Kitchen W8 - Kensington, Sunday January 6th, 2013

It's with a remorseful sigh that I publish this review some fourteen months late - a theme that's sure to recur over the course of 2014. However, 2012 is now accounted for, so if anything that's one of the monkeys off my back. Additionally, the wife and I find ourselves in a position that this year is unlikely to involve much eating out. Whilst this is sorrowfully indicative of the grown-up hard times we have hit, it does give me a chance (or an excuse) to drag out 2013's reviews across the next ten months.

The first weekend of last year presented a happy opportunity to take Sunday lunch at a place we had thoroughly enjoyed ten months earlier. As with so many respectable Michelin-Starred neighbourhood restaurants, the value on offer at Kitchen W8 is as appealing as somewhere like Launceston Place. Food of such a standard at £30 per person is something which cannot be ignored.

We took a friend and the three of us surveyed the menu, with I certainly convinced the variation on show meant we'd be ordering nine dishes with no repetition. Typically, the wife and our friend instantly settled on the same starter to my dismay. That said, risotto of smoked eel & leek with a velouté of parsley sounded glorious (left). Despite this being a perfect winter Sunday starter, full of strong, confident winter flavours, it was remarkably fresh. The leek contrasted well with the salty smoked fish to produce a really interesting flavour combination. The mark of a truly excellent dish is often the distillation of complimenting flavours. This was certainly on the ball with the added bonus that I couldn't remember having had anything like it before.

I was left scratching my head as to the starter I should order, so I turned to our waitress for inspiration. The recommendation was the foie gras parfait (unsurprisingly with a £3 supplement) (right). Whilst I make no apologies for how much I adore the stuff, I am reaching the stage where I have had some of the greatest foie gras out there. As such, it becomes harder to find some which hits home as truly amazing. This was served with spiced jelly as a layer on top of the parfait, quince chutney for sharp acidity and some sourdough toast. All of it was well-made and tasted delicious but it was just a little run-of-the-mill, particularly for somewhere like Kitchen W8. Maybe I'm getting more demanding in my old age.

If my starter had seemed a little ordinary then my main course was a dish to excite the senses to the point of expectant delirium. Braised cheek and loin of pork with creamed potato, turnips, kale and prunes is a list that you get happier with the more you read of it (left). If the girls' starter had been an exciting flavour combination which was relatively new to me, this was an expert execution of tried and tested triumphs. The pork was a juicy, properly-cooked pink with the potatoes a delicious, thick base for the meat. The prunes added fruitiness and spice with the vegetables bulking out the plate in the most understated, elegant way.

The wife couldn't resist a Sunday lunch classic and chose the rib of Ayrshire beef with Yorkshire pudding (right). The beef was medium-rare and gloriously meaty as it should be. The pudding was flamboyantly large and puffy which is always a treat. It was a filling dish but it retained enough rustic charm and genuine quality to be worthwhile. The vegetables on the side reminded me that, when you can get a Sunday lunch like this as part of a £30 menu, lunching at pubs becomes increasingly unappealing.

Our friend was in the mood for more fish and chose the bream fillet served atop a bed of Shetland mussel & brown shrimp chowder (left). This was possibly a little too summery given the season for my tastes but, taken as a dish in isolation, it was lovely. The fish had properly crispy skin and was moist throughout. The chowder was creamy and rich but I would have felt a little unsatisfied had I ordered it. However, as a lighter, more refreshing option, it certainly hit the mark.

Our friend wanted to stick with the light choices throughout and her choice of blood orange sorbet for dessert certainly fit the bill (right). Sorbet is something I believe belongs on a dish as a dressing, garnish or supporting act. That said, this was intensely flavoursome: zesty, sharp and not at all watery. It wasn't something I would order since I like my desserts rich and waistline-threateningly full of calories, but the fragrance and strength in this were impressive for sure.

The wife went for another classic for her dessert: rhubarb crumble (left). I always enjoy sampling such staples in good restaurants because there is nowhere to hide with it. In this case, as they have done before, they got it just right. The rhubarb was sweet, tart and soft whilst the crumble was an unpretentious, crunchy and soft underneath topping. That's all you need to know about this dish. It was a proper crumble with proper vanilla ice cream and it was properly lovely. Whilst that might sound like a cop-out, how many crumbles out there don't hit those standards?

My dessert leapt off the page and I was again excited just by reading about it: egg custard tart with medjool dates and Clementine (right). This was a case where the fairly simple description didn't do the actual dish justice. The Clementine portion of the dish was some acidic ice cream (not a sorbet, which was the right call), adding texture and temperature contrasts. The date component was a purée, providing smoothness and a richness which contrasted beautifully with the tart. The pastry was firm but crumbly, the filling exactly a mixture of subtle spicing and comforting custard. It was precisely the sort of dish one would go to Kitchen W8 to eat.

If any restaurant is worth its place in London's upper echelons, it has to be able to deliver on the simple things whilst simultaneously opening the eyes of its patrons. Exciting food in a simple way or simple food in an exciting way... either works but the fact is there aren't a huge number of restaurants out there able to do it. Kitchen W8 is a restaurant vital to London's upper-middle tier of restaurants. It may never win a second star. I hope it never wins a second star. They should just keep doing what they do.

Following this visit, Kitchen W8 qualified as a restaurant eligible to enter my list of top five restaurants in London. (The only criteria is that one has to have been somewhere more than once to qualify as a 'favourite'.) It will be no surprise at this point to learn it has remained in the top five ever since. Click the link below and check out their more up-to-date menus: there will be something in there for you. It is intelligent, sentient, enjoyable food. It is food everyone should be eating as often as possible. It is the kind of restaurant that should be full every night of the week. I just hope I can get a table when I next want to go.

Kitchen W8