Restaurant Michael Nadra - Chiswick, Friday 13th August, 2010

Finding a new restaurant is a joy. Particularly one you really fancy trying the second you take a look at it. Back in August, a friend insisted we try the relatively new if re-vamped Restaurant Michael Nadra. Formerly the Fish Hook, Mr. Nadra overhauled his old venue last year having decided that exclusively serving seafood was not quite rewarding enough. (Well, naturally...)

When researching this article (or trying to jog my memory after around five months), I had a quick look at Michael Nadra's past endeavours and achievements. Whenever you see a chef's name on something (Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley etc...) you tend to immediately recognise the chef, the brand and the aura which surrounds the restaurant. Not so with Mr. Nadra. Until you read his list of achievements. He's worked at Petrus (in its former St. James glory days), at Gordon Ramsay's flagship and done stints at Chez Bruce and La Trompette. Something of a veteran of the London scene, I suppose such a man can put his name on anything.

One thing attracted me to the place instantly: the price. The six-course tasting menu - at dinner - cost only £42 which is some find in London. Six courses isn't bad going for around £40, as long as the quality is good. Indeed, quality, it seems, is one of the premier expectations of Michael Nadra's restaurant. Focusing on seasonal and local produce (well, I suppose you'd have to if you're a new European restaurant in London these days), there was enough to suggest to us in the pre-meal excitement that we might just be in for a treat.

Fortunately for us, the tasting menu was more about good food than amusing irrelevances. Three of us went, ordered the tasting menu and had a good old time. One of my friends chose the matching wines option (at only an extra £25), which he was most satisfied with.

The amuse bouche was some seafood tempura or other with a little sauce. This was far from unnecessary and did exactly what a pre-course like this should do: whet the appetite in preparation for the main event. The main event, in general, was worth the whet. Our first course was a distinctly light and summery mix of Bayonne ham (not that local then... Maybe he bought it at Borough Market) with tomato, mozzarella and consommé (left). Essentially, a very thin soup with a very minimal salad. It was actually just the sort of refreshing kick one needs to set up a tasting menu in August. Served with a slice of crisp dried bread and punctuated with sweet basil, I was pleased enough. This was a classic example of letting simple, distinctive flavours speak for themselves, but importantly tying them all together perfectly with a consommé.

The second starter was clearly Nadra harking back to the days of the Fish Hook, showing adept seafood skills in serving up an Asian-themed trio of seared tuna, crab tempura and seafood dumpling (right). Asian mimicry (or indeed homage) in restaurants which are distinctly European usually fills me with anything other than hunger or anticipation. It usually means they're either trying to cast a wide net to impress anyone with a spare tenner, or they don't have any strengths in the kitchen. Happily, this is not the case with Michael Nadra. Delicately presented and perfectly cooked yellowfin served on top of a correctly piquant oriental salad (i.e. fresh, raw, tart and slightly bitter) was flanked with a creamy dumpling and some chewy, soft and sumptuous soft-shell crab. As I have alluded to before, tempura makes things taste great. Especially when there is a whole crab within.

We had two main courses with the set menu deal. Now, usually these sorts of dish are scaled-down versions of the usual menu's dishes. Little teasers of what you can eat here if you choose to go a la carte. I have to say that generosity seemed to be the order of the day here. The monkfish we received was bigger than some similar main courses I have sampled in other restaurants. A hearty combination of fish with shrimps, new potatoes, leeks, truffles and a spot of cauliflower purée for good measure. A mouthful in every sense of the word - it was filling but enjoyable. I think there might have been one ingredient too many in there (I couldn't really pick out the truffles), but the layered top-to-bottom presentation was interesting, the fish was very well cooked and the whole thing nearly finished properly.

After the filling fish, I was slightly apprehensive of what a steak course was going to do for me. Quite a bit, as it turned out. As filling as much of what had preceded it, the dish was superbly presented, deliciously slathered in pepper sauce and served with some delightfully crunchy (if scalding hot) chips (left). The sheer size and richness of the dish smacked of overkill, but I was so full and happy I didn't really care.

Pre-dessert was one of those rare courses you sometimes find in tasting menus: one which confounds all expectation of the most overdone and excuse for a 'course' of food you'll ever lay eyes on. No, the pre-dessert was a flavour- and texture-perfect mixture of raspberry, vanilla and yoghurt sorbets. Exactly what we all needed after some fairly gut-busting main course efforts.

Similarly, desserts were a rather downbeat affair but I was glad of the respite. A small but nicely formed trio of crème brulée, tarte tatin and some ice cream was just about right for the end of the meal. If there had been any more I might've been in serious danger of not finishing it, so I would say they just about wrapped it up in time. Unfortunately, there was one token tasting menu gesture of smudged indifference at the end of the piece: a tall shot-glass of useless fruits did nothing for anyone.

I was enthused enough by my summer visit to Michael Nadra to try it again before the end of the year. Frankly, that's about all you need to say. It was great value, good fun, nicely varied and generous in the extreme.