Canvas by Michael Riemenschneider

Build you own tasting menu 

My 2nd visit to Michael Riemenschneider's tiny restaurant in Marylebone, having had a great lunch here a few weeks ago, I was really impressed by Michael's well executed and creative cooking. The concept of the menu is fun and engaging, with a flexible choice of a regularly changing 16 dishes, diners are given plenty of freedom and can choose between 1 to 16 courses, with portions adjust accordingly based on the number of dishes selected. (seriously how hard can it be Jay?).

Canvas by Michael Riemenschneider

peas and scallop

I went for the 7 course again, the west coast crab with apple, lemon and paprika was light and clean which was very ideal for spring time, the fruity and citrus notes of the apple and lemon really enhanced the dedicated flavour of the fresh crab meat. The meaty monk fish dish was another refreshing plate of pairing the meaty monk fish with cucumber ragout and dill, the light and herbal freshness which are well known in cocktail making worked like a treat with the finely cooked fish.

west coast crab, apple, lemon and paprika

monkfish, cucumber, dill, "Schupfnudeln"

Ham with egg & chips was a fun take on the British classic: Egg, ham and pea. The duck egg was cooked to absolute perfection with the extended hours of slow cooking method, the result was a super soft and moist egg yolk and it combined so well with the sweet and crisp Spring peas and the dry cured Serrano ham. As much as I love Jason Atherton's infamous "egg, ham, and peas" dish, the version here at Canvas really felt like a superior upgrade.

white asparagus, avocado, raw beef and wild sorrel

Spring pea, duck egg, Serrano

"ratatouille" lamb, olives, curd

The best dish on the night was the "tongue and cheek", a beef dish containing a different range of beef cuts. The beef was so powerful and robust, full of richness and easily one of the nicest dishes I've encountered over the years in London. While the selection of cheeses are limited, they do have some interesting ranges such as whisky washed goat cheese, I also appreciated how the kitchen spend the time to create a range of handmade quince and chutneys to go with the cheese. 

"tongue & cheek": beef, heritage carrot and onion

cheese board

cheeses with quince and chutney

mango, pineapple and pain perdu

calvados and petit four

Canvas had once again delivered another high level dinning experience, the cool thing about Michael's dishes are that there were little to no sauces in his cooking and it led the ingredients and flavours do all the talking which is somewhat unique in the fine dining sector in London. I also really enjoyed his takes on some classic dishes and turning them into something fun and exciting with bold flavours such as the "ham & egg" and "lamb ratatouille". Do bear in mind they do an excellent discount offer online if you book in advance which represents great value for money considering you are getting some of the finest cooking in London.

Food 8
Service 7
Ambience 6
Value 8

£130 per head with 3 glass of wine

69 Marylebone Lane Greater London, UK W1U 2PH

http://www.canvasmr.com/