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Marque

This is not comfort food. It’s designed to please, and at its best it delights, even astonishes, but there are points in the degustation – and you should definitely have the degustation – when what’s on your plate or in your glass may seem baffling or challenging. It’s a testament to Mark Best’s talent that we’re willing to make that leap time after time. The room has a glossy simplicity, balancing comfort and austerity. Not the sort of place you expect beetroot and foie gras macaroons to burst on the tongue like tiny bubbles, to be served a potato baked in (edible) clay on truffle mayo. Slices of roast wild pigeon over shavings of abalone and perfectly dry chocolate feuilletage (aka puff pastry) equate to one of the best dishes you’ll find this year. Service has an edge of irreverence that only assiduity allows, while Peter Healy’s wine list, a bold and nuanced beast, is an experience in itself.