kitchen w8

kitchenw8is 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 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 to high street kensington, i couldn’t wait for the experience to begin. kitchenw8couldn’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 kitchenw8so we went with that. as it turned out, it was well made and very refreshing.

kitchenw8has 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 set menu and it is brighter.

kitchenw8has 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 carte menu in the evening didn't blow us away. for a similar michelin type experience, i preferred medlar.

unlike other michelin starred restaurants, kitchenw8main 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. kitchenw8seems to be unknown to the public, located just off kensington high street.

an exorbitantly priced riesling hurls us into the inevitable wallet lightening experience that kitchenw8will be; however with the starters comes a sense of justification. a giant tortelli is laden with scallop, resting on a celeriac puree with a creamy veloute.

kitchenw8is 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 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 kitchenw8cooks 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

kitchenw8is 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 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 kitchenw8cooks 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.
kitchenw8came 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!

kitchenw8opened 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 kitchenw8is 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

kitchenw8is a non-pretentious, homely restaurant set in the heart of london on high street 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 kitchenw8being 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 kitchenw8trumps it on execution of dishes, providing more balance and depth in the food. to top it all, kitchenw8delivered 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 off high street kensington, kitchenw8is 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 kitchenw8vividly (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

kitchenw8opened 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 kitchenw8is 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

kitchenw8– 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 kitchenw8before.  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 kensington high street, 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