Hunter 486 is a boutique restaurant that sits within The Arch Hotel London, which is just a few minutes walk away from Marble Arch. It prides itself on its 'unique fine dining experience' and offers a 'Best of British' inspired menu, which I was invited to taste alongside their accompanying wine menu. The interiors of the restaurant boast a relaxed yet luxurious vibe with rich red, leather booths, contemporary dangling lights and an open plan kitchen with a roaring fire oven.
As we slid our way into our booth, we were greeted with the food menu and a separate wine menu to team with our choices. Now, I do enjoy wine on a regular basis however when it comes to matching wine with my food I can openly admit I do not have a clue where to begin. Luckily our waiter was on hand to recommend the best wines for each of our dishes.
I began with the Mushroom consommé with truffle tortellini and a glass of the Pinot Blanc Alsace, Portrait Range, Domaine Zinck, 2014. The consommé was bold and moresome, whilst the tortellini was quite literally bursting with the rich, earthy flavours of truffle. The Pinot Blanc became sweeter after tasting my starter dish and was quite refreshing to wash down the lingering flavour of mushroom. I did also sample my guest's Sancerre Blanc, but unfortunately I didn't quite like it as much as the Pinot but this could well have been down to the combination of my starter dish with an ill-suited wine.
For main course, I opted for the Goat's Cheese & Caramelised Shallot Tart teamed with a side of sweet potato fries (because sweet potato fries are life, am I right?!). The tart isn't actually listed on the website menu, so I was pleasantly surprised to see it as a secondary vegetarian option on the in house menu. I was also delivered a glass of Puro Malbec-Cabernet, Mendoza, 2014 to accompany my main course, and despite not usually being much of a red wine drinker I found it absolutely delicious. My problem with most red wines is finding it the consistency too thick for my liking, but the Malbec was light and complimented the food, particularly the goat's cheese.
The main itself was one of the highlights of my evening; I took one bite before texting my boyfriend with a pretty bold claim that it was 'one of the best things I had ever eaten'. I was a large glass of wine or so down by this point, but there was no denying that the tart was absolutely heavenly. It was built with layers upon layers of shallots, which were sweet and so sticky it left it ended getting stuck to my teeth a little. The caramelised sweetness was broken up by the creamy, rich flavour of the goat's cheese that sits on top of the tart, which crumbled as you cut through it.
When it came to choosing dessert, there was only one option for both myself and my guest: the Chocolate Fondant Pudding with Peanut Brittle and Salted Caramel Ice Cream. The pièce de résistance of this dreamy trio for me was the salted caramel ice cream. This indulgent, sweet, creamy ice cream was flecked with little pieces of hardened caramel and salt, and it slightly reminded me of the ice cream form of a Caramac bar! The peanut brittle added an extra crunch to the desert, whilst the pudding was ever so soft and the fondant oozed out as you dug into it. I was actually able to smell the chocolate before it was placed down onto the table in front of me; it was that rich and chocolatey! We were served a glass of Port wine to accompany our final dish, which although was rather strong for my liking, suited the sometimes overpowering chocolate rather well!
Location: Hunter 486, The Arch London, 50 Great Cumberland Pl, Marylebone, London W1H 7FD
This sounds like my ideal of dinner heaven! I rarely eat in London but I'm definitely adding this to my visit list! xxx
ReplyDeleteThis looks amazing, just look at the way that chocolate fondant is ouzing - perfect. Mich x
ReplyDeleteVery well written review! That dessert looks and sounds AMAZING
ReplyDelete