Best Restaurant in the UK?
L’enclume has been voted best restaurant in the UK by the Good Food Guide for the last few years now. We visited in December 2015.
The entrance is modest, quite bright and neither pretentious nor stuffy looking. The whole village is lovely. Down to earth with friendly villagers to match.
There’s a lengthy wine list, cocktails and local beer – we covered our bases and had a glass of Nyetimber English fizz, a couple of negronis and two different bottles of Unsworth beer which is brewed in the same village a few streets away.
L’enclume is a visual feast so we have plenty of photos but the photos perhaps don’t do the food justice. Each course came out so quickly there was barely time to take note of what was served. We gave up trying to review and just let ourselves enjoy the evening.
The introductory course was the famous Oyster pebbles. Sweet macaron-like shells filled with a taste of the sea!
L’enclume – Oyster pebbles (halved)
This is probably the course I enjoyed the least but it was certainly interesting! We suspect they’re made from foraged oysterplant rather than any actual oysters. From here the journey progressed…
L’enclume – Chicken dumpling
The first few courses were really canapés and came out in rapid succession so it was almost impossible for us to take photographs as opposed to take any notes.
L’enclume – Smoked eel with ham fat
L’enclume – Smoked eel with ham fat (partially uncovered)
L’enclume – Smoked eel with ham fat (uncovered)
A crispy pork and eel mix with onion tapioca on ham cream fat.
L’enclume – Scallops, strawberry vinegar, yarrow
Diced raw scallop with cauliflower puree, strawberry vinegar gel, puffed pearl barley and yarrow.
L’enclume – Duck gizzard, whey onions, Tunworth
Whey onions, Chives, Duck gizzards, Tunworth foam, Squid bread crumb and chrysanthemum!
L’enclume – bread, butter and fat
L’enclume – Broth of artichoke, Westcombe, hen of the woods
Crushed Jerusalem artichoke, Pickled artichoke, Westcombe dumpling, Cured pork fat, Hen of the woods and Texel green cress.
L’enclume – Broth of artichoke, Westcombe, hen of the woods (close-up)
L’enclume – Valley venison, charcoal oil, mustard and fennel
Caper jam, Venison mix- coal oil, tobacco, smoked salt, Diced gherkin, Onion ring, Micro fennel, Fennel gin candies, Mustard mayo and Fennel cress
L’enclume – Poached lobster, apple and walnut
Parsnip crisp, Watercress puree, Lobster claw, Apple gel, Diced kohlrabi (raw) and Grated walnut.
L’enclume – grilled lobster, black pudding, parsnip
Parsnip puree, Watercress puree, Lobster tail – roasted, Apple discs, Black pudding crumb, Lobster oil and Lobster sabayon.
L’enclume – Aynsome carrot with scurvy grass, crispy onion and red mustard
Carrot puree, BBQ carrot, Roasted carrot, Carrot cooked in cheese whey, Blanched carrot, Scurvy grass emulsion, Scurvy oil/ fresh chopped scurvy, Crispy pork skin/onion, Red mustard cress and Fermented carrot – microplaned for seasoning
L’enclume – Brill in poultry juices, lovage, yeast flakes, fermented mushroom
Butter poached brill, Chicken skin/yeast flake crumb, Shallot puree, Lovage emulsion, Fermented oyster mushroom, Grilled onion shell, Wood sorrel and Chicken jus/chicken fat.
L’enclume – Huntsham farm, Longhorn beef, brussels sprouts, kale leaves and smoked bone marrow
BBQ brisket, Oxtail croquette, Ratte mash, Grilled sprouts, Sprout leaves, Smoked bone marrow, Beef jus and Texel green cress.
L’enclume – Quince and gingerbread
Pastry case with Quince poached in red wine, Ginger bread ice-cream and Ginger bread crumb.
L’enclume – Pear, toasted oats and lactose
Poached pear with Pear puree,Granola, Lactose ice cream, Pear granita and Shizo cress.
L’enclume – Caramelised pumpkin, brown butter, almond
Caramelized pumpkin with Pumpkin vinegar gel, Candied pumpkin seeds, Brown butter/toasted brioche ice-cream and Almond meringue.
L’enclume – Woodruff, apple, sorrel and yoghurt
Spiced apple cake with Compressed apple, Apple puree, Woodruff mousse, Yoghurt tuille, Sorrel syrup and Bucklers sorrel.
L’enclume – Rocks
Aerated apricot kernel mousse with Frangipan and Silver dip.
With the first bite of each course we were thinking “how did they do that?” . Flavours were so condensed, items cooked to perfection and textures spot on. Course portions are small but for dinner there’s only one menu with seventeen (!) of them plus a supplementary cheese course which can take place before or after the five courses (!) of dessert, we opted for one plate of cheese between us after the five but it pushed us over the edge! Seventeen courses should be enough for most people! But it’s not just the food. The staff are unbelievable – so many of them and constantly moving from table to table to kitchen. No less than 5 separate staff members attended to us in a waltz. The youngest lad had told us he had a degree in cheese which we could believe!
Of course it’s not cheap at £130 a head but when we’d finished we both agreed that it was the best food we’d ever eaten and how do you ascribe a monetary value to that? L’enclume “only” has two Michelin stars and admittedly we’ve never been anywhere with three but it’s very difficult to imagine how food could possibly taste better!
One last thing – toilets were spotless!
TL;DR
+ The most amazing food we’ve ever experienced!
+ Relaxed non-stuffy setting
+ Accomplished team. Staff knowledgeable and very professional
+ Foraged ingredients, local cheese, beer and English wine available
+ Clean toilets
– Very expensive