REVIEW: Ametsa with Arzak Instruction, Halkin Hotel, Belgravia

Does any part of this restaurants name “Ametsa with Arzak Instruction” ring any bells? Well if you call yourself a foodie – it should do (otherwise I’ll let you off). Arzak is a Spanish restaurant in San Sebastian and is regularly refereed to as one of the best restaurants in the world, with no less than three Michelin stars of course. With such a wealth of accolades you could imagine the frenzy when the Arzak family announced the opening of a London venture in 2013, naming it Ametsa with Arzak Instruction. The restaurant sits within the sumptuous Halkin by Como hotel in London’s Belgravia district and if this restaurant has one thing spot on, it’s the décor – modern, artistic and unusual – the perfect setting for a Michelin dining experience (Ametsa has one star at the time of writing this). Elena Arzak was the lady who really put this London venture together (although isn’t cooking in the kitchens) and has done a great job – although it’s nothing like the San Sebastian restaurant.

We actually dined here after coming across a fab deal over on the Bookatable website. A bargain three courses for £38 – with a glass of bubbles (Cava in this case). To start us on our Spanish journey an array of tapas replaced our starters. A lovely fresh gazpacho style shot was full of flavour. Iberian ham on a bread pillow which was perfectly fine (but hardly breaking boundaries) and its descriptor sounding much more elaborate. A dish named “Scallops at home” for whatever reason was the best of the tapas, featuring a perfectly cooked scallop and array of flavours which went beautifully together, however I struggled to pick each out against the palate. A nice set of tapas but they’re not going to change your life – the main courses might though.

An enormous amount of effort goes into altering the food here – turning it from an ordinary plate of food into something which looks rather spectacular and not always as it seems. Does it needs such theatrics and altering? I’m not entirely sure – but it certainly works across some aspects of the food here. Ox cheek with piquillo flames (red peppers) was one of the highlights of our dinner here at Ametsa with Arzak Instruction – the sweetness from the peppers and the fork-tearing soft cheeks were a gorgeous medley and came with a lovely rich and meaty gravy slathered over the top. The sea bass with celery illusion was a another fine plate of food – the fish was excellent and the pristine white flesh juicy and well cooked. The celery illusion (which looked like a piece of celery) was in fact something entirely different and was again a nice bit of theatrics, but I’m not sure it had the flavour intensity you’d expect – the illusion part of dish was more style over substance, but the balance between both was only very minor.

Dessert was another beautifully presented plate of food – Torrija de mango y coco (French toast with mango and coconut). I’ve had a few dishes similar to this recently from the likes of Omar Allibhoy’s Tapas Revolution and Fitzrovia’s Shackfuyu, but here at Ametsa the dish was at its finest hour. A little sweet, toasted to perfection and full of flavour, mixed with the creamy soft center and rizzles of fruit around the plate. The petit fours were perhaps even better – disguised as blackberries, yet were soft fruity jelly’s packed with the intense flavour of the fresh fruit.

From the first moment I heard Ametsa with Arzak Instruction opening its doors in London I’d been meaning to visit, but after two years it was only until now that I finally made here. Was I impressed? Yes. Was I blown away? No. This is no doubt a very good restaurant with an interesting creative flair, but I just feel like something was missing to take the dining experience to that next level and I’ve no idea exactly what that is, yet. At £38 including a glass bubbly it was well priced, but with stiff competition in London right now you can currently eat a lot better for a lot cheaper. If you want the full Ametsa experience I’d go with the tasting menu because what we saw emerging from the kitchen looked much more interesting and much more refined.

7/10

I dined as a guest of Bookatable.com