Monday 10 November 2014

The Park Tower Knightsbridge

Knightsbridge Restaurants
As London grows colder and the nights begin to draw in, we British change our eating habits. Gone are the salads and out come the comforting foods, soups, stews, meat joints and warming drinks.  

I love local and seasonal food that is true to its origins and changes with the season. There is a shooting season for everything, pheasant, partridge, grouse, duck, goose, coot, moorhen, deer and even geese.


Anyone following me for a while, knows that I have tried my hand at shooting and thoroughly enjoyed it (shooting clay pigeons), however if it were down to my ability to catch my own food, then I would go pretty hungry. 
Hunting
Therefore I jump at any chance to eat fresh game from someone else's endeavours. 

So when The Park Tower Hotel in Knightsbridge made contact and asked if I would like to try their autumn hunting Game Menu paired with Dalmore Whiskies, I was keen to tantalise my taste buds. 

I was very thankful that Executive Head Chef, Pascal Proyart was willing to cook for me, and is partial to a bit of shooting himself. 

The reputation of the Hyde Bar precedes itself as one of only a few bars in London to serve the finest whiskies and cigars. 
Finest Whiskies
Now that's quite the drinks collection is it not. The interior of the hotel is also elegantly beautifully with wood panelling, plush leather chairs and their own in house pianist. 
The Hyde Bar
The Hyde Bar
As you know most hotels generally disappoint me on the food front. Mainly I think because they have to cater on mass to so many diners, food is often either boring or sounds much better on paper than what is delivered. Recently though I have found a few hidden London foodie gems in hotels where the food excels. 

Sitting down, a cursory glance over the menu tells me I am in for a treat, with lots of food that I would happily eat. 

For my starter I opt for Game Pâté - with pickled mushrooms and blueberry compote, served with toasted sourdough bread (£14).  
The game pâté was the perfect combination of meats, a wonderful texture and rich taste. The sourdough had a wonderful smokiness and the blueberry compote gave a superb tartness to balance out the richness. 

To accompany the game dishes is a selection of Dalmore whiskies. Now I cannot profess to be a great Whisky drinker, so the idea of matching the food with Whisky was an interesting one. However the male counterparts in my family love whisky, so maybe a taste for it runs in my blood. 

The Dalmore Cigar Malt Reserve Whisky was poured as the perfect accompaniment with the pâté. 
Surprisingly this Whisky was a great pairing the smoky and sherry like tones complemented the game perfectly.  

Picking the main meal was slightly more challenging there was loads on the menu that we both wanted to try and it doesn't help sitting next to someone who also wants what you want on the menu. So we decided that we would both choose something different and share. 

The roasted Duck breast with confit leg, parsnips, green peppercorn and lime sauce (£20). 
The Hyde Bar Knightsbridge
Where can I start, this was absolutely delicious the duck was cooked to perfection, the parsnip mash with its creaminess was the perfect accompaniment with the tartness of the lime sauce. 

This was a difficult meal to share I would have happily fought my other half to have consumed it all. 

However don't feel too bad I don't think I really lost out. 

The Venison meatball cooked in red wine and tomato sauce with hand cut chips and baby gem salad (£21) was also delicious. The Venison melted in the mouth and the wine sauce was full bodied in flavour. 
The   




The matching King Alexander III whisky with the duck was made the flavour of the duck more prominent. The whisky has a wonderful caramel and berry taste this was for me the better whisky of the two. It matched the food perfectly. 
King Alexander III
All good meals must end with a good dessert and the Hyde bar doesn't let itself down here either.
The Hyde Bar
Vanilla Cheesecake and British Strawberries (£10). Now for me the way that this was described does not do the dessert justice. The cheesecake was wonderfully creamy, perfect crunchy base and the strawberry sauce wonderfully natural in taste, genuine strawberry. Delicious. 

Now my eyes are seriously too big for my belly. I opt for a selection of four cheeses, quince jelly, fig chutney and crusty bread (£15). 
The Park Tower Hotel Knightsbridge
The selection of cheeses had a good mix of soft, strong and more milder cheeses in flavour. The fig chutney and walnut bread for me was the perfect partners in crime. 

A truly wonderful meal. I was in two minds about sharing this place for fear of not getting a table at my new found favourite bar. 

