Wild Honey St James — Restaurant in London

All in all not worth a Michelin star

On Saturday evening, 3 December 2022, we visited the restaurant Wild Honey in London. We were specifically looking for a Michelin star restaurant because we very often want to eat at the highest level. When we entered the restaurant, we were a bit negatively surprised. It's true that the interior is very spacious with lots of room and ceiling height, and the furniture is also colour-coordinated tone-in-tone. But the seating is not pleasant: on one side there are armchairs and on the other side very long benches with many different people sitting at the same time who don't know each other and on the same bench! Quite uncomfortable, like being in a waiting room at a train station. When I asked for the menu, all I saw was a three-course menu for £75. On the restaurant's website on the same day, a nine-course menu was offered for £110. When I asked if I could have this menu, the waitress said that they had not offered this menu for 14 days because of the Christmas business. Needless to say, we were surprisedthat a menu was offered on the website but not in the restaurant. This is not appropriate. The three-course menu mentioned did not meet our strict requirements. Not a single amuse bouche, rather simple dishes like a mini portion of maccheroni and the others were also very small portions. With a nine-course meal this would be totally understandable, but with a three-course meal the courses could be a bit bigger, otherwise you're still hungry after the meal. My partner had ordered a Welsh lamb chop. It was a single miniature chop and had about 80% fat, so we complained about it. Within no time a replacement arrived, which was impeccable in terms of quality and preparation. The chef knows his craft, but the overall ambience is absolutely unsatisfactory for a Michelin-starred restaurant. There are no tablecloths on the tables, the crockery and cutlery is of the simplest quality and the glasses could have come from the cheapest discount store. Simply everything is loveless and without style. The waitress was friendly, but not worthy of a star restaurant. No sooner did she want to take the order than she came back a minute and a half later and gave us almost no time several times, she was a bit pushy. In gourmet restaurants, another waiter always comes to ask. It's much more discreet. During the meal there was suddenly a loud noise in the background near the entrance. Everyone turned their heads to see what had happened, if perhaps a chandelier had fallen from the ceiling. It turned out to be a flower vase that had been used as an umbrella stand and had fallen over in the coat closet. The same thing happened again later when we went to get our coats from the wardrobe as we were leaving the restaurant. That's just totally unprofessional to put a vase of flowers in a coat rack as an umbrella stand and have it fall over twice in the same evening with great fanfare. The restaurant manager just doesn't quite have a handle on this restaurant. Overall, we found the restaurant to be completely overpriced from a value for money perspective. We are only sensitive about going to restaurants when we feel that the price is not justified. We are prepared to pay a lot of money for a nice ambience, for good cuisine and service. We cannot recommend...

Nestled within the Sofitel London St James Hotel, Wild Honey presents an atmosphere of grandeur combined with comfort and has the honour of boasting a MICHELIN Star. Chef Anthony Demetre focuses on flavour rather than pretentious presentation, complementing the overall vibe of the restaurant beautifully. However, there was some inconsistency with certain dishes meeting the MICHELIN Star standard while others fell somewhat short. The service, while gracious and courteous, was slow as we found ourselves spending three hours on a three-course meal. Despite this, portion sizes were impressively generous for a Michelin-starred restaurant, making sure you feel satiated between each course. Tip: Make your booking through The Fork to get a complimentary alcoholic drink (Negroni or champagne) with your £79 3 course set menu!

Our meal started with an array of three amuse-bouche. The aubergine tart and lightly grilled cheese cube stood out, but the third was reminiscent of a McDonald’s Filet o Fish, which was less impressive.

The Dorset Crab appetiser provided a tropical twist to the traditional seafood dish by adding Alphonso mango to chawanmushi of the brown crab. While a bit of fusion confusion, the flavours were delightful and there was an ample amount of white claw meat. The accompanying crab pate toast sandwich was a hit!

The Isle of Orkney Hand Dived Scallop was succulent and perfectly seared. Coupled with spring peas, broad beans, and miso sabayon, this dish offered a satisfying blend of texture and flavour.

Slow-Cooked Veal Shin was served in an unconventional manner but the veal shin itself was spectacularly juicy, tender, and packed with savoury flavours. Served with a smooth, velvety sauce, this dish proved to be a delightful sensory experience.

The Denbighshire Rack of Lamb was tender and lightly flavourful without an overpowering gamey taste. However, it could have used better temperature control and a richer flavour profile.

The Classic Crisp Choux Bun was pleasant, but not particularly outstanding. However, the Wild Honey Ice Cream was the grand finale, featuring Bermondsey honey taken straight from the raw honeycomb wall and served with warm honey alongside the softest and fluffiest lemon madeleine. This dessert rounded off the meal perfectly.

Full review @jagglet...

I know Michelin stars can create a lot of expectations and pressure for the team at the restaurant. So let me start with this: is the food nice? Yes. But is it worth the price? My personal opinion is you can have a better dining experience with a lower price. We all went for the 3-course a la carte menu at £95 per person + 15% service. We were early enough to choose the £45 Early Supper menu (also 3 course, albeit fewer choices. Offered between 17h and 18h30). If the quality of food was the same for the Early Supper Menu, then £45 is probably worth it.

The quality of food was mixed. Some dishes were nice such as the venison (not quite amazing level, compared to other fine dining restaurants), some were disappointing, especially the beef. My friend remarked that Flat Iron’s even better. Many dishes were simply unremarkable. I remember someone once told me that you can tell if a restaurant is good based on their bread, and their sourdough was certainly unremarkable. Their signature dish is their Custard tart, which was nice. But I think the fact that it was branded as a signature meant that I had high expectations which led me being ultimately a bit disappointed.

Speed of service was good. It was interesting how the chef came in and out of the restaurant multiple (an excessive amount of) times, and he doesn’t engage with any of their patrons. There doesn’t seem to be a massive feedback culture at the restaurant. Had I been asked my thoughts on the dishes (chef or waiter), I would’ve mentioned that I was curious why the chawanmushi was served cold when the eel was warm. Occasionally, it took the servers a while to refill our glasses for tap water. But they were still broadly attentive. The coordination also seems like there could be improvements: one server already came and confirmed allergies of guests as listed in our reservation online, and another server came later and asked if we have any allergies afterwards.

There just wasn’t many nice touches unlike other Michelin restaurants. There was no petit fours. I was at another 1 star restaurant last week and at the end, I was given a copy of the menu. None of that happened here. Was it a good dining experience: sure. But I think I struggle to justify both the price and the...