✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Food & Drink

Dominique Ansel Treehouse, Covent Garden review ★★★★★

From cronuts to soup en croûte: superstar pastry chef Dominique Ansel has opened a day-to-night café and restaurant, Treehouse, in Covent Garden

By Holly O'Mahony on 10/2/2020

1 CW reader is interested
Dominique Ansel Treehouse, Covent Garden review
Dominique Ansel Treehouse, Covent Garden review
Dominique Ansel Treehouse, Covent Garden review 4 Dominique Ansel Treehouse, Covent Garden review Holly CW
Dominique Ansel Treehouse (and the Dominique Ansel Bakery in Belgravia) will close permanently on 31 August 2020.

As if inventing the cronut (aka one of the world’s most famous pastries) wasn’t enough, Dominique Ansel has branched out into new territories to bring us Treehouse, a two-storey, day-to-night café and restaurant on Floral Street. Here, pastries can be enjoyed earlier in the day, while savoury dishes – most of which also feature a pastry element – are the order of the day for lunch and dinner.



Outside Dominique Ansel Treehouse. Photo: Ed Schofield


Stroll along Floral Street and you can’t miss Treehouse. Shrouded in fairy lights and greenery, with a wonky wooden structure perched in front of its first-floor window, the restaurant looks every bit its namesake. The space is just as playful inside, too, with foliage snaking up the walls and creeping along the ceiling, while wooden interiors, more fairy lights and sunken seating are likely to reawaken a childlike sense of wonder in its visitors.


Nostalgia is likely to strike again as you peer over the ground-floor counter, where row upon row of colourful, glossy tarts – each a miniature work of art – will have you arguing with yourself over which to pick. Then there are the pastries which, of course, are Ansel’s speciality. Here, a waitress tells us, the DKA (Dominique’s Kouign Amann) is the star turn: a circular pastry with a crunchy caramelised crust and layered, croissant-like centre.



From left to right: croissants, pain au chocolat, the lauded DKA. Photo: Ed Schofield

Don’t come in search of the cronut, though. Ansel is keeping his famed croissant-doughnut hybrid on lockdown at his Belgravia bakery in order to give his other, newer creations a chance to breathe.


In fact, why come at all if not to see how Ansel swaps sweet for savoury? The restaurant menu is split up into small plates, larger plates and desserts. Of the former, the ‘pillowy gnocchi’ is not to be missed. Comfort food at its finest, the fluffy parcels come submerged in a gooey sauce of mimolette and comté, flecks of confit Ligurian lemon lending it a grown-up edge. Do get the bread basket, too: a showcase of the variety of things Ansel and team can do with dough. And the Burrata, with its slivers of radish and light drizzling of olive oil, was one of the best we’ve ever had. For pastry stalwarts, there's a cream of plum tomato soup en croûte, for which diners must tap into a puff pastry topping that flakes into the soup as a substitute for bread.



Pillowy gnocchi from the menu at Dominique Ansel Treehouse. Photo: Ed Schofield


Of the larger plates, the roasted baby chicken, which came smothered in a lemon and garlic rub, stands out, presented as a loving tribute to Ansel’s French roots. The bed of stuffing nestled under the chicken sung with seasoned flavour.


Of the desserts, a sharing plate of sticky toffee pudding came bundt pan-shaped, filled with hunks of chewy dates, and with a toffee and custard sauce slow-drizzled on top (still your appetite: said slow drizzling takes place tableside and you must watch before you eat). There’s also a chocolate mousse – a fun one for kids with its mix-your-own toppings (caramelised hazelnuts and dark chocolate shards among them), and a ‘cascade tiramisu’ spectacular-looking enough to induce gasps of delight on its arrival.



The pastry chef has created six new tarts for Dominique Ansel Treehouse. Photo: Ed Schofield


All in all, the menu comes together as a flair-filled, passion-injected take on rustic home cooking. What’s more, Dominique Ansel Treehouse is licensed, so you can enjoy your pastry, pasta, poule or pud with a glass of crisp champagne or, like us, with a bottle of the house viognier. Fruity and dry in equal measure, it hit all the right notes.


What Dominique Ansel Treehouse, Covent Garden review
Where Dominique Ansel Treehouse, 24 Floral Street, Covent Garden , London , WC2E 9DP | MAP
Nearest tube Covent Garden (underground)
Price ££
Website http://dominiqueanseltreehouse.com/



Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend: 3–5 February
Things to do in London this weekend: 3–5 February
London exhibitions on now — Peter Doig, Courtauld Gallery
Top 15 exhibitions on now in London
Zadie Smith new novel, The Fraud, to be released in 2023, photo Justin Holler
An A to Z of trends for 2023

Editor's Picks

Interview with pastry chef Dominique Ansel
Interview with pastry chef extraordinaire Dominique Ansel
London's best chocolate shops
London's best chocolate shops
Where to go for pre-work breakfast in London
Where to go for pre-work breakfast in London
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
1

Food

restaurant

covent garden

Closing

You might like

  • Lina Stores, King's Cross

    Lina Stores, King’s Cross

  • Flor restaurant, London Bridge

    Flor, London Bridge review ★★★★★

  • Suzi Tros opens in Notting Hill

    Suzi Tros, Notting Hill review ★★★★★



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×