#FtLionAwards 2021 Dessert of the Year shortlist
After the #FtLionAwards 2021 Best Burger of the Year (proudly sponsored by the hugely impressive, family-run restaurant in east London’s Forest Gate, Kicthen 37), we continue with Best Dessert of the Year.
As with every year, you have the chance of voting for your favourite on our Instagram and Facebook pages. We want you to either: 1) vote for the following nominees, or 2) let us know both your favourite drink and the place you had it, all on our Facebook and/or Instagram pages.
BELLA COSA
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With a drink, a starter, and a veggie dish up for contention, Italian restaurant Bella Cosa in Canary Wharf served us this scrumptious, smooth and creamy vanilla cheesecake, topped with fresh berries and mint leaves, and a crumbly biscuity base. What more could you ask for? Superb!
COLONEL SAAB
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Located in London’s Holborn, Colonel Saab – FtLion’s second restaurant this year to be rated a perfect 5/5 – already has a beverage, main, and grill dish up for an award.
They weren’t too shabby in the desserts either, especially given this Mishti Doi Cheesecake, which was phenomenal. Unlike any flavour-profile in a cheesecake we’ve ever had before, its delicately sweet and softly-set top half was cardamom-infused, with a hint of the sour as an aftertaste, presumably delivered by the Bengal lime.
HERITAGE
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With a starter, main, grill, seafood, and veggie, already up for consideration, Heritage in London Dulwich, which was rated a perfect 5/5, presented us this inhouse Gulab Jamun Cheesecake. A first for us, and one we couldn’t get enough of.
Aside from the decadent balls of gulab jaman, which were soft and utterly saturated with that familiar sweet nectar, it was the captivating floral notes of a smooth and creamy, rose-flavoured cheese topping which came through in glorious waves. Everything else on the plate, while offering what it did, just faded away into insignificance.
MATHURA
Double Michelin Chef Atul Kochhar’s Mathura in Westminster has a drink, starter, and veggie up for an award. But it was their desserts which arguably left the biggest impression.
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This unique take on the traditional Rajasthani dessert known as Ghewar was quite something.
What was even better was the way in which the smooth scoop of pistachio ice cream, encircled by relatively firmer globules of lime flavoured curd, combined with this plate’s essential element – a delicate and uber crunchy disc of lightly sweetened batter.
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This aptly named Chocolate was a celebration of exactly that, to the point where we were blissfully made to meander down a silken caramel river and across dark and milky badlands. A pair of perfectly executed cannoli sugar cones, filled with dark chocolate and delivering on the light aftertaste of orange, were carefully perched atop a thick disc of set ganache that was beautifully smooth and luxurious. And while a rocher of ice cream on a soil bed accounted for more chocolate elements, including a tall shard with gold leaf for a flag, there was also thimble shaped baked cream, as well as some pistachio soil to boot.
RAMO RAMEN
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Having been the third and last restaurant this year to earn a flawless 5/5, Ramo Ramen have a main, seafood, and veggie in with a chance. And yet, you might recall this dessert from a previous #FtLionAward which was also shortlisted.
Well, their Mango Peach Pie does it again. A ridiculously satisfying one, with hot packages of fruity goodness, all encased in a crispy pastry, being served with a cold mango custard to end your visit to Ramo on a heady high.
THE YELLOW CHILLI
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Indian celeb chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s The Yellow Chilli in London’s Wembley currently has two drinks, a starter, a main, and a veggie on show.
And you can add this hot Gulab-E-Gulkand, with a rose water-infused and exquisitely well saturated spongy ball, which left us wondering: why only one?
