Tucked into London’s upscale St. James neighbourhood, The Stafford London hotel (16-18 Saint James’s Place) is featuring a truffle tasting menu at its Lyttelton restaurant through Thursday, February 19th for £85 (~$125) per person. Executive Chef Carlos Martinez delivers a menu that compliments the luxurious comfort of this five-star, history rich hotel as he continues his quest for a Michelin Star.

Named after former residents Lady and Lord Lyttelton, the restaurant is decorated with the understated elegance embodied by the aristocratic family’s best known descendent, Princess Diana.

We started with cocktails from the equally historic American Bar and proceeded to tuck in to the amuse bouche of mushroom jelly and black truffle foam. A beautiful start to the meal followed by a beef consommé with Burgundy truffle foam that produced a decadent aroma as the consommé heated the foam but was left flat by the overpowering beef stock.

Our disappointment was quickly turned around by the very well executed, though typical, white truffle risotto. Perfectly balanced and topped with truffle shavings from Chef Martinez’s grapefruit-sized White Alba truffle, this dish was the highlight of the evening.

Being a Thursday, we passed on the full wine pairing (additional £50 [~$75] per person) and instead chose a 2012 Pencarrow Pinot Noir to compliment the remainder of the meal: Truffle confit south coast cod fillet followed by a local Suffolk pork fillet with black Perigord truffles. Both dishes were very good, but the confit truffles could have been softer and creamier to compliment the cod properly. With the generous portion sizes, we could barely finish the desert of raspberries, chocolate and truffle ice cream.

Chef Martinez’s Truffle tasting menu is well executed comfort food with a touch of decadence. But it lacks the next level of execution and creativity that we’ve come to expect from London’s many outstanding restaurants who have already earned their Star(s). If I were giving stars I’d give the Lyttelton 4.3 out of 5.

– Contributed by Bite of the Best London stringer, Dennis S. Jones
The Lyttelton
St James’s
The Stafford London by Kempinski
16-17 St. James’s Place
London, UK SW1A 1NJ
The Lyttelton on Urbanspoon