Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester

Always a bit torn in two about this place. When first there (soon after opening) I felt it was a complete disaster and never wanted to return. Following their rise through the michelin stars I went back (at the time they had received 2 stars) and was blown away by the fantastic top-notch french haute cuisine offered. On my last visit (now they have 3 stars) I thought that while the quality of the food couldn't be faulted it lacked originality and was just “very good food” but not exceptional – and for the high price you pay you somewhat expect that

Great food, excellent service poor atmosphere.
If you love food GO! If you love service GO! If you love wine GO!

The best aspect of the evening is they did not want myself and my wife to leave. They kept on serving us wonderful treats.

A top restaurant making you feel wanted!

Brilliant. Worth every single penny! Well most of the pennies anyway.

Will we GO back – well of course !

Oh would love to share with you the best table number but I'll keep that for myself … Sorry.

As with all enthusiasts of a developed interest, there is always one experience considered la crème de la crème and that for me in a food sense, is dining at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester. As Gregg Wallace might say, “dining doesn’t get much better than this”.

The food is everything you’d expect from a 3-Michelin starred French restaurant; rich, classic and gutsy and whilst I couldn’t stomach it too regularly (oh to have that choice), it was the epitome of deluxe dining.

We were welcomed with an appetiser of gruyere and parmesan gougeres, lightly spiced with paprika and pepper which were delightful and highly addictive. This was followed by an amuse bouche of mixed chestnut, apple and goats cheese with a silky butternut squash veloute, poured over the top at last minute.

For starter, my partner and I both opted for Hereford snails; a dish that far overshadowed the other two menu options hence its choice and, well, being a treat, was a novelty dish and therefore a must in my book. Far from the classic escargot bourguignon, these enormous snails were presented minus their shells and cooked in a rich and creamy veloute with wild mushrooms and crispy chicken. Now I am certainly no stranger to delicacies and this dish certainly was delicious, but after snail number 4, I was struggling somewhat to ignore the niggling thought of garden gastropods. But struggle on I did and finished the dish, albeit at snails pace, if you’ll pardon the pun.

For main course, again my partner and I coordinated our menu choices and went for the steamed turbot, which was presented in a perfect cylinder and served simply in a shellfish mariniere, decorated daintily with fine slices of razor clam and pretty little mushrooms that had been carved into flowers. The fish was cooked beautifully, firm but moist and accompanied by a deliciously rich sauce that was so reminiscent of the sea, I could barely believe I was in Mayfair.

Before dessert we were given Alain’s signature mignardise consisting of three different flavoured macaroons, nougat and milk and dark chocolates, most of which were kindly packaged up in a posh ‘doggy bag’ to enjoy at home.

Dessert was a tough decision between the rich and indulgent chocolate fondant and the digestion-friendly roasted pineapple, so my partner and I ordered one each and shared. The fondant was so utterly perfect, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven, until the refreshing tang of the pineapple dessert hit me and brought me back to earth again.

All in all the food was fantastic, served within opulent surroundings by respectful and attentive staff. The lunch menu is incredibly good value at £50 per person for three courses, two glasses of wine and coffee, or if you prefer infused tea, which they make fresh at your table from a trolley of fresh herb plants and a selection of honeys.

If you want the opportunity to sample the delights of Alain Ducasse without breaking the bank, then this is the way to do it.

I hadn’t heard of Jocelyn Herland before, but as the executive Chef of Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester he holds a Royal Flush of Michelin Stars, an accolade only four of the two thousand restaurants reviewed by Michelin in the UK possess at the time of writing. Alain Ducasse himself is as likely to be sautéing at the Dorchester as Gordon Ramsay is to be doing breakfasts at Plane Food.

But that matters not. What matters is that Mr Ducasse’s protégée, Jocelyn Herland produces utterly exquisite food.

The restaurant itself is a spacious, modern room with a contemporary style, tables spaced well for deal making or an intimate get together, an excellent Wine list and absolutely nothing I wouldn't order on the menu.

Our group opted for the tasting menu, not least because we wanted to sustain the experience for as long as possible, but also as this incorporated some of the best options from the a la carte (unusually there is little difference in cost). One exception was the ‘lunch menu’ which was delivered gingerly to our table after the menu proper and did seem excellent value at £50 with two glasses of Wine.

