The Witchery will have the highest grade in presentation, just telling you now. I'm not spoiling anything. This is not a predictable plot with a Shyamalan-like fifth act twist. By saying this early, I can make you wet your imaginative appetites (see what I did there) as you contemplate how this place could possibly look better that Inamo or Claridge's. \nThe Witchery matches Claridge's in their dedication to offering a fine dining experience over just good food. I've been thinking about that, about how I prefer to have a dining experience. I would never go out \"to get food.\" \"Let's get something to eat\" would be replaced with \"Let's go out tonight.\" This is why I haven't eaten fast food in five years. I go out for the treatment and the experience as much as the food eaten. As I sat down and took my first glance at the menu, I knew I was in good hands. Our third water had come down with water after the second had brought the menus. As the rain fell outside, we enjoyed the warmth of the Witchery.\nAnd then we ordered haggis.\nI know what you were thinking with that statement. \"...and this was when it went downhill.\" Haggis has a rather tepid reputation amongst westerners, squarely because of various negative images and connotations. For me it, it was Highlander, where a French actor playing a Scotsman explains what haggis is to a Scottish actor playing an Egyptian. When hearing that haggis was sheep's stomach stuffed with meat and barley, the Egyptian played by the Scotsman retorts, \"How revolting!\"\nBut let's analyze what haggis really is. To do that, you must come face to face with the realization that you've been eating its brother for most of your life. Sausage, it's the same stuff in a different package. Where haggis employs a stomach, sausage uses intestines. This process continues today, though most industrial manufacturers have cheapened out and switched to synthetic cases. So haggis can be looked upon as just a sausage ball. How much harm could come from that?\nYou're probably thinking the other shoe is going to drop, but no. The haggis was the first ordered, the first arrived, and was so overwhelming delicious that it sullied all dishes to follow. The skin gave way the moment you scared it with the fork. I'm so hooked on haggis now; I could eat it for breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, and supper. It was so good; I'd forgotten to take a photo. I know; I'm naval lint. The haggis was 9.50 and a bargain. From there, we took in the d'Hote Menu, basically what we have been doing nearly everywhere else. Between meals were offers of bread, the same as Claridge's. My mother ordered wine to my water, the same as Claridge's. Three courses were 30 quid. Does that sound good? It's less than half than Claridge's, so this place just got an A+ in value. The actual starter after the haggis was offered as three options. My mother elected for the grilled Irish oysters, pancetta, spinach, and hollandaise while I had the Tamworth ham hock en gel\u00e9e, piccalilli, with grain mustard mayonnaise. And you couldn't have a more complicated and more delicious way of saying \"spreadable meat and mayo on bread.\"\nWe both decided the main should be the grilled gigot of new season lamb, rosemary potato cake, with aubergine caviar and tomato jus. Alas, this is where the Witchery falters. We must have been missing a point to this because the lamb was almost entirely fat. It was a nearly inedible minefield of grizzle forcing us both to spit portions back onto plate like we were Gordon Ramsey in a kitchen nightmare. The sides were good but this meal was ultimately a disappointment... what a shame. In retrospect, I should have gone for my first choice, the butter-poached potato gnocchi with garden peas, broad beans, ricotta and mint. The mean was redeemed with organic carrot cake topped with mascarpone ice cream blueberry syrup. \nThe Witchery was sizing up to be the greatest restaurant of the trip. It did everything else to perfection, from service to d\u00e9cor, to every other dish. It still gets extremely high praise from me because this one poor dish just wasn't enough to sour the entire experience. I would definitely return. I would also say that you won't regret going and should do so, just avoid the lamb.\nFood: 8/10\nService: 10/10\nPresentation: 10/10\nValue: 8/10\nRecommendation: 9.3/10
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