kitchen w8

kitchen w8 is a “neighbourhood” restaurant just off high street 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 had high hopes 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 onlymenuavailable 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 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 setmenuas a tastingmenuin 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. the food is good but won't blow you away and the setting is nice. i would prefer to go for lunch, they have a fantastically priced setmenuand 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. the food is creative british and served in a plain and unremarkable setting. they have fantastic lunch deals for two and three courses but the a la cartemenuin the evening didn't blow us away. for a similar michelin type experience, i preferred medlar.

kitchen w8 is a michelin star restaurant, not far from high st kensington… i have never been a fan of eating around high st 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 setmenuat 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 from high st kensington…

i have never been a fan of eating around high st 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 setmenuat 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 think high st 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, in high street 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 setmenuyou 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 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. the food at 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 setmenuat an incredible £19.50 for three courses, for dinner the samemenuis £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

much has been made of kitchen w8 being a 'neighbourhood restaurant' though that neighbourhood could only be kensington & chelsea since mains go as high as £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. themenuis well constructed and while offering lots of stuff you know and love, there's usually something extra going on

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. the food at 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 setmenuat an incredible £19.50 for three courses, for dinner the samemenuis £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