Aulis | London, United Kingdom

A few weeks ago, the BF and I had a dinner reservation at Aulis, London. Aulis is a rather new, very intimate development kitchen and eight-seater chef’s table by Simon Rogan in the heart of Soho.

Over the years we’ve enjoyed great lunch and dinner dates at Mr Rogan’s restaurants (see here) and hence, we were really excited to dine at Aulis while watching the professionals at work.

Below I’ll share some impressions of our fantastic ten-course dinner.

Plum, crème fraiche, rose

These tiny and crispy cones were the perfect start to a phenomenal dinner experience.

 

Kohlrabi, pork, radish, curd

We were blown away by these curd-filled rolls and the chef’s attention to detail. Can you see the purple elderflower blossoms?

 

Scallop, fennel, gooseberries

Hands-down, this was the best scallop I’ve ever had. It was raw – something I’d usually refrain from eating – but it probably was my favourite dish there.

 

 Surf clams, peas, mint

Another fantastic dish. These pea shoots were superb.

 

Cep brioche

We loved this dish. Buttery and rich in flavour, this brioche mushroom really surprised us. It was utterly soft inside and had a slightly crispy crust on the outside. Just fantastic. Paired with the mushroom purée dip, this course was outstanding.

 

Asparagus, almond, lemon balm

I just don’t know what it is but British asparagus, especially the one grown at Simon Rogan’s farm, seems to be the best. The asparagus dish we had at Roganic was out of this world, too.

 

Halibut, hispi, nettles

Another highlight of our dinner: Roasted hispi cabbage and poached halibut. An unbelievably good dish.

 

Lamb, tropea, turnip

There’s also something special about British lamb meat. We haven’t had anything similar here in Austria. The dish below consisted of three different cuts of lamb meat. The shallot was particularly tasty as it was filled with minced lamb shoulder.

 

Pear, hazelnut, buttermilk

Another beautiful dish and our first dessert of the evening: Buttermilk ice cream with crushed hazelnuts and pear.

 

Woodruff and strawberries

Just one word: Heavenly! This wonderful dish was my favourite dessert from the evening at Aulis. The flavours of strawberries and apple marigold (the green leaves) were exquisite.

 

Treats

We were served little treats at the end of our dinner. They were paired with tea and coffee. We enjoyed our cups of black tea so much that we had to ask them where their tea was from and they luckily shared their supplier with us. It was by Postcard Teas in Mayfair, a tiny little shop that offers expert advice. We took home 4 different teas and all of them are stellar.

 

We really enjoyed our dinner date at Aulis and can’t wait to come back. The quality of the ingredients, seeing how your food is prepared, the service and the wine paring were excellent.

I’ll leave you with a few snaps of the chefs at work:

Aulis
Soho, London