Draw me a lunch please.

I was lead to Sketch by my friend V one random Saturday afternoon as we strolled the shops along Oxford Street. He had heard of the place through some work colleagues and upon seeing it, I realized I'd also come across it a few times during my time in London, though I'd never ventured in. The restaurant is a rather venturous concept by Algerian-born restaurateur Mourad Mazouz and French chef Pierre Gagnaire. Mazouz is well known in the UK for his phenomenally successful restaurant Momo, an off-beat North African restaurant he opened in 1997. Pierre Gagnair is an icon of the culinary world, having been at the forefront of the fusion movement where he revolutionized French cooking. His eponymous, 3 Michelin Starred restaurant in Paris is consistently voted one of the top restaurants in the industry.

Of course, I knew nothing of this at the time; all I knew was that the menu looked interesting and I was very hungry. The restaurant itself is divided into five rooms: the West Bar, the Parlour, the Lecture Room and Library, the East Bar and the Gallery. In 2005, the Lecture Room and Library at Sketch earned its first Michelin Star for its Pierre Gagnaire's unique use of ingredients and combination of flavours. V and I dined in the the artsy West Bar and settled upon their 3-course prix-fixe lunch menu. Here is what we dined on:

Organic Salmon - Slow cooked organic salmon, white cabbage salad, iced green apple juice and coriander. I loved the combination of apple and salmon, it was so light and refreshing, a very enjoyable starter.

Chicken Breast - Organic chicken breast flavoured with citrus; almond cream and grapefruit juice, spring cabbage, passion fruit and creamy French beans. I apologize for the blurry picture, I'd forgotten my camera at home that day so had to make do with the one on my blackberry.

Sea Bream - Grilled fillet of sea bream and crispy bellota ham, tomato, basil and garlic crouton. They really managed to pack in a lot of flavour into this tiny piece of fish. I liked the simplicity of this course.

Chocolate Cake - Layers of chocolate cake separated by alternating layers of various flavoured mousse. Again, apologizes for the blurry picture.

Okay, so I'm not quite sure exactly what this was called. It was basically a sponge cake with layers of what appeared to be apple reduction of some sort, encased in a crisp meringue shell. As I'm an absolute sucker for any dessert with apples in it, this dessert gets bonus points from me on both presentation and sheer deliciousness.

Overall, I wasn't exactly blown away by the food. It was good, and I really enjoyed the playfulness Gagnaire has with mixing flavours and ingredients, and for a lunch that ran about £30 each it was almost a bargain. I think I may just have to plan a meal in the Lecture Room and Library next time for a more intimate foray into Gagnaire's culinary experimentation's. One suggestion I do have if you do take in a meal at Sketch, is to definitely make a point to visit their bathrooms. Individual egg-shaped pods, clustered together at opposite ends of an open space above the futuristic bar, make for a very amusing trip to the loo. Currently, the 1,819-square-foot Gallery is showcasing a solo-exhibition by Damon Packard called "Lost in the Thinking;" which is ' a retrospective of Packard's shorts, features and fictional trailers that appropriate and revel in the vocabulary of 1970's Hollywood movies and classic sci-fi flicks.' Personally, I didn't get it. To me it just looked like a bunch of random dark and disconnected images flashed on massive white walls, accompanied by bad music, in a massive empty room with big, modern, lounging sofas. But hey, that's just me.

Sketch is definitely a visual and gastronomic spectacle - a unique fusion of art, food, and music. Is it a bit much? Perhaps. Entertaining? Most definitely. If you find yourself in London debating where to have lunch, and wanting something to go home and tell your friends about, make a trip to Sketch - it really is a dining experience like no other.

Sketch
9 Conduit Street, Mayfair
London, W1S 2XG
Tel 0870 777 4488
Fax 0870 777 4400
Tube Station: Oxford Circus or Bond Street