A layered Crab mousse was the starting point followed by a pretty mosaic of Foie Gras (Duck / Pheasant Goose), Lobster with Girolles, a terrific Halibut fillet and the finest Venison I had ever tasted. Cheese followed which went from disappointing to interesting as despite being plated and uniform, each Cheese is paired with an accompanying garnish (Red Pepper Chutney, leaf salad, Plum Jam and so on). It did look a little like an airline meal and I hoped to hear the squeaking wheels of a trolley, but it was a good concept. Pre-dessert, a meticulous Chocolate pudding and all were deeply satiated.

A terrific meal and certainly an experience to be repeated next season. One minor irk was that despite the distant gaze of the army of waiters posted to each area of the restaurant there were several occasions when glasses ran dry and swiveling heads were overlooked. Other than that it was fab.

Walking into the Dorchester is always walking into a world of craziness… Even on a Wednesday lunchtime, there were paparazzi outside fighting over who got to be closest to the ridiculous and expensive looking cock extension that someone was emerging from. The Grand Dame of London's grand society hotels, it now has the propensity to resemble mutton dressed as lamb, like someone has taken an elderly but refined lady and dressed her as a high end Russian call girl. Anything that doesn't move has been plumped up, gilded or had a mirror attached to it.

There are multiple restaurants throughout the Dorchester, breathily calling their opulence out as you walk down the Promenade in the centre of the hotel. You can also ‘enjoy’ afternoon tea along this boardwalk though quite why anyone would choose to enjoy afternoon tea along this stretch, somewhere between Brighton Pier and an explosion in Harrods, I do not know. They have awards though (so I've been told) and there's a better chance of seeing who's just climbed out of the shiny mid-life crisis in the front. But there's the rub. The people here aren't having a mid-life crisis, or even spending their children's inheritance. They're here, from around the world, because spending £36 on a cup of tea and some cakes is perfectly normal, and dropping a ton on lunch for one (without wine) just isn't something that you think twice about. It certainly isn't worth some of the prices you'd get charged but the overall experience is perfection – and people will pay for perfection.

After the gold explosion of the lobby, the (relatively) understated calm of Alain Ducasse came as a blessed relief, I felt like my eyes could breath again. Aside from the floor to ceiling crystal shower curtain (a six person V VIP table separated by a crystal sheet and few quid on the bill), the tone is muted light wood and grey anonymous elegant. After the overblown opulence of the adjoining corridor this is definitely in it's favour.

The parade of inevitable extras started as we sat with herb parcels in filo pastry, in size and texture no different to warm Scampi Fries, deliciously salty and very more-ish though. These arrived along with a selection of perfectly seasoned choux pastry puffs. The black pepper variant was especially successful. An amuse of heirloom tomato mousse was less inspiring though a handy palate cleanser.

Oddly despite the prices, four items on the short menu came with hefty £10 supplements. My Scottish LANGOUSTINE salad with coral jus (their capitalisation, just in case the oligarchs don't get the main ingredients…) was one of these. Assuming a £20/£35 split on that £55 set price for two courses, that supplement brought the salad to a punchy £30. Don't get me wrong, langoustines that do well at school pray to end up on a plate like this. Some of the sweetest shellfish I've ever had, with an earthy jus served over strips of seasonal vegetable. The dish worked. But for £30, I don't know what else it could have offered, short of trained prawns that danced their way out of the pot and onto my plate. Will stop whinging about money now…

I followed this with the roasted rib, saddle and kidney of MILK FED LAMB, served with perfectly cooked, roasted purple artichokes and new potatoes and a scattering of soft garlic croquettes. These were a revelation. The size of jelly gums, they yielded a perfect soft garlic infused paste under their crisp shell. The meat was cooked medium and fell apart. Technically one of the finest takes on this dish I've had, with a wonderful clarity of flavour.

The Flying Manc had the roasted native LOBSTER, seasonal vegetables and macaroni served as a tiny raft of gratinated tubes. Again, simple perfection in ingredients and preparation. The showmanship ran through to the array of petits fours served with our coffee, macaroons, tiny dark walnut studded chocolate nibs and a variety of chocolates and sweets. One of my hosts ordered a lemon verbena tisane, the leaves cut from the plant in front of us, served with a sense of theatre.

The service throughout was flawless, in every sense of the word. The staff were attentive, knowledgable (the Pinot Noir selected as an accompaniment to my lamb isn't what I would have picked, but worked a treat) and unobtrusive. There is a discernible, hugely positive difference between here and many of the one star restaurants I've eaten at. Does the restaurant justify a third star? I couldn't say I was competent or experienced enough to judge that, but for all elements it was a meal striking in its perfection throughout, the clientele were certainly happy to pay for this perfection, and I was honoured to eat it (even if I won't necessarily be taking my own wallet back there..)

