Bohemia Restaurant Review: Michelin Starred Perfection at Bohemia Restaurant in Jersey

I don’t know what it is about Jersey but each time I visit, I fall in love with it all over again. The views, the people, the walks and of course the food. The food in Jersey is always so good, right from breakfast in a local cafe to a Michelin starred dinner. The standards are always high. Staying at the centrally located The Club Hotel & Spa we spent one evening dining at Bohemia. A glamorous one Michelin starred restaurant managed by head chef, Steve Smith. Steve has held a Michelin star for over ten years from the age of just 24 and whilst working in Melbourne, Steve Smith also held the prestigious American Express Australian Restaurant of the Year title. The man knows his food and the team he has to help him are incredibly talented, especially head pastry chef Ellen de Jager.

Bohemia Restaurant is also home to a rather swanky cocktail bar, so arrive early and order in. We sipped on a lovely whiskey sour and the house take on a pina colada – of sorts. Very well made and also very well priced at under £10 a drink.

The amuse bouches they serve here are great too and a lovely insight into the creative meal Steve and his team serve. Super fresh mackerel on a charcoal black cracker, crispy deep-fried nuggets of pulled lamb and a silky smooth savoury style panna cotta.

We opted for the classic tasting menu. A rather long, but delectable eight courses of precision, fun and intrigue. When the first dish arrived and we took one bite, we just knew our meal was going to be something special. A beautiful mixture of earthy beetroot, pallet clearing horseradish and elderberry. The bread is excellent and the seaweed butter is one of the freshest I’ve had. After first having the same butter at Yves Mattagne’s Sea Grill in Brussels I expected Steve to have trained in Brussels, but it turns out the butter is actually sourced from a high quality supplier already infused. Now I know it’s within my grasps, I’ll be seeking it out.

I had a few reservations about our next couple of dishes, but thankfully Bohemia won me over with both – especially impressive given my dislike of oysters – I know it’s shameful really – calling myself The Foodaholic and all. A vivid yellow butternut & parmesan soup or sorts contained a perfectly cooked quails egg, which leaked out onto the plate and was covered in a nasturtium puree. Each mouthful of the dish gave so much flavour. My oyster with cucumber & dill foam, topped with caviar wasn’t my favourite dish – but given my dislike for oysters I ate everything put in front of me. They’re obviously doing something right.

Star dish of the entire meal was the filling inside this gorgeous white curvaceous bowl. A rather deceptive dish to look at – you’d expect not much food, but grab a spoon and delve in. The bowl seemed to be never-ending as the hollow centre kept on giving a silky smooth foie gras cream and a kumquat jelly. The topping was a mixture of sea buckthorn and duck salad. The whole dish felt very two star standard and it got me incredibly excited for the rest of the meal.

Technically not main courses, but considerably larger than everything we just ate was the dover sole with sweet corn & black garlic and the grouse with beetroot, black pudding & kale – the latter of which was stunning. Served with two bread slices which were topped with foie gras and beetroot. Incredibly rich but oh-so satisfying. The dover sole presentation was again excellent but it was the one dish I felt needed to up its game, replacing the sweetcorn with something entirely different as it wasn’t exciting enough compared with the overall meal.

Desserts are incredible. Again we came into that two Michelin starred territory, or at least it tasted like it. The peach bellini, as it simply read on the menu was so much more than that. Light meringue, peach sorbet, peach mousse, icy crumble and clear dollops of gel. They looked as if they’d give nothing, but they gave everything. Our other dessert of raspberry, tonka and tarragon was another stunner. The raspberry was spread across the dollops of cream, freeze-dried and sugared whole raspberries and a stunning glazed breast of raspberry gel which encased a tarragon cream. The tonka ice cream was also excellent, as was the powders and gels around the plate. Two very good dishes.

But it didn’t stop there with the sweet treats. I experienced one of the best Paris brests I’ve ever had here at Bohemia. Light, crispy and the crème patisserie caramel filling was unbelievably good. The last time I had a Paris brest this good was last year at Bordeaux’s Le Grande Maison. Nothing has quite lived up to it since, until now. The mostly savoury and herb filled chocolates were great too. A box of two or four to take home would have been a nice touch, adding to the overall experience.

I’ve eaten in some of Jersey’s best restaurants now, but Bohemia really is the best this little island has to offer. The restaurant has class, the service is immaculate, the food is exciting and you can see there is still so much more to give. You can feel the second star creeping into certain dishes and you can already taste it in the desserts and the home-made patisseries. If Jersey is on your visit list, so should Bohemia – its utter perfection.

NB: I was invited to review and elements of my meal were complimentary. All views are as always, my own. My views are not influenced by anyone other than my own palate and slightly poor eyesight.