. And everything is done stylishly, with great precision and utmost suaveness. What I really liked about the staff was their willingness to chat to you, crack a joke or have a little laugh. Nothing other than a bit of friendliness to let you completely relax into the comforting candlelit interiors of Murano and forget about the week’s worries. The waiting staff are so very attentive and give great attention to detail. Whether its getting your napkin correctly placed on your lap, waiting for your return from the ladies, or serving the polenta accompaniment to your main or the pouring warm custard over your pudding, it’s all done with such smoothness, quiet confidence and care that one feels in an almost surreal, dream-like state. 

The whole meal lasted 2 hours 45 mins which is typical of an Italian meal. Definitely one of the longest meals we’ve ever had but now, less typing and more food ogling. And oh yea, apart from service and good-looking food, have I forgotten to mention that this was impeccable standard of cooking?!

Drinks

Gin & Tonic - made with Tanqueray London Dry Gin and Fever-Tree Indian Tonic Water

Italian White from Abruzzo - Pecorino, “Colle dei Venti”, Caldora

Amuse-gueule

Olives - delicious giant olives which were a deep avocado-green, a telling sign that these were very fresh

Fresh bread, pane carasau, shaved ham & salami with extra virgin olive oil so good we’d never tasted anything quite as dreamy as that

Arancini - fried rice balls subtly flavoured with white truffle and coated with breadcrumbs

Starters

Scottish sea scallops, apple and cucumber salsa, pata negra, caper berry purée - beautiful scallops that were just of a melt-in-your-mouth consistency in the middle with hints of the sea

Hand-rolled cavatelli with braised rabbit leg, confit tomatoes, niçoise olives - first time tasting rabbit and I adored it. Wasn’t as gamey as I expected it to taste. So soft and tender!

Mains

Roasted turbot, Cromer crab ravioli, apple purée, smoked eel and horseradish velouté (Supplement £5) - simply cooked to perfection with all the flavours working brilliantly together. The velouté came in a small potion-like jar frothed and bubbly.

Red leg partridge, truffle polenta, braised leg roasted ceps, curly kale - a beautifully presented dish that tasted so much more than it looked. Totally opened a new dimension of taste for me and the polenta was simply gorgeous with the succulent partridge

Desserts

Selection of sorbets: Chocolate Banana, Blueberry & Crème Fraîche, Mango, Basil, Earl Grey, Guava, Chocolate Orange, Pomegrenate & Cranberry - we finished with the basil as it was a lot stronger than the other flavours and a great way to cleanse the palate; Anna’s fav? Chocolate Banana & Basil. My fav? Earl Grey & Basil. Yummy.

Pear and chocolate millefeuille, warm custard, rosemary sorbet - Wonderful custard done right and the pastry was perfectly cooked. The sorbet was delicious and it was dessert perfection really. I loved how Anna ate this so daintily too, especially when I just dug into mine and was licking and sucking the spoon to get every bit of chocolate.

Pistachio soufflé, warm chocolate sauce and macaroon - warm chocolate sauce or hot chocolate as the waitress called it really made the soufflé. I felt like a child all happy about pudding but this was one of the best parts of the meal. I love pistachio and the flavour of this was just awesome paired with chocolate. Macarons were a great bonus too!

Lemon Tart - complementary of the kitchen. This tart was like tarte au citron but it was brûlée-d at the top. And the lemon filling was less firm and resembled lemon curd more. It was so delicious and a real effort to polish off judging from how full we were by the end of the meal.

Petit fours: Selection of chocolates, candies and truffles. 

So delicious. So beautiful. And we were stuffed, satisfied and over the moon with giant bellies to boot.

And as promised, here are our VERY EMBARRASSING videos of ourselves. Sorry if we weren’t exactly eloquent. We were so tired and sleepy post-dinner it was hard to be more intelligible than we were then.

Anna’s Review ‘Come Dine with Me’ Style

Kid Diva’s Final Words

We have had the most amazing meal and night of our lives I do believe and I can only thank Foodbuzz and Visa Signature for making this possible. So pleased we had this opportunity to visit Murano, a restaurant producing high standards of food and service. And not just that, the whole experience was simply divine. We would be happy to return any time (when the bellies are less full and the pockets are more full) for the lunch, dinner service or Chef’s special tasting menu.

Murano
20 Queen Street
London
W1J 5PP
T: 020 7592 1222
F: 020 7592 1213
murano@gordonramsay.com