The Clove Club

This meal was in the middle of a two week stretch of restaurants across London, Stockholm and Copenhagen. And, other than Noma, this had my favorite bites by far. It also had some very solid misses.

My brother had come a few years earlier and absolutely raved about the main dish...chicken! Who puts chicken as a main dish? At this level, that chicken better be the best chicken of our life. And for my brother, it was. I had an eye on this dinner, excited for that chicken! I was therefore disappointed when I read the menu outside to see that chicken was not tonight's main dish.

However, the initial bite of the meal was an oversized chicken nugget. And let me tell you - I have never had, nor can even conceive of chicken better than this. That bite will stay with me for a very long time. The marinate the chicken in buttermilk for 24 hours and then fry it hard using tapioca and polenta flours. As our server said, "This is a place that knows how to cook chicken." Wow is he right.

The other initial bites as well as the first full dish (trout with almond milk) were just brilliant. Unique, creative, delicious. They made sense and made you groan. Makes me think "This is why I love food so much!". 

Unfortunately, the meal took several steps back from there. Both of their signature dishes lacked. I ate with a new friend and he too couldn't figure them out. In addition, I was very excited for their tea pairing. But the teas all had a very similar profile - weak and gentle. It became a joke as the tea descriptions (and the smells) got more and more robust, that I would take a sip and go "Yep. Weak again." He tried each and agreed.

Service was slightly forced but earnest and excellent with one fairly big exception. Venison sausages are brought out on a grill for presentation (the photo is below). As it was set down, one of the sausages rolled off and into my lap. These things happen, and typically I am more focused on how staff responds to such an event. True excellence can be seen not when things go smoothly, but when the unexpected happens. In our case, staff seemed flustered and embarrassed. They almost didn't know what to do. In the end, they did ably clean everything up and quickly replaced them with new versions, though they didn't offer to take care of my stained pants.

What I was actually more "offended" with (I use that term very loosely here...) is that the sausages are delivered on the grill to begin with. The grill isn't lit - it's just for show. The plate of food is delivered and the sausages are simply moved from the grill to your plate and the grill removed. It's show just for show and seemed beneath the level of the rest of the experience.

One huge mark of credit: I ordered the add-on, tuna tartare with white truffle. My partner didn't but mentioned he would like to try mine. Hearing that, they brought us each a full plate with his being complimentary. A very nice and generous touch.

It's difficult to classify my experience here. Some of these bites absolutely blew me away and will be remembered for a very long time. Others were clear misses and made me wonder what the draw to that plate of food should be. If I were to return, it would be to see if the overall meal had evened out a bit.

Or I would beg them for a custom tasting menu made entirely of chicken. 

Who am I kidding? It would be for the chicken.