kitchen w8

kitchen w8 is a “neighbourhood” restaurant just offhighstreet kensington. it’s owned by philip howard, head chef and co-owner of two michelin starred the square and rebecca mascarenhas who owns a whole host of similar neighbourhood friendly restaurants in balham, chiswick and barnes. the restaurant also holds a michelin star so we hadhighhopes for our sunday lunch. the restaurant was fairly large and was very bright and modern. once it filled up with the kensington locals it had a pleasant buzzy atmosphere. the only menu available was the set lunch priced at £29.50 for three courses. unusually for us though we struggled to find anything on there that really excited or wowed us. during sunday lunchtime the option of the slightly more varied a la carte isn’t available which was a shame. no amuse bouche was offered which was a pity but the white sourdough bread was scarily addictive and some of the finest i’ve ever tasted! i wolfed down three large slices of the stuff! i opted for the

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. the food is simple in terms of flavours but just the right side of complex in the construction of dishes. as we headed tohighstreet 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 kensingtonhighstreet 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.

unlike other michelin starred restaurants, kitchen w8 main brief is to bring affordable priced food to 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 kensingtonhighstreet.

when i booked to go to this restaurant, i was so excited and because it is michelin-starred, we had veryhighexpectations of the food. 
we enter the restaurant, the waiter welcomes us, takes our coats, so i thought so far so good. the service was impeccable. 
when we got our dishes however, we didn't care about the perfect service any more, all we cared about was the deception  that we felt when tasting the food. 
i had fish, i can't remember which, i just remember that it wouldn't have made a difference because it was tasteless. it was very dull, the whole plate was plain and boring. and not worthy of a michelin-star. i was curious to know if my friends had a different experience, but we all thought that we were waisting our money here.
so we left the place very disappointed, and surprised that a place like this got a michelin star.

kitchen w8 is a michelin star restaurant, not far fromhighst kensington… i have never been a fan of eating aroundhighst kensington cause i think this area doesn’t boast must quality but here its completely a hidden gem with the accolades they have and the price they charge of the set menu at lunch i just have to give it a try eventhou i heard good words from my friends, i have to come check it out myself michelin star restaurant always come with the complimentary bread and butter and here its not bad at all… crisp crust and dough fill of white or brown.. good start… so without further intro, let see what kitchen w8 cooks up… first for starter of crispy hen’s egg with truffle pesto on a bed of parmesan polenta and partridge tortellini with celeriac volute on bed of pear and celery both were amazing… the crispy hen eggs was crispy, yolk still runny.. polenta was creamy, crispy bacon bits adds that pork fatty flavour to it.. but the truffle just blew the whole thing to the next level

kitchen w8 is a michelin star restaurant, not far fromhighst kensington…

i have never been a fan of eating aroundhighst kensington cause i think this area doesn’t boast must quality but here its completely a hidden gem

with the accolades they have and the price they charge of the set menu at lunch i just have to give it a try eventhou i heard good words from my friends, i have to come check it out myself

michelin star restaurant always come with the complimentary bread and butter and here its not bad at all… crisp crust and dough fill of white or brown.. good start…

so without further intro, let see what kitchen w8 cooks up…

first for starter of crispy hen’s egg with truffle pesto on a bed of parmesan polenta and partridge tortellini with celeriac volute on bed of pear and celery

both were amazing… the crispy hen eggs was crispy, yolk still runny.. polenta was creamy, crispy bacon bits adds that pork fatty flavour to it.. but the truffle just blew the whole thing to the next level of luxurious aroma.. delicious dish!

the fillings for the tortellini were just right, and the pear and celery add that sweet crunch texture and the celeriac volute was light, creamy and fragrant

for mains its feather-steak on bed of sweet potatoes with a side of stuffed braised onion with beef and pearl barley

second is pan fried salmon serve on a bed of potatoes, broccoli stem, brown shrimps and seaweed butter….

the steak was amazing, tender, juicy and the jus on top elevates the meat.. cut by herby onion and sweet mash was just balanced and right.. a great dish… on the other hand, the salmon was abit too undercooked and the component didn’t shine, mild and lost but the seaweed butter was nice but the whole dish didn’t come together

for dessert, almond financier with vanilla ice cream, poached pears and toffee sauce…. this sounds heavy but it was light, luxurious and sweet… all went well together.. a great end..

