Arkle

Quietly confident cooking. We had a lovely - lovely, but no fireworks - meal here last night.

It's in the Grosvenor, a beautiful hotel on a beautiful street in a beautiful city, and I would heartily recommend a weekend break for anyone who doesn't live nearby. It's all dark wood panelling and soft lighting, exemplary but good humoured and warm service, and a borderline hilarious mix of diners from the brightly upholstered Cheshire ladies d'un certain age with their golfing hubbies, and nervous young couples working up to a proposal.

Service starts in the bar, with a wonderful cocktail list (including some great non-alcoholic ones, I had mint and ginger and cucumber and a Fevertree Mediterranean tonic, zingy). Amuses bouches included a Scotch quail's egg with pork scratchings, some sort of truffly gougere, and a wonderful smoked salmon lollipop with a sort of lemon marshmallow.

In the restaurant we then had another amuse of a spoonable duck liver which had a crackable sweet crust, a bit like a creme brulee, with a pistachio wafer and a cherry (cherries were the theme of the night, there must have been a market glut). The starter proper on the tasting menu was a slice of crispy pork belly with a black pudding wafer, brawn jelly and some smoked shallot.

The dinner then continued with a tranche of perfectly cooked Brixham plaice, a langoustine and some wilted and pureed lettuce. My favourite dish was an incredibly soft bit of poussin breast with deep fried squid tentacles, some cannelloni which had (I think) the leg meat in and some more squid, along with its ink, saffron and a pepper smear. On which note, Radley's cooking is wonderfully free of the frills and furbelows - this was the only smear of the night. There were no swooshes, no foams, no technique for the sake of it. Apart from the ubiquitous cherries, and a sometimes gratuitous use of quite bland truffles, it was all very mature and restrained. Quietly confident.

The main was poached beef fillet, more canneloni, this time with oxtail, celery and some rich and spicy lentils. Along with an unadvertised disc of marrow and some tripe (I would have thought diners should have been told about the tripe, as it's not to everyone's liking, and could have been mistaken for one of the 'textures of celery').

Desserts then started - an elegant barrel aged slice of feta with baclava and some pureed Agen prune; a 'daiquiri' of banana, lime, rum and some crunchy peanut sable, and then finally parfait with poached rhubarb, ginger and sugar baked beetroot (the beet worked very well here). This was the only time service stalled a little - we were one of five tables in our part of the restaurant having the tasting menu and although we'd started at different times, we closed together, so they were making all the final desserts at the same time. A little hiatus.

Petits fours were little pastry cases with various custards including a lovely peanut and caramel one. And cherries...The pastry was, in the words of Mr Hollywood, a great bake. Wonderfully thin and crisp. Then finally a cigar case was bought with a selection of four - I had white chocolate with pistachio and milk chocolate with lapsang souchong (sadly barely detectable, but a fine accompaniment to a good espresso nonetheless).

All in all, a very civilised evening, and we would repeat. It's a gently lit meal rather than the dazzle of fireworks. But perfectly lovely for it. I wasn't drinking but the sommelier was charming and knowledgeable, and the flight of wines to accompany the tasting seemed to go down well. An interesting list.

Ibérico – served with decorative pea shoots, the most delicious and perfectly seasoned brawn fritter at atop of a disc of hock jelly and a pea Chantilly with flecks of high quality Spanish Ibérico ham; in terms of out and out flavour, the best dish on the menu.

We paid the Arkle a second visit with friends. My first review still stands. You pay for what you get. The food was flavoursome and artistically presented on the plate with top-notch service. Worthy of my previous 5-star review with excellence on a plate. Beautiful flavours, presentation, and service. We'll return and recommend.

Every dish boasts quality ingredients prepared with expertise, but the real star is the wild halibut, an absolutely standout offering that celebrates the fish's fine quality in a creative and delightful way. While the rest of the menu is executed well, nothing matches the "wow" of the halibut. The scallops, eel, sirloin and duck are enjoyable but not extraordinary. Deserts are tasty but miss a unique punch.

One of the best restaurants I've ever visited (probably the best!). From the moment we arrived, we were treated with great care. We opted for the tasting menu, which began with a range of canapés (my favorite was the one with red caviar and pomegranate notes). Afterwards, we were ushered from the bar to a spectacular dining area where we had an incredible experience. The service throughout the evening was friendly and knowledgeable. We even had the opportunity to chat with the chef towards the end, amusingly about how to cook asparagus. Thank you so much for this memorable experience! We will definitely be back.

Quite outstanding. If the Arkle doesn’t get its Michelin star back, then there is something wrong with the system. The tasting menu was imaginative and not a course failed to impress with ingredients and flavour combinations that both surprised and worked. Fantastic attention to detail and precise presentation. Feeling obliged to use local produce doesn’t always equate to quality, but they seem to have found suppliers up to the task. The fish was perfect. Friendly, knowledgeable and unpretentious service. Couldn’t fault it. I don’t normally photograph my food.

Had a lovely 8 course tasting meal here on the 27th of December for my 40th birthday. The food was absolutely stunning and the service was fabulous, very knowledgeable staff but very welcoming and friendly. Couldn't fault it at all. Made our evening very special as we had just gotten engaged then came for our meal and it was exquisite 👌 so thankyou very much for making our evening perfect .