The Five Fields has been on our radar for a while, after receiving such high reviews on Tripadvisor, although somehow staying fairly out of the restaurant limelight. It seemed like the perfect venue for Anika and our friend, Jane, to celebrate their birthdays together. On a quiet street off Sloane Square, what looks like a quaint pub or family-run restaurant is actually an incredible fine dining one. When we arrived on a Saturday evening, selecting our food from the menu was easy – the tasting menu is the only option. Of course they are willing to cater to dietary requirements, and even asked us to have a browse in case there’s anything we don’t like. We went ahead with the classic menu and wine pairings.
First, we were delighted by a range of snacks:
A tomato tuile cone, packed with intense tomato flavour. Inside there’s cream cheese and salmon on top.
A foie gras parfait filled with a sweet compote to perfectly balance it.
Tzatziki with osetra caviar. Definitely delicious, although I feel like perhaps a cheaper / simpler roe would have done the job, as the tzatziki overwhelmed the delicate caviar flavour, even though it did lend a lovely fishy note to the dish.
A vegetable consommé with vegetables from their garden. Packed full of umami and served in the most creative way with this magnetically attached cup.
On the left: oyster, shiso, yogurt, blackberry. On the right: turnip, chopped oyster, apple foam. Served with a sophisticated and complex Vinho Verde. Alvarinho, Granit, Quinto do Soalhbeiro, 2018. Great dish.
Red beetroot on the left tasted like a fillet of umami-rich red meat. On the right was a light and complex white beetroot. Both very tasty and served with a lovely Austrian Rosé - Weinland ‘Family Reunion’, Gutt Oggau, Burgenland, 2016. It looked and tasted like a red, fresh berry notes alongside spicy, earthy depth.
The red mullet on the left was more of a classic dish. Beautifully cooked fish with a velvety sauce, but perhaps one of my least favourite dishes simply because it didn’t offer the excitement of the other dishes, despite being perfectly nice.
On the right the dish had a burst of intense gazpacho flavour. The wine served (Alpi Retiche IGT, Sauvignon, Ronco Valene, Sandro Fay, Lombardy, 2018) was perhaps my least favourite of the evening. It had an aroma that I could only compare to body odour, the flavour was better although somewhat one-dimensional.
Next, we continued our pattern of getting two dishes in one with this combination of brill, girolles, and chicken. On the left there was also a very slowly cooked egg yolk with an extraordinary texture. The highlight of this course, however, was the wine. amazing wine – a glass of Arbois Chardonnay, Les Corvées Sous Curon, Domaine de Tournelle, Jura, 2016. On the nose, there were light honey and floral notes, but overwhelmingly a toasty, nutty aroma that perfectly complemented the girolles in the dish. Good acidity on the palate cut through the richness of the dish. Incredible.
Back to single dishes, we had grouse with carrots served both fermented and caramelised. Small pieces of offal packed in rich flavour. Served with Barolo DOCG, Diego Conterno, Piedmont, 2013.
The pink colour of the venison was stunning, alongside squash, maitake mushroom, and Syrah from Gramercy Cellars, Washington State, 2013 – the woody, gamey richness of the wine was a great match for the dish.
To refresh our palates we had a woodruff ice cream, elderflower, cherry. It was aromatic, refreshing, and herbaceous. We loved working our way through the layers to find new sensations.
As a birthday treat, we also got a creamy chocolate dessert. Rich and decadent.
To finish we had an almond crumb, fig leaf ice cream which was very nice, fresh fig, sheep’s yogurt and gooseberry. Served with a lovely wine - Jurançon, Marie Kattalin, Domaine de Souch, SW France, 2015. Both were lovely and fresh, not too sweet, and perfectly complex.
Finally (and perhaps because Anika audibly whined about a lack of petit fours that everyone else seemed to be getting whilst we were overlooked), we were given a refreshing passion fruit refreshing sponge, bursting with flavour; and some light, crisp pastry pillows.
Suitably full, we left very happy indeed.
Conclusion: The Five Fields offers exceptionally good cooking at a reasonable price (the tasting menu is £110 per person). The wine pairing of predominantly very low yield, natural wines (£85pp for the classic pairing) is highly recommended, crucially because the sommelier is fantastic. It is hugely appreciated when a sommelier not only explains the wine but also clearly explains why it was chosen as a great match for this food. The sommelier here did this better than we’ve seen at any other restaurant, going into detail about what aspects of the wine match with what aspects of the food e.g. that the artichokes in one of the dishes would make the wine taste a little sweeter, and so a slightly more acidic wine was chosen. Service charge at 15% was at the higher end, but the service was excellent and as a percentage of a reasonable price there were no complaints from us. Would highly recommend.
Stay salty af,
Anika & Fleurie