i thinkhighst kensington may not be boring anymore, thanks to kitchen w8… michelin star at £23 for 3-course what more could you ask? a must try..

doesn't get much better than £23 for a 3 course michelin star lunch, inhighstreet kensington no less.
kitchen w8 came highly recommended from a few people as somewhere with good food, not too fussy that my parent's would enjoy for their anniversary meal, and my birthday. they always try and steal the limelight!
it's a classy place, with very friendly staff, but when you go somewhere for the set menu you are sometimes at all whim of the gods if you've got it on a good day. thankfully it looks quite appitising with cocao voluté and veal sweetbreads (my mum thought these were testicles) for starters and poached hake for mains.
the cocao voluté was very rich and full of intense flavours. i must admit it was my first time for sweetbreads, probably not my first choice, but wasn't bad. i suppose first times are always a bit indifferent! the hake was a bit bland for my tastes, needed a bit more seasoning.
the rich bitter chocolate pave for dessert was more like it. the staff also brought round some complimentary truffles for my birthday and my parents anniversary a very sweet touch.
while i think pollen street social is probably a lot more accomplished and in a similar price range, i enjoyed my meal at w8, as did my parents, which is a good thing, cause otherwise i'd would have been for it!

kitchen w8 is a non-pretentious, homely restaurant set in the heart of london onhighstreet kensington. set lunches are at a very affordable £21.00 for 2 courses and £23.00 for 3 courses, available from monday-saturday and set dinners are priced at £22.00 for 2 courses and £25.00 for 3 courses (mon-fri). this is value that is hard to beat, especially for dinner which can be very costly affairs in a city like london and in a restaurant accredited the coveted michelin star.

much has been made of kitchen w8 being a 'neighbourhood restaurant' though that neighbourhood could only be kensington & chelsea since mains go ashighas £28, the venue has a michelin star and if it were transported to say wales, it might possibly be considered the best restaurant in the whole country (sorry wales). pushchair buggies lining the walls suggest mothers or nannies who lunch reinforcing that neighbourhood image, but without mistake, there's some serious cooking going on here and we thoroughly enjoyed it. having recently eaten at the incredibly well regarded medlar also (we're moving west it seems for lunch these days), we think kitchen w8 trumps it on execution of dishes, providing more balance and depth in the food. to top it all, kitchen w8 delivered up what instantly became one of our favourite desserts since starting the blog. not a bad lunch then. the menu is well constructed and while offering lots of stuff you know and love, there's usually something extra going on

tucked away in a side street just offhighstreet 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 amazing food (also has a michelin star). i highly recommend both restaurants for occasions such as dates, catch up wit

kitchen w8 – sublime and on my doorstep: there are times when i wonder if perhaps i’ve spent the last ten years walking around with my eyes closed.  there is, of course, a certain comfort in the familiar and that’s my excuse for not discovering kitchen w8 before.  there are other great places to eat around here and quite often if i am eating out, then i’m not in this part of london anyway.  but, it’s still good to find a great new place to dine locally. kitchen w8, on a small side road halfway along kensingtonhighstreet, has a discrete and rather unmemorable exterior.  when i arrived, as always seems to be the case, there was a large delivery lorry parked outside, so i’ve borrowed a few pictures from my dining companion.  inside, understated chic, with muted colour on the walls, subtle contemporary art and rich velvet banquettes making this feel very much like a kensington living room.  friendly enough to accommodate the odd kensington yummy mummy and pushchair

we were planning to go to new york this easter break so we duly made our way down to the american embassy to get a couple of visas. after a round trip that took up 7.5 hrs of driving, 3 hours of queuing, usd$280 and £112 (14 for courier, 18 for parking, 80 for petrol), the pigpig's visa got approved while mine is on hold as they find it really odd that i'm not a permanent resident in the uk after staying here for 10 years and i also forgot to take my old passports to show my previous uk visas. thankfully we had time to have lunch at kitchen w8 afterwards then as i was feeling decidedly grumpy. conveniently found just offhighstreet kensington, it was also just a short drive from the embassy and although we found a parking within two minutes of spotting the restaurant, i would imagine it a lot harder to get a spot on the weekends. as is seemingly the case with most other michelin starred restaurants in london, the interior of kitchen w8 had a very clean and polished approach in varian