Sets appeal: Karl Holl’s menu at Carousel

Reviewing the set meals, tasting menus and special deals available at London's top restaurants
Pinnacle: Karl Holl's coal-roasted beef

For the latest in our Sets Appeal series we try one of the latest no-choice set menus showcased at creative space Carousel from Portland based chef Karl Holl and his ‘New American’ style menu.

A revolving line-up of Chef residencies workshops and events, Carousel is a three-story building on Blandford Street which offers raw creative flair to the polished streets of Marylebone.

An international series of guest chefs, each that only stay a week or so, are hosted within the ground floor level of the building and on the al fresco courtyard. Each chef showcases their culinary talent and individual influences meaning there’s always something new to sample.

What’s the deal? At £37 per person, with a £31.50 supplement for wine pairings, Karl Holl’s seven course set menu showcases his forward thinking culinary skills. Bites to start followed by a procession of small plates with big flavours, Karl’s seasonally inspired menu is taken from the popular farm-to-table movement of which he is a keen ambassador.

When is it available? Just one Carousel’s ongoing residencies, Karl’s set menu is available from 2nd- 13th May. Carousel’s next chef residency will preview Gezellig ahead of its London opening. Set up by friends Wieteke Teppema, James Comyn and Graham Long, ‘Gezellig’ translates to ‘an atmosphere, which allows good times to happen’ in Dutch. Their set menu will include unpretentious hearty food, made with only the best ingredients. Gezellig will preview at Carousel from 16th-27th May.

What’s it like? A relaxed no-fuss atmosphere with an ethos that lets the dishes speak for themselves, the dining room at Carousel is a platform for culinary talent. Karl Holl’s menu kicked off with lightly fried balls of asparagus arancini and an inventive lemon aioli, beef tartare and bone marrow served on small cuts of brioche. The pinnacle of this set menu are generous blushing cuts of coal-roasted beef with pebble-sized crispy crushed potatoes with beef fat lardons and black garlic.

Paired by the passionate floor staff, each wine is presented with its own description, rounding off with an inventive, smoked blood orange Old Fashioned cocktail.

Verdict East meets West in W1 at Carousel’s unpretentious and welcoming dining space allowing international culinary creativity to be showcased to the hungry mouths of London.

With an ever-changing influence drawn from all corners of the globe to Carousel’s modest location on Blandford Street, diners can return again and again to sample set menus straight from its adaptable kitchen.

Find it 71 Blandford Street, W1U 8AB; carousel-london.com www.carousel-london.com.

Follow Georgie Bentley-Buckle on Instagram @eat_my_words_

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in