Petrus

Dated

Petrus

Petrus, a French restaurant in Belgravia from the Gordon Ramsay group is one the last few Michelin starred restaurants left in their UK portfolio. Once one of the hottest tickets in London, the original Petrus was headed by Gordon's former protege Marcus Wareing and which created an absolute storm back in early 2000s, gaining two Michelin stars in 2007 along the way. But these days Petrus is a totally different beast, now at its third location in Kinnerton Street with Neil Snowball as head chef, it is no longer the media's darling and you can easily secure a table. 

Cornish & soft shell crab, yuzu dashi, avocado

Ballotine of Norfolk quail, pancetta, charred lettuce & jus gras

Iberico pork loin chop with Morteau sausage

I opted for the a la carte 3 course menu, the Cornish and soft shell crab was a very delightful starter, plenty of refreshing flavours from the salad and the natural sweetness of the crab meat, the soft shell crab added an extra depth of contrast, overall I was really impressed. I would have liked my main of Iberico pork loin chop more medium as it was not easy to cut down the meat and the jus was far too sweet which covered up all the natural flavours from the pork. The flavours of the bean cassoulet was also questionable, lacking seasoning and tasting so ordinary that it wouldn't look out the place if the cassoulet was served to me in a chain restaurant. Short rib was a lot better on the other hand, the smokiness was on the spot and the dill puree injected some light and fresh flavours to offset the richness of the moist meat.

Casterbridge short rib, dill puree & bone marrow

Seared pineapple with smoked coconut,
lime sorbet and pineapple granité

Caramelised apple tart with pistachio & strawberry sorbet

My meal at Petrus was good but it is simply no value for money, at £100 per head, I really expected something very special and top notch, I wasn't even sure if it deserveed its Michelin star. There are far better places near Petrus and less expensive such as Five Fields, Petrus' service is pretty old fashioned and they acted like robots, while other fine dining restaurants in London are slowly adapting and evolving to be more casual and relaxing. It was mostly tourists on the day of my visit and it does seem like Petrus is living in the shadow of its former glory and its brand name is the only strength that it has left that is still pulling customers in.


Food 3.5/5

Head chef: 
Neil Snowball

What I paid: 
£100 pp with a glass of wine

Average cost without drinks and services:
£75 pp

1 Kinnerton St, London SW1X 8EA

https://www.gordonramsayrestaurants.com/petrus/