One of his signature dishes - the amazing pain perdu.
What can you tell us about The Ninth?
It's the Fitzrovia home for chef Jun Tanaka, who has been winning much praise over the years for this Michelin-starred restaurant (not least from us). As the restaurant is closed to dine-in customers (although it opens once again on 20 August) the team have taken the opportunity to launch a delivery service - and that's what we're trying out here.
What kind of delivery service is it?
They've teamed up with Supper, so it's all ready-to-eat, with the exception of a wonderful truffle dish (and we'll get to that in a bit). There may be the odd finishing off here and there - but in general, you'll be able to eat everything as soon as it arrives.
And what kind of food can we expect?
It's as similar as possible to what you'd expect in the restaurant itself (but making sure that everything travels well, of course). So that's a French style of cooking with some Mediterranean influences. As for Tanaka himself, you may have seen him on the odd Saturday Kitchen, and he's been a mainstay of the UK dining scene for 20+ years.
Everything we received was carefully "plated" in the reheatable cartons, so it did all look lovely. By the time you get to some courses, they will need a little reheating in the oven, so best to keep that on during the meal. Here's what we had in our delivery:
This is how the dishes come in the cartons - already looking impressive - this is Salted beef cheek, pickled radishes, watercress & horseradish (£12)
Veal chop marinated in Greek yoghurt & herbs. Chargrilled and served with girolles mushrooms, parmesan & Tropea onions (£30)
Crisp Belle de Fontenay - Potato cooked with clarified butter. Infused with thyme, rosemary and garlic (£7) - yes, you absolutely should order these as sides.
Roasted heritage carrots served with coconut yoghurt, pickled carrots and cashew nut dukkah (£8)
Pain perdu - Brioche soaked in Anglaise. Cooked in butter and baked in the oven. Caramelized with sugar. Finished with vanilla ice cream (£10). This is one of The Ninth's mainstays and it's a truly excellent dessert.
And how about the pasta?
If you're really pushing the boat out, then you'll want the truffle pasta dish. It's not cheap at £38 but it does come with a little packet of black truffle shavings, so that's why.
Conchiglie pasta served with chicken veloute, Australian truffle slices, truffle paste, cured egg yolk, croutons & parmesan (£34). This comes with the uncooked pasta, veloute, cured egg and truffle all separately, but will only take about five minutes to heat and pull together. It all looks, and is, very indulgent and the truffle chicken veloute is a wonderful sauce for the pasta.
Overall thoughts?
The Ninth's menu has made an impressive move to delivery - and it's one that doesn't require too much cooking at home either. The dishes are all presented with great attention to detail and, most importantly, it all tastes wonderful. The pasta and pain perdu were highlights for us, but overall it's an impressive performance.
More about The Ninth
Where is it? 22 Charlotte St, London W1T 2NB
How to order: From the Supper website
Find out more: Follow them on Instagram @theninthlondon.
Hot Dinners received this delivery courtesy of The NInth. Prices are correct at the time of writing.
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