With a low rating on google maps, it was a risky decision to have lunch at Guy Martin. A starred chef has opened his restaurant at the airport and makes it clear that you won’t be eating airport food. The famous French chef has taken airport food to another level proposing a developed menu for the connoisseurs. After having lunch and paying a hundred euros, I can confirm the rating.
Green chairs, arcades and a view on the tarmac, the restaurant transports you out of the terminal. A bit too cliché for me, but better than having a sandwich on the go by the gates. A set of cutlery, a table towel, I ordered two plates of every category. It’s bizarre to order from an iPad anyway... let’s eat and see!
The first impression:
- Staff needs more training.
- iPad ordering is bizarre and out of context.
- Prices are too high.
On the menu:
- Courgette broth and wasabi parfait
- Caesar salad
- Heritage tomatoes
- Ginger spiced crabmeat
- Carpaccio style fillet
- Duck foie gras terrine
- Caviar
- Swordfish
- Pollock meunière
- Roasted monkfish
- John Dory seared on the skin
- Roast chicken breast
- Duckling fillet
- Roast fillet of veal
- Pan-fried lamb fillet
- Roasted rib steak salers beef
- Farm breed chicken burger
- Beef burger with smoked pancetta
Let’s eat:
- Bouillon of courgettes, a green sauce with a drop of yellow cream in the middle served with sliced cucumbers, sliced zucchini and fingers of frozen wasabi. Cream that lacks flavor and unpleasant wasabi fingers that crunch like bad quality ice cream. This plate needs life, salt, pepper, and passion.
- The foie gras looks bad; it’s sticky and too cold to be enjoyed. Served with a side of chewy brioche bun, the four slices are served on a bed of green tomatoes and a sweet jam. For the price paid, I would have expected better.
- The fish is not bad but again not exceptional. Remembering the less complicated and more casual Gordon Ramsey restaurant in Heathrow where the experience was memorable, I’m shocked to eat food -supposedly fine dining- and as expensive without being perfect. A fish that needs to be juicer is served with a side of bacon purée. The plate, again, looks great but the taste is average.
- The burger patty is top quality served inside a thick and spongy bread that spoils all the experience. A side of fries, cold and chewy are not up to standard.
Now I understand why the 1,7/5 rating on google maps which is totally understood.
