Gauthier Soho - 2nd of March 2013

I went to Gauthier Soho with my hubby for our anniversary dinner last year and i was really impressed. The restaurant is situated in a townhouse in Soho and you have to ring the doorbell to get in which i thought was a fun touch.

I discovered then that they do this fabulous deal at lunch time called "Version Deluxe" which includes a glass of champagne, 3 courses, 2 glasses of wine and coffee with petit fours. Amazing!

Myself and my two lovely friends, Karin & Jane had planned to come for lunch as a late birthday treat for Jane so at 1pm on Saturday we met up for our lunch.

We started with a lovely glass of the house champagne & some canapes. The canapes were light and very nice. A very interesting thin black flatbread that had sesame seeds in there with an avocado creme. The other one had a tangy confit of tomato on top.

Next came our pre starter or "amuse bouche" which consisted of carrots in different ways, crispy chicken skin and a pesto.

You had a choice of four different starters and i went for the "Golden and Red beetroot tartelette with parmesan cream and watercress.
It had a really crispy and buttery base with just cooked beetroot that worked really well with the parmesan cream - and only 220 calories! Bonus.
Yes, all of the dishes on the menu have the calorie intake next to them :-)

For my main i picked "Soft ricotta Gnocchi, salsify, chanterelles, jerusalem artichoke cream & balsamic and truffle sauce" - 420 calories

It sounded really interesting and was something i probably wouldn't cook myself and it did not disappoint.. the only downside were the chanterelles.. they were not fresh but then again, they are not in season, so they did not have a lot of flavour.

Right, time for pre-dessert. It was a set pannacotta with an anglaise sauce and a crumble with popping candy.. brought us all back to our childhood!

Dessert - well, i HAD to have the signature dessert again. It is the "Golden Louis XV" which is made of chocolate and praline.. it is amazing.. and 480 cals but so worth it!!

We then had tea /coffee and got a "treasure chest" of petit fours which included, coconut marsmallows, chocolate truffles, lemon tart and chocolate madeleine.

We had a great time and a very long lunch - 3 hours - but it was 3 hours well spent. Service was lovely and the lunch deal such value for money. Still and sparkling filtered water is available for the table free of charge - not many fine dining restaurants offers that!