The Ninth
How much value do you put on an hour of your time? If it was only GBP1, could I hire you to clean my toilet? If it is astronomically high like 10,000 times that amount, please explain to me why do you spend so much time playing candy crush? If it is somewhere in the middle, that causes problems for me as comparable and silly examples are harder to come by.
I mention this, as there was much debate on where to eat for this meal as we weighed up the cost benefit analysis of several different locations. In the end though, we ended up at The Ninth. A rather swanky place in Mayfair.
Razor clam ceviche. Delicate if perhaps a bit dear for two small skewers. These were pretty to look at although it was a bit difficult to taste the clam inside. It seemed a little overpowered by the rest.
Salted beef cheek, beetroot & horseradish. The next event was to address this criticism of not being able to taste the main ingredient. This course came with a great specimen of cow, the horseradish was a great addition adding bite to the meaty offering. With the fried bread, ready to be crumbled into croutons yourself, this was good. Although perhaps it was the diner participation which made it taste so good.
Roast turbot, brown shrimps & baby leeks. Simply put, this is one of the best pieces of fish I’ve had the pleasure of eating in recent memory. Robust flesh cooked just right, combined with shrimps, prawns and leeks in a light sauce, this was great and a credit to the restaurant.
Aubergine Caponata. Heavy nutty flavour and smooth egg plant created a meaty meatless dish. Rather good.
Paris-Brest.
Tonka bean ice cream. The nutty pastry of the Paris-Brest with this bean flavoured ice cream created something that was greater than the sum of its parts. Airy pastry, creamy custard topped off with smooth ice cream with an unusual tint, this was an excellent dessert.
As is usual with my dining companions, a lively discussion erupted at the table when I asked what they thought of the food. As we played a guessing game to try and make a judgement of the food, I thought that this was kind of a waste of time. If we didn’t have a number already waiting in our head, maybe we could just do the easiest thing and take the name. Then again, nine seems a bit high. So I decided it was worth the expenditure of brain power to give it a more accurate score. 7.5 it is.
A quiet eating 7.5/10.
Dinner (3 courses equivalent) was GBP60 excluding drinks and service.
22 Charlotte St, Fitzrovia,
London W1T 2NB