We're suckers for a bit of tableside service, particularly when it comes with some fiery theatrics. So news of two new dishes - lobster flambé and baked alaska - being served up at Piccadilly restaurant 45 Jermyn St. seemed right up our street.
What's the set up?
All the glamour that you'd expect from this offshoot of Fortnum & Mason; you enter through a revolving door and it's all champagne and sparkling walls - the greens and golds of the art deco interior clashing curiously with red leather furniture, from the dining booths to the cocktail bar.
The lobster spaghetti
Getting down to business - what should we order?
Find a friend - any friend - and pin them down for a dinner date just so that you can share the flambéed lobster for two (£50). Not only is it delicious, it's a real spectacle. First, your waiter greets you and shows you the uncooked (green) spaghetti. Minutes later, your server returns from the kitchen with the now-orange pasta (some kind of magic to do with cooking it in lobster juices, we shan't ruin it). At your tableside, the waiter then creates a sauce so packed with flavour it defies the few minutes it actually took him to whip up, and flambées the lobster in brandy. The result is a wonderfully silky and sumptuous dish.
For dessert, the drama continues with flambéed cherries and kirsch poured over a hazelnut Baked Alaska. Trust us, this is not meringue as you know it; it's a lightly toasted casing for a praline-esque mousse, any sweetness cut through with the cherry reduction. Bliss.
Baked alaska
Anything else?
Oh, by all means... Go all out and order the scallops with a little crackling and fresh apple - too good for words (seriously - we didn't speak to each other until after we were through).
And if you only consider something a dessert when it has with the word 'chocolate' in it, the sphere will not disappoint. As your server melts away the outer layer with a rich chocolate sauce, a hazelnut praline mousse is revealed - the richness cut through by the accompaniment of orange ice cream.
How about drinks?
Do not leave without trying their perfectly crafted espresso martini.
Overall?
Flawless food, expert drink recommendations, and an experience that won't be forgotten. Bookmark this place to take anybody you want to impress.
What: 45 Jermyn St.
Where: 45 Jermyn St, St. James's, London SW1Y 6JD
Find out more: Visit their website.
