pierre koffman at selfridges, london w1

i know i still owe you a review of the food we ate in skye but i wanted to jump in with a quick word about the pierre koffman pop-up at selfridges.

i rarely write about the food i eat out that is not up to scratch – sat bains and l’anima being two such disappointments – but given the almost unanimous rave reviews i wanted to put out a dissenting view about the pop-up.

the setting is wonderful – the temporary structure has a real feeling of contemporary glamour – as is the welcome and service but the food we ate really wasn’t great.

our starters – pan-fried foie gras with potato galette and sauterne jus plus fricassee of wild snails with bone marrow and wild mushrooms – were fine, but sadly no more than that.

my friend mel had the infamous pig trotter stuffed with veal sweetbreads and morel mushrooms, and absolutely adored it. my special of wild duck with liver farce, apple chutney and calavdos sauce was a real let down. as you can see, the portion was huge (which is usually a good thing!) but, while the legs were delicious, the rest of the meat was over-cooked and dry.

we concluded with a pistachio soufflé, served with pistachio ice-cream, which had tasted very eggy (a touch of the omelette was the exact verdict on the day), and another special – cocoa bean crème brulee with coffee ice cream – which was nice enough but again nothing special.

the meal cost £75 a head and i really don’t think it was worth the money. nor would i recommend it, even though the non-food experience was lovely. what i would recommend is the wine we drank which was superb – a 2006 roncus pinot bianco, available at selfridges.                                                                                                                       

apparently the pop-up’s run has been extended until 27 november (originally it was 8-3 october) – if you go, let me know what you think.