Oh My God [or, for the twittering classses: OMG ;-))))!!!]. Wow: this is seriously grown up food, served in a seriously grown up restaurant with SERIOUSLY grown up prices.

Yes, let's start with what everyone seems surprised at. The prices. Alain Ducasse is a famous French chef. His restaurant has three Michelin Stars. His restaurant also happens to be located in one of the most expensive hotels, in one of the most expensive areas of one of the most expensive cities in the world. Of course it is going to cost a lot. But maybe here a little perspective is called for: the tasting menu at Alain Ducasse is £115. Not cheap. Anne-Sophie Pic has a tasting menu at €320, with a starter on the a la carte at a mind alteringly €145. So the eponymously named Maison Pic has a starter that is more than a seven course meal at Alain Ducasse.

You might expect that Maison Pic would have to be in Paris, maybe in the 8th, maybe in the George V, for that would be a fair comparison. Maison Pic is in Valence. For those of you who don't know where that is, it is a industrial truck stop of a town, about an hour-and-a-half south of Lyon on the Autoroute du Soleil. It is nowhere. Blink and you miss it. It is an afterthought of a town on the race to the beaches of the Cote d'Azur. Yet it has a restaurant where a starter costs more than a seven course meal at one of the most expensive restaurants in London. Go figure.

So it is expensive. But is it worth it? Well the restaurant was packed. It was clear by the number of people getting deserts with candles in that there were a lot of birthdays being celebrated, and this maybe what M. Ducasse is going for: a destination restaurant. Somewhere you go once, for a seriously special occasion.

The restaurant is, as the name suggests, in the Dorchester hotel. It doesn't have its own entrance, so you come through the overly oppulent, overly ornate, Hello! magazine/footballers wives hotel lobby, to be ushered into a calm, understated, almost plain room. This is clearly not about the decor, this is about the food.

Oh and what food: excellently prepared, excellently presented and excellently executed, although not every dish hits the spot. The amuse bouce of a tomato reduction cleansed the palate properly (that is, after all, what an unordered dish to start off the meal should do). The chicken and lobster with pasta was gorgeous: small rectangles of crisp skinned chicken, juicy lobster and seriously al dente pasta. Alas, the other starter (soft boiled egg with crayfish and mushroom), whilst good, was a little over-indulgent on the ingredient front: adding more flavours is not always best, when here, the effect was to overpower the delicate crayfish. The fish course was fantastic: Halibut succulent and sweet, the sea bass with razor clam wonderful too, a serious tranche of fish with a stuffed razor clam shell balanced atop it. Then another duff: the beef with foie gras. The foie gras was gorgeous, the Périgueux sauce nicely rich in truffle, but the slab of beef was, well; bland. At these prices, how can that be? I almost asked for some mustard to pep it up.

Fortunately, it was then straight back to dazzling form: deserts are just fantastic (and no poncing around with a pre-desert). Lime souffle was light and limey, accompanied by a Sichuan pepper sorbet (I wouldn't actually have picked it as being Sichuan pepper, but it went beautifully) and the crispy chocolate came with a lovely pink grapefruit sorbet (no mistaking that). This last dish proved the only difficult one for our excellent sommelier: in the end, he suggested two half glasses, one to match the chocolate and one with the sorbet.

Ah yes; the wines. As you might expect, not cheap. Actually, worse than not cheap: really bloody expensive. We had a lovely Pur Sang from Didier Dagueneau's final vintage, which is around £40 retail; here, it was four times that! There are a few bottles below the ton mark, but the list is very serious and very seriously priced; four grand for a 1934 D'Yquem anyone? Well, apparently not: they have a single bottle (just for the list), and nobody has wanted to pay that for it (although interestingly our sommelier did say that somebody had tried to haggle over the price. Good luck!).

As with our sommelier, the rest of the service is polite and friendly; for a place of this price you often find that the waiting staff can be stuffy and stand-offish. Not here (maybe it is because there were no French waiters: ours all seemed to be Eastern European or antipodean?).

This is very traditional French cooking: no foams, no drizzels, but deep reductions to produce intense flavours. Is it as good as Maison Pic? No; Maison Pic is extraordinary and extraordinarily inventive in a way that Alain Ducasse isn't trying to be. Maybe he was twenty years ago when he got his (first) third Michelin Star, but at least here he seems to have settled in to a comfortable, high standard, high priced, destination restaurant.

