Wood Street Bar Restaurant - California

It may sound like an oxymoron, but an unpretentious Michelin restaurant. I had a business lunch and it was great. The atmosphere is more like a bistro than a formal dining room, the service was efficient and formal rather than pretentious. I started with the brown crab, which was nice but the star was the saddleback, pork loin cooked a little pink. It was flavorful, tender, as good as can be. An enjoyable restaurant.

I had dinner here, and I thought it was just alright. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I found the food to be just ok. The service was great, though! To start, we had the smoked cod roe on toast and the bone marrow and parsley salad. The smoked cod row basically just looked like smeared canned fish on toast, and that's how it tasted, too. The star of the whole meal was the bone marrow. That was amazing! For my main, I had the ox tongue with bacon and peas. It tasted like corned beef to me, but I'm not opposed to that. I really enjoy corned beef, but I wasn't expecting the tongue to taste like that. For dessert, I had the madeleines and Abbey's chocolate cake. The madeleines were warm, fluffy, and so light! I loved them! The chocolate cake was HUGE, and it was quite dense. I couldn't finish it.

Last evening on my trip to London and saved it for a dinner at Michelin Star St. John. Made reservations a few month's in advance and were seated immediately. The restaurant itself is not very large and the seating is mostly indoors. There are a tables outside, but only a few. Menu changes daily and the prices are surprisingly reasonable for a restaurant of this caliber. The atmosphere is relaxed and there's a nice mixture of casually dressed folk and the London mobile fashion district. You'll fit right in, so long as you make a reservation. The food is quality, as expected. It's nose to tail food, as described by the restaurant, meaning they aren't afraid to use all parts of the animal. So, if you aren't into bone marrow or lamb hearts, then this probably isn't for you. Ordered the following: Roast Bone Marrow 4/5: Came with a parsley salad and some bread. Two large bones and they give you a utensil you can stick inside the bone to pull out all that goodness. Very good Pork Cheeks 2/5: Roasted and crisped, this had way too much salt. Almost made it inedible. If they didn't overseason it, it would've been excellent as it's super decadent and fatty. Just too much salt! Roast Middle White with Carrots 5/5: My favorite dish of the evening. Large pork shoulder cut that was cooked and seasoned perfectly. Nice balance of meat and fat. Roasted carrots were perfect complement to the dish. Grilled Lamb's Heart 4/5: Lots of pieces, very filling. Haven't tasted lamb's heart before, so I didn't know what to expect. Very palatable, tender, and tastes like beef. Nice dish. Buttermilk pudding 4/5: Never had this before. Looked like Panna cotta, but a lot softer. Has a little tart, kind of like yogurt. Very good. Everything was nicely presented and the wait staff was excellent and helpful. Would definitely come back if I was in town.

Overall, ok place imo. The bread at St. John's is really good, along with the hot Madeline's that you can end your meal with. It's hard to get dinner reservations for St. John, which is testament to how good its perceived. Personally, not a fan, but did enjoy the bone marrow which is a most order along with the Madeline's. Our other main dish, was the special of the day, which was pig's head- a soupy type dish. Reserve a month in advance to get the date and time you want; lunch reservations are much easier to come by.

St. John is a place we always make sure to visit when we're in London. Since the menu changes often, I was a bit worried that some of our favorite dishes might not be available on the day we were scheduled to go. Fortunately, we struck gold with the menu! We started with deviled kidneys and then enjoyed goat faggots with mash for our main course. Honestly, it doesn't get any better for those who appreciate nose-to-tail dining! We also tried mussels, Welsh rarebit, a green salad, and braised cabbage, along with hokey pokey ice cream and apple sorbet with vodka for dessert—all of which were fantastic. The service was both efficient and friendly. The atmosphere was lively without being overwhelming, and the layout of the dining room ensured we never felt cramped. Lastly, St. John is definitely one of the best-value Michelin-starred restaurants we’ve encountered. We dined at Dishoom the night before (which we absolutely love!), and our bills were quite similar. Kudos to the staff at St. John!