I had some good lunches at 3 Michelin star Restaurant Gordon Ramsay when Clare Smyth ran the kitchen there, so I wasn’t surprised to read great reviews of chef Smyth’s first solo restaurant, Core, after it opened in Notting Hill in August 2017.  Core was awarded 3 Michelin stars in the 2021 guide.  Whenever I had hospital appointments in 2018 and ’19 in London I tried in vain to get a table at Core.  When I started following chef Smyth on Instagram I could see that her cuisine showcased her personality and seemed very different to Ramsay’s – it was beautifully plated, fresh and seasonal, which made my desire to eat at Core all the stronger, so I emailed them to ask for help in April, and was offered a table for lunch in June. I was very excited!

Mr A and I arrived on a warm and sunny afternoon and were shown through the bar and into the restaurant. In doing so we passed the brigade in their open kitchen, who amazed us by all turning to face us to offer a welcome!  I’ve not seen this in such a prestigious restaurant and it really pleased us and made us feel at ease.

Our table was set with a fresh posy of small flowers and a copper-sprayed ear of wheat, which matched a huge copper fingerprint on the display plate below it.  This fingerprint motif is a bit of a ‘thing’ at Core; there are also some white fingerprint paintings on the walls.  It’s quite ironic because good restaurants normally abhor fingerprints on their plates!  I loved the cream leather-topped tables which didn’t need a table cloth to look smart.

We had a choice of three menus: Core Classics at £155 and Core Seasons at £175 were seven course tasting menus, or for £105 there was three courses a la carte. We wanted a tasting menu, but we really struggled to decide between the two.  We were able to settle on the Core Classics, but I would have the dessert from Core Seasons (because I’d seen it on Instagram and wanted it). It was very kind of our waiter to suggest that I could do that.  We chose to have the wine flight at £115 each (less costly than at other high end restaurants!) and we ordered a glass of Champagne to have with our canapés.

Four canapés each were brought to the table in a flash of theatrical presentations. From the foot of the picture above, going upwards, we had a pea and mint gougere, sitting mournfully alone without any fuss, then a fine tartlet of “jellied eel”, toasted seaweed and malt vinegar, in a type of ‘rock pool’. Under a glass cloche was a cloud of smoke which revealed a crispy smoked chicken wing with a beer, honey and thyme glaze. And finally on a ‘mossy bank’ tableau sat very fine pastry tartlets of foie gras parfait and madeira jelly.  Wow! What a beautiful and delicious set of canapés, displaying such intricate work by the kitchen.  10+/10

We were brought bread in the form of a wedge of brown sourdough, made, we were told, from a 20 year old starter, and what they called “virgin butter”, which was more crumbly than regular butter due to the use of buttermilk in the churn.  Both were very good. 8.5/10

Our first course was “Isle of Mull scallop tartare” with a sea vegetable consommé.  A scallop shell, sitting on a display of greenery, contained soft, tender cubes of scallop at ambient temperature, garnished with tiny flowers and a light sea vegetable consommé which didn’t overpower the delicate sweet scallop.  A very simple dish, beautifully presented and delicious! 10/10

The second course, called “Potato and roe”, featured a delicious and soft Charlotte potato, topped with flowers and herring and trout roe, and served with a rich dulse seaweed beurre blanc.  I thought this was an utterly delicious dish which had my palate in ecstasy. 10+/10

Our main fish course was served one hour after we were seated, but the time had flown by.  Roasted cod was served with Morecambe Bay shrimps, Swiss chard and another rich brown butter sauce. The fish was on point with flakey translucent flesh, the sauce was excellent and the chard helped balance its richness. 10/10

Next up was a Core signature dish, “Lamb carrot”.  We had a very lamby carrot, soft and tender, topped with a little braised lamb and thin slices of orange and yellow carrots, and served with smooth and rich lamb jus and a ewe yogurt which brought acidity to cut through the rich lamb flavour.  I found it to be delicious and novel. 10/10

Our main meat course was called “Beef and oyster”.  On our plate was a slice of pan fried highland wagyu, topped with a lightly poached oyster wrapped in a thin slice of raw wagyu, garnished with oyster leaves and a flavoursome beef gravy. On the side was an oyster shell containing braised beef, pomme puree, with an oyster cracker ‘painted’ to look like an oyster shell covering it.  The beef was very tender and flavoursome, but the seaside freshness of the oyster still shone through. 10/10

For pre-dessert we were served “Core apple”, a beautiful copy of a pretty red and green apple, which had a gel outer layer covering an apple mousse with a stewed apple centre.  This dish refreshed our palates perfectly. Visually this faux fruit was perfect and it demonstrated how chef techniques and skills have progressed since Heston Blumenthal launched his “Meat Fruit” in 2011. 10+/10

The dessert on the Core Classics menu, which Mr A had, was “English strawberry, meringue and lemon verbena” It was beautifully presented and Mr A was impressed by the freshness of the dish.

My dessert, from the Core Seasons menu, was another of the restaurant’s signature dishes; “Core-teser”.  It was another intricately constructed plate of light fluffiness, using chocolate, malt and hazelnuts to recreate the childhood memory-evoking sensations of eating malt-teasers.  Justly a signature dish! 10/10

We ordered double espressi, which were served with petit fours. There was a warm chocolate and lavender tart, but I couldn’t detect the lavender, and a pair of melt in the mouth jellies made from Sauternes and Banjuls dessert wines. 9/10

We really enjoyed our lunch at Core, and we loved the friendly super-professional service. There’s very clearly a lot of work involved, from a highly skilled kitchen brigade, so it’s all the more remarkable that the brigade turned and welcomed us when we arrived.  This was our 12th Michelin star in the space of 2 weeks in June 2021 (three 2-stars and two 3-stars) and I can authoritatively say that Core was the best.  More often than not I prefer eating at 2-star rather than 3-star restaurants  because I find their food to be more modern and boundary-breaking.  But Core, with 3 stars, is operating with the joy, passion and precision which reflects the very best of contemporary British dining.  10+/10

After our meal restaurant director Rob took us into the kitchen to meet chef/proprietor Clare Smyth, which cemented our opinions of the warmth of Core’s team.  We really felt that the whole team was passionate about helping their guests have an enjoyable and memorable visit.

My total bill was £685.98, which is actually pretty good for a 3 Michelin star restaurant.  I mentioned earlier that the wine flight was very competitively priced; I just want to add that the wines were all very enjoyable.