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| Pressed duck and foie gras, Black pepper poached pear, sauternes gel |
From Heston Blumenthal to Nigella Lawson, Britain's food scene has erupted with michelin starred chefs and celebrity home cooks. Gordon Ramsay resides amongst the best of these and with this in mind, expectations were reasonably high when I visited Maze.
Unfortunately, the service was so drastically mediocre that it eclipsed the entire experience. The maitre'd was too distracted to bring us to our table; the waiters and waitresses had to be called at least twice before we got any attention for order taking or menus and our waitress shot us dirty looks when we mentioned this. Our only reprieve was the apologetic words of the hostess at the end of our meal.
Objectively speaking, service aside, the chefs at least seemed unfazed by the Saturday crowds and the savoury food was a pleasure to eat after weaving through the Bond Street Christmas crowd. The braised beef feather blade was the highlight of the menu - drizzled over with a sweet pomme puree, the soft, flaky meat gave way easily under my fork and melted into a blissful beefiness on my tongue.
On the other hand, the desserts belied the astute sense of taste - emphasized by his draconian demeanour - that Gordon portrays in his television shows. The yuzu tea cake lacked an intensity of flavor and had a frosty texture that didn't slide easily onto my fork. All in all, Maze puts Gordon Ramsay's name to shame. Is there too much hype built up over Gordon Ramsay? With high celebrity status comes great expectation. When it comes to Maze, Gordon's myriad of television shows and michelin stars may well be his downfall.
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| Quail, confit leg, girolles, smoked sweet corn veloute |
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| Pork belly, clams, wasabi, lobster and sake dressing |
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| Braised beef feather blade, pomme purée, shimeji mushroom, togarashi spice |
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| Yuzu ‘tea cake’, mango & lime jam, lemongrass ice cream |
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| Clementine parfait, orange polenta cake, cointreau gel, clove ice cream |
| Maze 10-13 Grosvenor Square Mayfair London W1K 6JP United Kingdom Reservations |
4 comments:
ii am not sure how you might feel about this... but my friend has this 'rule' that he abides by... he would visit a place at least twice before coming to a conclusion about a place. first time may be due to the chef's mood, if the 2nd experience is the same, then the conclusion is drawn.
if the first and the 2nd experience does not relate, then a 3rd visit would be the end of the story... be it good or bad.
my take is... expectation of service is to be delineated from quality of food... which i am glad to see that you've done that. If the price is that for a fine dining experience, then the service should correspond. If the price is that of a casual restaurant, even the presence of a maitre'd would matter, except maybe some points for trying.
why not try them again when it is not a weekend..? (i'm not a Ramsey fan btw)
That's a fair comment to make, but I feel that a truly good restaurant should give exemplary service every day. It being a Saturday is no excuse. Restauranteurs know that every meal is a test - it could well be the difference between 2 michelin stars and 3.
The price of Maze may not be that of a fine dining restaurant (at £25 for 4 courses), but I wouldn't call it a casual restaurant either. I'd expect at least a minimum level of service and that is something they couldn't deliver.
While your comment does hold merit, I think the harsh reality is that few customers would return to a bad restaurant.
That was a swift response..!
While i do believe that, as you said: a truly good restaurant should give exemplary service every day.
The sad fact is such, restaurants are staffed by people... and the service industry is not the most glamorous of jobs to be in.
I have recently joined the service industry and had observed extremely repulsive behaviour from customers and peers alike. Pride is usually the cause. On one hand, we have customers who would drop the bill folder(which has his change returned), saying "i don't need this, leave it for the poor"... and senior service staff who tells me not to help the customer transfer to another table because... the customer "is an asshole". (i did not have any problem with that said customer). Maybe she was a little more demanding, but that's just part of my everyday work, dealing with it.
Considering that, in my part of the world, service industry is in extreme want for staff, i'd assume it to be the same for Maze in UK... hence, screening for the most appropriate staff becomes a paper process (i.e. resume scanned for relevant experience and hired).
I guess, perhaps... the standard of excellence that was portrayed by Gordon Ramsey, exemplified in Hell's Kitchen and other programs, did not carry through to his staff... people have to be constantly reminded afterall.
Don't get me wrong, a service lapse/failure IS a service lapse/failure. there is no excuse for such things. I'm just giving you a glimpse of the other side of the business which you may not have considered.
I have actually worked as a waitress in the food industry and I know how stressful things can get. It's no reason to take it out on customers though. The waitress at Maze wasn't just impatient, she was shooting my friend (the one who had mentioned her lack of service) dirty looks which I found very unprofessional.
Thanks for your input though (:
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