Thanks Russell, appreciate your impressions. Some to add to my list for my next visit.
Thanks for the reports, Russell. We were at La Trompette last Jan for a Birthday party. My memory is a bit hazy re the food, but it was very good. Drank some very nice wine:
Domaine Jeannot
Pouilly Fumé 2013
Fantastic meal at Hedone in London on our visit pre-Thanksgiving, one of the top 10 of the year for us. The food excelled on all fronts with perfect execution and really interesting and satisfying flavors. The balance in particular was outstanding. There wasn’t a single course that missed, and nothing, including the bread and butter was less than scrumptious. One dish only disappointed Jonathan a little bit, but only because he thought of a way it could have been done better. 
The best dish of the meal for us was the crab with hazelnut cream. It was surprising, beautiful, complex, a bit coy in its flavors, and made me close my eyes it was so delicious.
Service was excellent as well, and the sommelier was a delight. We ordered a nice white for most of the meal and then had a couple of glasses of red for the meat dishes, both chosen by the somm. We asked to substitute an extra savory course for the desserts, as we don’t particularly care for sweets and prefer to continue drinking wine (we can’t have dry wine after eating sweets), and got a beautiful serving of hare, which was both delicate and gamy.
I think my favorite part was sitting at the counter and watching the kitchen. At most chef’s counters, all you really see is the plating and maybe a bit of last minute firing. Here, we watched everything from butchering to vegetable chopping. The kitchen was a little wild and by the end of service, a little untidy – nothing like the perfectly manicured services one usually sees at chefs’ counters – which made it all the more appealing. Though chef himself was a bit difficult to talk to, the staff was friendly and willing to answer all sorts of questions about ingredients and prep.
We will absolutely return on our next visit to London.
Did they serve the umami tart? Quite a divisive dish amongst those I have spoken to.
Glad you enjoyed it, we did too but it wasn’t at the absolute highest level IMHO.
I don’t recall anything called an umami tart, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t serve it and I just didn’t catch the name.
It’s hard to compare meals or restaurants at that level, I think, as the best are all distinctive (to me, they can’t be the best otherwise) and so much depends on what you like and all the other aspects of the experience besides the food. For instance, we dislike formality of service, so have trouble enjoying a meal at a restaurant where that’s the norm as much as one where service is more casual. That’s why I can’t ever choose my best meal of the year, only a group of 10 or so that stood out. This was the best meal I’ve ever had in London for sure.
I think you would remember. A small cold custard flan, like a pannacota served around 3-4 courses in.
With sesame seeds on top? If so, we did have it and we both liked it, though it wasn’t a standout.
I think they mix it up, ours was served with a thick extract from seaweed.
This is the one we had.
Looks more appetising! 
Just reading about Hedone makes me want to go back very soon. Definitely in my top 10 meals of the year. A few of the others were with Sarah and Jonathan!
For us too - it was a great year for meals with R&R.