The food in the Hyde Bar is of exceptional quality and the atmosphere of the bar a personal preference to a stuffy restaurant any day. The food speaks for itself. I also might now me a convert to whisky, well Dalmore anyway.  
Dalmore whisky

The Hyde Bar Game Menu will be available from Tuesday 14th October 2014 until Friday 30th January 2015. 

www.thehydebar.co.uk

Right next door to the Hyde bar is Harvey Nichols and upon exiting the restaurant I couldn't help but take some pictures of the superb Christmas window displays that are truly spectacular. So feast your eyes on a couple of these pics.
Harvey Nichols
Harvey Nichols Christmas
 *I was kindly a guest of The Park Tower Knightsbrige, however in no way did that affect this review I had a superb evening, in wonderful surrounding and even better food.  

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 photo foodieforce_32.jpg

32 comments:

  1. Those meatballs look heavenly! I am not a huge whiskey fan either. Love my wine! Gorgeous post as always Lucy.

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    1. I am a great fan of Wine to complement food but whisky is winter is a pleasant suprise. The meatballs were delicious rich in flavour and taste Lucy x

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  2. Clay pigeon shooting looks like so much fun! Definitely agree though, if we had to catch our own food we would go pretty hungry too! Looks like a lovely place to eat and drink. Great festive window displays :-)

    x Roch & Tash x
    www.next-route-style.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. It is a good laugh I am not very good but enjoy it. Having your dinner prepared for you is a definite bonus Lucy x

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  3. Oh my goodness that food looks incredible! I am salivating over those meatballs and the strawberry cheesecake looks almost too good to eat! I need to take a trip there x

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    1. The cheese cake was really beautiful and defintely almost too good to eat. All the food was delicious Lucy x

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  4. The food looks amazing! The duck looks delicious, I want to eat it all! The cheese cake looks yummy too, definitely need to take a trip to London for this one! Have you seen the Selfridges windows too? H x

    www.loveiconfantasyego.com

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    1. The duck is defintely some of the best I have eaten perfectly cooked. Haven't seen Selfridges yet need to go and have a look Lucy x

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  5. Not only it makes me craving for the food, but the decoration is so pretty too.

    xx
    http://felishmichelle.blogspot.com

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  6. Lovely and literally delicious photos Lucy!!! Lucky you! :D

    Diana P. | Cups & Roses

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    1. I wasn't sure that I would be that keen but Game and Whisky surprisingly is a good combination Lucy x

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  7. I love pate, this one looks so good! The cheeses look like the perfect end to the meal :) xx

    Toasty

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    1. Normally pate is super rich but this had large chunks of game that gave it a gorgeous taste. The bread with walnut with the cheese was the perfect end Lucy x

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  8. All that food looks so nice - and that bar! Let me at it!

    Corinne x
    www.skinnedcartree.com

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    1. I am starting to change my minds about hotels and food my view used to be that the food was generally poor but I might have judged it to early Lucy x

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  9. all the food, just made me drool!! looks so tasty!!

    Animated Confessions

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  10. I'm not eating seasonally at all ... I'm still making myself salads for lunch every day .. doh! Really should sort myself out some soup.

    I was in London briefly at the weekend (my first trip back in over a year) - we started our day off with brunch in Chelsea and then walked down to Harvey Nichols so I must have been near the hotel!

    x

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    1. Try to get away with it for as long as you can I like your style. How was the food in Chelsea? If you were near Harvey Nics you would have been right on top of the hotel Lucy x

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  11. This all looks so wonderful, but do you know how they have British strawberries in November? I love game, so this sounds right up my street :)

    Rosie xx

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    1. It was wonderful. Strawberries are hardy they can survive a British winter, we just don't see them because the British consumer associates them with summer. The game was delicious so if you like it then this is the perfect treat Lucy

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  12. You look super cute shooting the clay pigeons! I love your bright red accessories ;)

    Jennifer Ashley
    www.prettylittledetails.ca

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    1. Thanks I love my wellies I cant wait to get them out but the weather has not been wet enough quite yet Lucy

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  13. OH MY - Cheesecake + Cheese board *brb, gone to foodie heaven* :P

    Style Sunrise ☀

    :)
    x

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  14. Everything looks delicious!!! Warm greetings from Montreal, Canada. :)

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  15. The food looks really beautiful Lucy. Very warming! xx

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    1. Thank you perfect for a cold autumnal day Lucy x

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  16. As always, great pictures. The food looks great. I've never had parsnip mash before. I wonder how that would taste. Whiskey isn't my thing at all. I guess it's either an acquired taste, or like you said, runs in your blood.

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  17. Oh this looks delicious - game and whisky is the perfect combination (you should really get yourself to Scotland to try some more!) I think game can be really quite overlooked, so thank you for sharing! Last year I posted a really great pheasant stew recipe, you should take a look :)

    http://www.dearbaker.co.uk/2014/01/from-field-to-plate.html

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