{"id":4967,"date":"2009-10-25T18:14:36","date_gmt":"2009-10-25T18:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/noexpert.co.uk\/?p=4967"},"modified":"2024-08-22T15:28:06","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T14:28:06","slug":"the-square-indulgence-dilemma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/?p=4967","title":{"rendered":"The Square &#8211; indulgence dilemma (Closed)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Saturday night at <a title=\"The Square\" href=\"http:\/\/www.squarerestaurant.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Square<\/a>,\u00a0what an indulgence!<\/p>\n<p>We started in the bar area with some delicious canapes and a glass of the house champagne then moved to our table where we had the dilemma, do we go for the tasting menu or do we go \u00c0 la carte? Tough one.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-4967 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2511.JPG'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2511-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2517.JPG'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2517-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2519.JPG'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2519-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2521.JPG'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2521-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2523.JPG'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2523-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2524.JPG'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2524-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2525.JPG'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2525-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2522.JPG'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2522-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2516.JPG'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2516-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP25261.JPG'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP25261-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2527.JPG'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2527-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2528.JPG'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2528-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2515.JPG'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2515-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2514.JPG'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP2514-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP25291.JPG'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/IMGP25291-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>There were so many lovely sounding starters on the \u00c0 la carte, we were pushed in that direction. Which was actually a mistake, as we have effectively trained ourselves to appreciate the smaller portions and\u00a0broader taste range of tasting menus. So the larger portions for the mains were a bit of a struggle. The other plus for going the tasting menu route is if one course is not so great then it&#8217;s not such a\u00a0big deal, as it effectively\u00a0gets lost in the\u00a0crowd.<\/p>\n<p>Two of us made main course choices that really showed\u00a0off <a title=\"The Square\" href=\"http:\/\/www.squarerestaurant.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Squares<\/a> cuisine.\u00a0\u00a0I had the Roast Saddle of Lincolnshire Hare with a Tarte Fine of Celeriac and Pear which was amazing and one of my companions had the Fillet of Aged Ayrshire Beef with Autumn Truffle, Smoked Bone Marrow and Red Wine, again stunning but too large a portion.\u00a0 My other companion choose the Caramelised Pork Belly with Glazed Trotter, Savoy Cabbage, Langoustine Claws and Lentils and was very disappointed, as the Pork Belly was very fatty. Which was such as shame as up until that point everything had been sublime.<\/p>\n<p>The pre dessert was a rather nice\u00a0 doughnut and rhubarb\/raspberry concoction. Then for dessert I had a very boozy Rum and Raisin Souffl\u00e9 with Gingerbread Ice Cream &#8211; stunning.\u00a0\u00a0To finish we then had coffee and some Armagnac.\u00a0 This was served with a nicely balanced selection of petits fours that consisted of some chocolate\/nutty\/Carmel truffles and a range of lollipop style sweets.\u00a0 We finished them all. Only to have a second set delivered later.<\/p>\n<p>The Square like <a title=\"Hibiscus\" href=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/?p=1511\" target=\"_self\">Hibiscus<\/a> has 2 Michelin stars and 4 AA Rosettes, but from the point of view of imagination and food quality based on our visits to both these restaurants, the Square is streets ahead of Hibiscus. However when we directly compared it to <a title=\"Tom Aitkens\" href=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/?p=441\" target=\"_self\">Tom Aikens<\/a> which has 1 Michelin star and 5 AA Rosettes, the conclusion was that Tom Aikens pipped The Square at the post.<\/p>\n<p>Marks out of 10<\/p>\n<p>Food 7.8<\/p>\n<p>Service 7.6<\/p>\n<p>Ambience 7<\/p>\n<p>UPDATE Jan 2020 &#8211; Closed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saturday night at The Square,\u00a0what an indulgence! We started in the bar area with some delicious canapes and a glass of the house champagne then moved to our table where we had the dilemma, do we go for the tasting menu or do we go \u00c0 la carte? Tough one. There were so many lovely &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/?p=4967\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;The Square &#8211; indulgence dilemma (Closed)&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[225,241,25,7,8],"tags":[521,152,231,377],"class_list":["post-4967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2-michelin-stars","category-4-aa-rosettes","category-expensive","category-london","category-uk","tag-closed-restaurants","tag-hibiscus","tag-the-square","tag-tom-aikens"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4967"}],"version-history":[{"count":108,"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32169,"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4967\/revisions\/32169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}