MARCUS

The restaurant of a celebrity chef can bring a degree of hesitation with it; will it live up to the hype, or will expectations be left in tatters? MARCUS, we’re pleased to report, delivers on every level for an evening of pure indulgence. The key perhaps lies in the chef’s presence in the kitchen each week, when he works a regular service (apparently demanding silence to allow for complete concentration).

As a master of classic French cookery, you might expect Marcus Wareing’s eponymous restaurant to stick to tried-and-tested combinations, but the Michelin-starred chef plays with international influences to produce intricate and interesting plates of food that balance flavours and textures with precision.

A crab parfait came perfectly seasoned, lifted by the flavour of lemongrass and accompanied with a sweet, fragrant satay sauce while fat, sweet scallops were dressed with a sticky sauce of bone marrow and served with a Scandinavian-style smoked cod roe and crisped kale.

Mains of perfectly pink duck breast and cod with octopus were almost outshone by a side order of some stunning spuds. Gnarled and crisp on the outside, these torn hunks of potatoes were fluffy on the inside and cooked in beef fat for a nostalgic roast dinner flavour and served with sour cream and truffle.

Given that this is no place for restraint, dessert and drinks aren’t to be missed. The wine list is, as might be expected, a robust yet approachable list of bottles that ranges from drinks by the glass through to eye-wateringly expensive Champagnes. For pudding, the tarte Tatin comes highly recommended by the gracious hosts who carefully look after each guest. Served tableside and sliced up between two, it seduces with the rich caramel notes of near-burned sugar.

There’s no happier sound than the happy hum of diners and in the low-lit comfortable space at MARCUS, such a noise fills the room. Everything about the experience is for the pleasure of guests, which is exemplified in the range of menu options on offer; from tasting and set menus to à la carte options, this is flexible fine dining.

A towering room of mahogany panels, gleaming architrave, deep-pile carpets and plush, peppermint-leather seating attended by battalions of suited staff, MARCUS (the restaurant) is as imposing as Mr Wareing’s culinary reputation – and “totally worth it”, according to one of its many fans.  

Readers are rightly enamoured of the “stunning food” and “sensational, seasonal dishes” on offer in this patrician hotel dining room, although current chef-patrons Mark and Shauna Froydenlund (long-serving Wareing alumni) are starting to make their mark on proceedings with many new ideas fleshing out the already fascinating repertoire.  

One reader’s “excellent lunch taster menu” yielded sourdough crumpets with cockle butter, turf-smoked trout with wild leek and sorrel oil, then slow-cooked rib of beef with braised onions and wild garlic, all culminating in Mr Wareing’s genre-defining Lancashire custard tart complete with a perfect wobble.

The fuller tasting menu is similarly appealing and eminently approachable, as in rack, loin and confit belly of Herdwick lamb with heritage beetroot and girolles or a pairing of Dorset snails, turbot and razor clams with Delica pumpkin – typical of the kitchen’s tried-and-tested take on cracking produce. To finish, there might be a salted milk chocolate ‘aero’ with honeycomb or a wizard take on peaches and cream presented, cheekily, in an open tin can.  

Dining at MARCUS is undoubtedly a top-end experience designed to impress, although staff are nonetheless discreet and attentive, creating a “relaxed atmosphere” that “makes you feel nothing can go wrong in the world”. A thick wine list excels when it comes to big-name producers, while pairings show the sommeliers at their passionate best.