French fine dining restaurant LPM Riyadh is one of the hottest new arrivals on the city’s dining scene, bringing with it dishes many have tasted and tumbled head over heels for at its earlier branches.
Whether you’ve tucked into escargot in Hong Kong, burrata in Dubai or these particular lamb chops in London, if LPM is renowned for anything, it’s for the consistency of its dishes across continents.
A swish, playful dining room, crammed with colourful artwork, livens up a setting that – if left to the menu alone – could feel rather more classical. Because LPM is all about the best of southern French cuisine.
Among the restaurant’s most-ordered dishes, its cotelettes d’agneau Vivienne have one of the menu’s more interesting backstories, as well as one of the kitchen’s most methodical cooking processes.
The dish was lovingly named cotelletes d’agneau Vivienne, which translates to Vivienne’s lamb chops, after becoming the favourite dish of LPM owner Peter Waney’s late wife, Vivienne.
With LPM now in happening Al Olaya, here’s why you’ll want to try them for yourself.
Open Sun-Thu 12.30pm-3.30pm, 6.30pm-11pm. Fri-Sat 1pm-3.30pm, 6.30pm-11pm. Al Motassem Street, Al Olaya, lpmrestaurants.com/riyadh (920 011 794).
The presentation
The dish is presented on a bed of shallots which are seasoned with salt, icing sugar and olive oil, and served with sundried cherry tomatoes marinated with garlic, and a quenelle of smoked aubergine.
The cooking process
The lamb is grilled in a Josper oven to the required temperature, which helps give it
a mild smoky flavour.
The process
The lamb is cooked à la minute when ordered. Four pieces are served in a sharing dish, and placed in the middle of the table.
The lamb
The lamb is from Australia and comes from sheep that are less than a year old. This creates a lean and tender meat with a delicate flavour.
The caviar
The side of vegetable caviar is made using aubergine, herbs
and spices.
The hidden hero
One of the main ingredients is the Kalamata olives, a large purple olive with a smooth, meaty texture.
SAR275.
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