Three michelin star prices, but not quite a three michelin star experience.

The room is decorated in a pleasing way, although the room has a dividing wall running through it which breaks up the ambience somewhat. Each table comes with a procelain vegetable centre piece and rather dainty pink napkins.

Before you order, little savoury beignets arrive, which are dangerously more-ish. Off to a good start then, but the food that followed was good-to-very-good but not extraordinary. Our starters were Ducasse's speciality of lobster and chicken with pasta, which was excellent, and a dish of snails which was also delicious.

For main course we both had the fillet of beef with a rossini side. It was a very nice piece of beef, well cooked, but that is really all it was. Not very memorable. But the biggest shock of the night came when I ordered cheese. THERE IS NO CHEESE BOARD!! Instead, they bring you a tray that looks like something from a BA flight to Benidorm with 4 pieces of deeply ordinary pre-cut cheese. No choice. How can a three star French restaurant have no cheese board??

Desserts were light and pleasing. The trio of apple was the star.

Wine list was punishingly expensive. Service was good without being intrusive. All in all an enjoyable evening but very expensive and not as memorable as I'd expected.

This is not a meal I will forget in a hurry.

The whole Ducasse experience is a fantastic, and the only disappointment is the money you have to part with for this enjoyment. Ducasse has worked out the way to make money at a restaurant is to ramp up the wine list to insane levels. I have been lucky enough to eat in some very good restaurants over the years and have always found a good selection of wines at the £50-100 mark. At Alain Ducasse you will struggle to find anything under £100 – even a St Aubin 1er cru is over that – a similar wine is £65 at Chez Bruce.

This left me with a slightly sour after taste from this meal – which is irritating since everything else was incredible. The menu is so full of appealing dishes that we actually didn't go for the taster menu because there were specific items we all wanted on the a la carte menu. The starters are especially good – it was a struggle to choose just one – the chicken and lobster signature dish didnt disappoint, rich and a great combination. The halibut fish course seemed a little bland, but this was in comparison to my rich starter and also having tried the lobster main course which was again full on. The venison main was cooked to perfection and the portion size ideal after the two previous courses. The souffle was beautifully light, whilst the Crispy Chocolate and Earl Grey wasn't just visually appealing. After 4 impressive courses I did not feel overly full, always a good sign after such fine food.

As I said before – not a meal I will forget – the meal was fantastic, you are made to feel very special and it is so refreshing to be allowed to arrive at 7.30pm and not hurried to leave. Then again for £770 for 3 people it is no wonder they don't need to force another seating!

I am very pleased to have had the chance to eat at such a wonderful restaurant, but I would never go there and pay my own money, unless they introduce a BYOB policy!!

Flawless service but beige decor disappoints somewhat.

Food needs quite a bit of work .

The starters were OK but the main courses of venison and lobster left a lot to be desired ( served lukewarm, overcooked to the point of chewy and severely underseasoned)

I've have had much better meals in 1 or 2 star restaurants.

Overall a hugely dissapointing experience as my expectations for a good evening were centred pretty much solely around the food; which did not even come close to matching justifiably high expectations for a restaurant that 3 days earlier was awarded a third star. For me the service, staff, ambience and decor were pretty much faultless. I had two of the signature dishes that carried 10pound supplements. A starter of chicken, lobster, sweetbread which a cream sauce was elevated beyond the realm of plainness by the cream being infused with stock from the chicken. Beyond that in terms of flavour it was merely a well cooked piece of chicken leg and well cooked piece of lobster. My main course was a fillet of beef, a good size seared foie gras rossini atop, half an iceberg lettuce(!), some home made patoto crisps in a madiera sauce. Now of course the cokking and assembly of all these ingredients was faultless but so what. To date all the 3 and 2 star restaurants I have eaten have all had me dazzled at the very very least by a particular rmouthful of food that gives you the wow! This was highly unoriginal and rather dull. My wifes main course of halibut was drowned in orange; it read so well on the menu and the lovely piece of fish would have been great with a delicate touch of citrus, this was bleedin swimming in it. Desert of chocolate praline was a nice rich chocolate but an inedible dollop of ice cream that was again not as hoped kissed with that bit of saltiness that can make sweet so good, but a bit of ice cream that had a heaped spoon of salt stirred in. So so salty> 415quid for two for 5 courses, a bottle of 2003 Bollinger and two glasses of wine. Viciously expensive but it wasnt the money that left a bad taste in my mouth.