Pollen Street Social

One of the most fun things about traveling is figuring out where to eat.  London obviously has tons of places to go so I had to narrow it down.  Not easy.  Pollen Street Social is one that made the list and I have to say, what a call. 

The restaurant has a nice mellow vibe with different bar areas, comfortable leather seating and great lighting.  The chef, is Jason Atheron.  The food is pretty much perfect.  Everything is just delicious, well balanced and a combination of just the right amount. Love the lights over the bar.

You begin with a small group of tastes.  Olives, ginger mayo, crispy pork rind and another dip.  Like a bar snack.

For our appetizers ( we split everything ) we began with cauliflower & squid with clear roasted squid juice and herbs.  Outrageous.  Small pieces of squid that have the consistency of corn kernels with a few pieces of cauliflower and black squid ink crunchy nuggets sitting in a rich aromatic broth.  Seriously divine.

The next was crab.  In between thinly sliced pieces of Asian pear sits a light crab salad that is mixed with crab vinaigrette.  This sits over tiny dots of a sweet and sour cauliflower creme.  Quite nice.

For dinner we split too.  One of the best fish dishes.  Roasted sea bass and the skin was soft and caramelized.  Everything else was from the celeraic root from a crumble to a roasted piece and then topped with a light truffle sauce.  Just awesome.

I am a sucker for duck.  A sliced of duck breast and a confit duck leg and for the sides a jam made of clementines and mandarin oranges, a roasted jerusalem artichoke and broccolini on top.  Just about perfect.

In between they gave us a small cold mixture that was almost like pudding with pineapple, passion fruit and a few other fruits.  A nice touch and different. 

Dessert chef is not as good.  Puff pastry with a roasted apple and calvados sauce.

All and all, a treat. I think what we loved is the simplicity of the dishes yet they are full of flavor yet subtle and not in your face see what i made.  If I lived in London, I'd be there often.