New Morgan M Barbican restaurant offers ‘affordable haute cuisine’
Expanding on the 'affordable haute cuisine' idea behind Meunier’s original Morgan M restaurant in Islington, the new site is located on Long Lane near London’s Smithfield Market and is surrounded by other venues including Fullers, Fabric, Gaucho, Carluccio’s and Hix.
The new premises is the site of the former S&M Café and has been completely refurbished. The ground floor space of 1,226 sq.ft allows for 38 covers while the 925 sq.ft basement caters for 32 and is used for more informal dining.
In the kitchen
Meunier will be at the helm of his new venture, creating all dishes in the kitchen with Sylvain Soulard, who has been working alongside him for 12 years. The tasting plates menu allows guests to choose from a selection of smaller versions of Morgan’s signature dishes including his ravioli of snails in Chablis, garlic froth and red wine jus and seared pressed foie gras with fig caviar and toasted brioche.
In a statement on his website, Meunier said: “Morgan M is a form of expression putting into practice everything we have learnt over the years and all the positive feedback we have received.
“We describe our work as a ‘modern approach to cooking rooted in classical French cuisine.’ People have a natural tendency to eat specific foods at certain times of the year; therefore we try to reflect these preferences in the food we prepare.”
Sample dishes
The restaurant offers a set lunch priced at £21.50 for two courses and £25.50 for three with seasonal dishes including pavé of turbot ‘meunière’, leek fondue, mushroom ravioli and celeriac purée. The garden tasting menu provides a vegetarian option, priced at £46 per person.
The Autumn tasting menu, at £50 per person for lunch and dinner, offers six courses including butternut soup with rosemary and olive oil and wild mushroom tempura; crayfish and lobster cannelloni with tarragon and Jerusalem artichoke soubise; and oven roasted Red Leg Suffolk partridge with chicory’ tarte tatin’, liver ravioli and bread sauce. Desserts include a pineapple soufflé and coulis with pina colada sorbet.
Before opening the original Morgan M on Liverpool Road in 2003, which won Harden’s award for “Best French Restaurant”, Meunier had worked as head chef at a number of other award-winning restaurants including The Admiralty Restaurant at Somerset House and Monsieur Max in London.
