kitchen w8

amazingly simple and delicious food. you should definitely try out their tasting menu. impeccable service,foodexplanations were clear and easy to understand. highly recommended!

where in london can you get a three course lunch for £28 with a michelin star? the answer is this place, kitchen w8. i’m a big fan of phil howard (previously of the square, now elystan street) who part-owns kitchen w8. looking through the menu, you can see glimpses of phil’s influence throughout the dishes. phil’s books ‘the square: savoury’ and ‘the square: sweet’ are two of the best cookbooks that i own. thefoodis simple in terms of flavours but just the right side of complex in the construction of dishes. as we headed to high street kensington, i couldn’t wait for the experience to begin. kitchen w8 couldn’t really be in a more attractive area. just off the main kensington high street down abingdon road, it’s perfect for lunch or dinner after some high-end retail therapy. as we strolled into the restaurant, we were followed by other diners who had various designer carrier bags in tow. the dining room is a smart yet relaxed space. the large mirrors and waiters uniforms reminded me a lot of chez bruce in wandsworth, owned by bruce poole who has previously worked with phil howard at the square. we got a spot on a comfortable corner with a panoramic view of the dining room.we had a choice of a la carte or set lunch menus. given that we were excited at the prospect of three courses for such good value, we went with the set menu. i could quite happily have had the set menu as a tasting menu in itself – each and every dish sounded tempting. as the weather was hot, we opted to try a mocktail. a virgin mojito is the sole non-alcoholic cocktail on offer here at kitchen w8 so we went with that. as it turned out, it was well made and very refreshing.

kitchen w8 has a michelin star but is more affordable than other restaurants with the same pedigree. most starters ranged from £9-13 and mains were £20-30. thefoodis good but won't blow you away and the setting is nice. i would prefer to go for lunch, they have a fantastically priced set menu and it is brighter.

kitchen w8 has a michelin star but is more affordable than other restaurants with the same pedigree. most starters ranged from £9-13 and mains were £20-30. thefoodis creative british and served in a plain and unremarkable setting. they have fantastic lunch deals for two and three courses but the a la carte menu in the evening didn't blow us away. for a similar michelin type experience, i preferred medlar.

unlike other michelin starred restaurants, kitchen w8 main brief is to bring affordable pricedfoodto the local community. the word "affordable" certainly ticked the box for us, being a relatively somewhat cheaper than most of the michelin starred restaurants that i have encountered. kitchen w8 seems to be unknown to the public, located just off kensington high street.

kitchen w8 opened its doors to the community of kensington & chelsea in october 2009 aiming to become the local, go-to place. two years later in 2011 the restaurant was awarded a michelin star, a great achievement in such a short space of time. the restaurant strives to use only excellent ingredients which are sourced from small, reputable suppliers, how it does this and still serves up set-menus at rock bottom prices amazes me, i couldn’t even do it that cheap at home for this quality.

the decor in the restaurant is very modern, clean and fresh, it looks great but on a quiet lunchtime afternoon it can feel a bit cold and soulless. thefoodat kitchen w8 is british but with a little bit of french making its way on to the plates, a little je ne sais quoi! we did dine from the set menu at an incredible £19.50 for three courses, for dinner the same menu is £24.50. the bread that was brought to our table must have a mention, it was terrific. incredibly light and airy with a texture similar to a crumpet, quite like nothing i’ve had before, but something i definitely want again.

we started our meal with the veloute of winter leeks and charlotte potatoes with brown shrimps, parsley and a side of cod's roe on toast. the veloute itself was very well executed and incredibly refined, a real depth of flavour and you could taste every ingredient individually. the brown shrimps worked perfectly and gave it a little saltiness, the small cod's roe on toast was good, but i didn’t see much point of it with the veloute, it was a little lost.

parfait of foie gras with a puree of caramelized pink grapefruit, blood orange jelly and toasted sourdough was good solid dish. the parfait was extremely smooth and light and the topping of blood orange jelly was a nice touch but wasn’t that strong. the grapefruit puree was incredible and literally made my mouth water and went very well with the parfait, sour dough was perhaps the best i have ever had and the crust was delicious.

hungry? read more - http://www.londonfoodaholic.co.uk/2013/03/review-kitchen-w8-abingdon-road.html

tucked away in a side street just off high street kensington, kitchen w8 is co-owned by philip howard, who is the head chef at the square with 2 michelin stars. despite of kitchen w8’s one michelin status, everything about the restaurant has a touch of local, neighbourhood feel. no tasting menu, no extravagant or crazy dishes. instead for simpler food, simple cooking (relatively) and excellent ingredients.  the restaurant i remembered that neighbourhood vibe at kitchen w8 vividly (i also live in the area). tables are easy to book on the day (you can probably just walk in for early dinner), cosy dining room and full of people who looked relaxed in that ‘i just walked into my local restaurant’ way. it reminded me of the nearby launceston place , which is also cosy and quiet with amazingfood(also has a michelin star). i highly recommend both restaurants for occasions such as dates, catch up wit

kitchen w8 opened its doors to the community of kensington & chelsea in october 2009 aiming to become the local, go-to place. two years later in 2011 the restaurant was awarded a michelin star, a great achievement in such a short space of time. the restaurant strives to use only excellent ingredients which are sourced from small, reputable suppliers, how it does this and still serves up set-menus at rock bottom prices amazes me, i couldn’t even do it that cheap at home for this quality. the decor in the restaurant is very modern, clean and fresh, it looks great but on a quiet lunchtime afternoon it can feel a bit cold and soulless. thefoodat kitchen w8 is british but with a little bit of french making its way on to the plates, a little je ne sais quoi! we did dine from the set menu at an incredible £19.50 for three courses, for dinner the same menu is £24.50. the bread that was brought to our table must have a mention, it was terrific. incredibly light and airy with a texture similar

for this quality offoodand ambiance (it is one michelin star, after all!), it can definitely be a bargain.

not impressed. i'd read good reviews about this place so i thought i'd take my mum there. we did not receive a very warm welcome by the girl at the front desk. we were just a few minutes early and she obviously wasnt happy to accommodate us, even though we were happy to just sit in the corner for a moment. the rest of the staff were very friendly. thefoodtasted very nice but the portions were miniscule. i would have expected much more for the price. there was no music, no atmosphere and the £7.90 service charge was automatically added to the bill. whilst i am more than happy to leave a tip, i understand that it is discretionary, not compulsory. i wont be going there again.

went on thursday at lunchtime and was largely unimpressed. service was brusque to the point of rudeness or sullen and silent from some (possibly) non-english speakers. veloute to start was over-seasoned and a little sickly, salmon main was just not a terribly nice plate offoodand a bit of a confused mixture of tastes but rhubarb jelly and vanilla ice cream pudding was the exception - well-balanced.

i did not like the decor but have to say thefoodwas mega. had the venison which was mega and the pudding was fab. worth a visit.