A few years ago Mr. A and I fell in love with chef Simon Rogan’s cooking when we dined at Roganic, then a two year “pop-up” in Marylebone. We even got to meet him as he prepped strawberries in his very cramped kitchen!  And then two years ago we made a pilgrimage up to the small Cumbrian village of Cartmel (home of the famous Sticky Toffee Pudding company) to stay in his ‘rooms’ and eat at his fabulous 2 Michelin starred L’Enclume restaurant.  Shortly after that we continued our stalking by dining at Fera, Rogan’s residence in London’s Claridge’s hotel, but we didn’t have the tasting menu and we found our dishes to be much less wow-inducing than we were used to.  The only thing that sticks in my mind from that meal was the fact Nigel Farrage was at the next table!  Rogan has now left Claridge’s and has opened a new permanent restaurant in London, once again under the Roganic name, using the original kitchen line-up and locating it just a few doors down from the pop-up’s site in Marylebone, a six minute walk North from Selfridge’s department store on Oxford Street.

Roganic serves innovative (mostly vegetable) produce-led dishes, using items from their Lake District organic farm and other quality suppliers.  Chefs serve the food at your table, and explain it all. For weekend dinners they only serve a £95 multi-course tasting menu, at other times there’s also a shorter tasting menu at £75 and weekday lunches offer a set meal for £35.  It seems one is supposed to know the price of the meal in advance, or not care – the menu given to us didn’t have prices.  We requested a wine flight at £75 each, and we also started off with a glass of Champagne at £16 each. There are four snacks plus bread to get through before the wine flight starts, so it’s good to have a glass of something to see you through until the first proper course arrives.

 

 

 

 

 

Our first snack was a dainty little pear and buttermilk tartlet, with a glass of pear and elderflower juice on the side. A lovely, refreshing and light way to begin the meal. 10/10

Then came a semi-set seaweed custard with English caviar and dill oil which was as lovely as it was unusual 10/10 and then an oyster cracker with oyster puree, trout roe and flowers, which was so pretty and so fresh in the mouth 10/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next came confit chicken covered in puffed squid ink tapioca, which looked like salt crystals in a cave. It was topped with a mustard mayo. It seemed only possible to eat it in one go, with fingers, and it was really good 9.5/10. Our final snack was a pea mousse with small dice of tender ox tongue and topped with pickled kohlrabi. This was lovely, but I would have preferred more kohlrabi and less tongue, to make it lighter. 8/10. A very good brown sourdough and “sour butter” was a great palate cleanser; the butter not being too soured to overpower things. 9.5/10

Our first ‘proper’ course was described on the menu as “tomato, westcombe, farm offerings” and it was delicious! The westcombe was a soft cheese and it came in a bowl with beets, small onions and nasturtium, which was covered in a tomato consommé. The consommé wasn’t quite as good as Le Manoir’s signature Essence de Tomate, but it was still very good and it and the veg were packed with summer flavour, making this a fabulous, fresh ad refreshing dish. 10/10

Our second course featured two pieces of top sashimi grade trout with apple, radish and a lovely sorrel sauce. It was lovely, but I could have done with one more pice of fish. 9/10

“cabbage, crab, horseradish, chicken” is how our next dish was described on the menu. There was just one scorched leaf of cabbage hidden on the plate, so I don’t think it should have had headline billing, but combined with the sweet crab meat it was very seductive. The large piece of chicken skin was light and crisp without a trace of oil, and I loved the unusual but brilliant combination of garlic and horseradish in the sauce. Eating everything together, the flavours somehow reminded me of Japan. I loved it 10/10

Course number four, the final fish dish, was pan fried monkfish with mussels, chard, nice puffed spelt and a sea lettuce sauce. Complex but winning flavour combinations elevated the potentially bland fish. 9.5/10

Our main meat course was simply described as “dry aged Cornish lamb”. I asked the head chef later why he wasn’t using herdwick lamb from Cumbria, and he said the Cornish won on a taste test. There was roasted saddle and a thin slab of slow-cooked shoulder topped with slices of courgette. There was also a courgette puree (which I wasn’t mad about), sweet, braised shallot and an umami rich lamb jus. I loved it and felt it was a good summer-time lamb dish. 9/10

Our first dessert was magnificent and so much more interesting than its “strawberry, buttermilk, yoghurt” menu listing. Compressed strawberries packed with flavour came with two incredible chunks of caramelised brioche, a lovely light yoghurt sorbet and a yummy thick buttermilk custard.  The brioche brought an unctuous sweetness to an otherwise light and fresh dessert. Delicious. 10/10

I’m afraid I forgot to take a photo of our final course which the menu told us was “caramelised apple, douglas fir”.  Incredibly thin slices of apple were arranged on top of a thin circle of pastry and roasted in the oven a la Tarte Tatin, but the most amazing Tarte Tatin ever. Those thin apple slices were so soft, almost gelatinous in the mouth; the ice cream wasn’t overpoweringly flavoured with fir trees, so it all worked out rather delicious 10/10

Overall I though the food we had was excellent – expertly prepped and cooked, so tasty, fresh and singing “summertime”. It was presented to us on nice but “normal” crockery, not the theatrical prop-laden presentation often used at L’Enclume.  It also came to mind that the waiters, although good, didn’t seem to have the relaxed, warm and ‘fun’ attitude of their colleagues at L’Enclume, and they didn’t tell us all about the provenance of the ingredients we ate.  That was until we got chatting to the maitre d’ after our meal, who was a longtime Rogan employee. We had a good warm chat and then he invited us to visit the subterranean kitchen, and introduced us to head chef Olly Marlow.  The kitchen was bigger than at the original pop-up, but still somewhat cosy, and it was very warm down there, though the atmosphere was calm.

Our wine flight was pleasant, matching with the dishes well, though it wasn’t until a Cupramonte Nocenzio came along with the lamb that I felt we were drinking something of sophistication and quality.

Upon returning to our table we had fresh mint tea, which was lovely. A big bunch of mint in the glass teapot had such a vibrant aroma I thought there must be some peppermint oil in there as well. It was as a good a flavour as at L’Enclume, but up there they prepare it all on a chariot of fresh herbs in front of you. London doesn’t have the space for such theatrics.  But I do recommend you try the teas; they’re delicious, refreshing and you get about three cups from a pot!  We had the tea with some petit fours – an outstanding juniper finger of fudge and a so-so donut.  9.5/10

My bill for two people came to £434.81, which seemed reasonable for the amazing food we’d experienced.  I’m still in love with Simon Rogan’s style of cuisine, and I can’t wait to try his “development kitchen” in London called Aulis, but with just 8 seats I might have to wait a while for a reservation. UPDATE: I joined the waiting list and got a pair of seats at the table for 4 days time!

Overall I was thoroughly happy with my dinner at Roganic, and for only the second time in my blogging I’m giving a 10/10. When the next UK Michelin guide comes out in the autumn I hope to see Roganic getting 2 stars. But then I think L’Enclume is worth 3 stars.

And it got even better when we were leaving and a waiter presented us with gift bags containing scones and a small jar of strawberry jam, which we had as part of a picnic in Kensington Gardens the next day.  To help your recall your meal they give you a little copy of your menu in a smart wax-sealed envelope, and they’ll print up another one with your wines if you ask.  So lovely.