Wiltons-oldest Restaurant in London

Silky Langoustine at Wiltons

Wiltons is celebrating its 275th year in business-opening in 1742 as s seafood restaurant with George William Wilton opening the doors in 1742.  As the oldest restaurant in London, it is in the 1000 Things to Eat before You Die book.  Tara and I had lunch there-one of only three females dining in the restaurant that we could see.  The heavy linen covered tables were mostly occupied by what looked to me to be London Bankers (if George Banks from Mary Poppins is your guide).  This is one of those places that they move the table out for you to get in and out of your chair and the linen is the thickest I have ever seen.   I had high expectations of Wiltons and I will say they did deliver.  I have already posted on the potted shrimp but Tara and I also had the langoustine which are another 1000 thing to eat.  I have had them before but I don’t know if ever so delicious.  They were serviced cold with a mustard/horseradish sauce  and they were so silky-soft that they literally melted in my mouth. This was followed by Plaice served a la meuniere style.   So simple with just butter and herbs-but the fish was perfectly cooked.  Once again, it melted in my mouth.  We choose mushy peas and dauphinoise potatoes.  So mushy peas deserve at least a nod because I had always thought of them as just a pea puree but that does not begin to really do peas justice.  According to the description in the 1000 Things book, the peas are put through a sieve to remove the lumps and then combined with butter and cream. The result is a smooth, melt in your mouth puree-not at all what I would expect if I just blended cooked peas in a food processor.  So the Mushy Peas and the Plaice are also in the 1000 Foods list as is fish cooked in the meuniere style.  I am not sure how dauphinoise potatoes missed the list but they should be on the list as well.  By my count, this delicious meal was composed of six different 1000 Things to Eat Before you Die.  The actual truth of the matter was that at the end of the meal, I would have died happy.  Hats off to you, Wilton.  I can see why you are still around after 275 years.