I had the feeling that the London crowd were extremely excited and hyped up for this opening at Cornus, I of course popped along to check it out and form my own opinion. I do not like to follow the pack and say something is good just for the sake of a new place appearing or because my favourite chef opened his/her new restaurant. I sometimes get this feeling that people here overreact so drastically and call something ‘the best place ever’ too much, without any fundamental knowledge about what excellent cuisine is or looks/tastes like. I commented about this on threads recently… London for me is a melting pot of varied cuisine ranging from Mayfair ‘fine dining’ to casual eats, to a vast array of Indian restaurants coming out of your ears. What I don’t see it as is a leader in gastronomy. You don’t have your Pierre Gagnaire or your Paul Bocuse making history or groundbreaking cuisine. What London does have is choice and the buzz of the exciting food scene it offers. I always struggle though to find ‘quality.’
Cornus is another new opening that was not bad but wasn’t life changing either- It fits into the ‘London buzz.’ Firstly, the location of the dining room and the concept wasn’t particularly my cup of tea, I would only come here at a push for a lunch, you would never see me appear for a dinner, whatever the occasion as it felt a little stiff. Snacks arrived swiftly, but what can I say about them? There wasn’t anything I haven’t seen before a million times, especially the fondue gougere, I in fact funnily enough made a proper fondue the night before with some of the best Gruyère you can get, the taste of mine was easily miles better. (Sorry) The bread and butter were as you would expect, spring in the crumb, a good crust accompanied by some decent butter.
My first course of sea-bass tartare, oyster cream, green apple and shiso: This was perfectly put together- The sea-bass was the right size for mouth feel, the fish had been prepared with attention, hints of the apple were welcome and the tartare dotted with small amounts of oyster cream, then topped with shiso leaf. The balance was correct. I couldn’t say anything wrong about it, imagine the teacher’s pet at school that can do no wrong- This starter is officially a ‘goodie two shoes.’
As usual, I have opted for a la carte, I took for main the roast wild turbot, stuffed chicken wing, caramelised parsley root, pied de mouton with its roasting juices. I could see where the chef was going with this dish- But it needed far more sauce. I shouldn’t really have to ask, it is obvious this was needed to bring everything completely together as one, however it seemed like I was picking at separate elements on the plate that didn’t belong. Technically I have nothing to say about the cookery, everything was cooked proficiently, but I wasn’t blown away by this combination. A prized product such as turbot deserves more consideration, elegance, and stature.
The dessert section is strong here for London, which makes a change. Spiced custard tart was new on the menu with quince, raisin caramel and rum and raisin ice cream. My only gripe is that the crust on the tart was slightly browner than I would have liked, it had baked longer than the chef wanted it to in parts, but the flavours of Christmas shone through, and the texture and execution was well done.
I came away wondering if I had an enjoyable time here, was it a bit serious? A bit pretentious? The service I received was friendly so that wasn’t it, I just couldn’t put my finger on it, but I didn’t feel entirely comfortable or relaxed in the space. Dare I say that it was lacking a little bit of ‘fun?’ After all, if we don’t have a good time when we go out to eat, what is the point?
