Kitchen W8

Last week we went to Kitchen W8 en famille to celebrate my sister’s entry into her mid to late 20s. It was certainly a better way to spend a Friday night than my alternative, which was stressing about having entered a food writing competition/watching my flatmate watch reruns of Grey’s Anatomy.

The food arrived after a decent interval of champagne, salt cod croquettes and some gentle sisterly bickering.  Jerusalem artichoke risotto with truffle pesto and a spoonful of Vacherin Mont d’Or was the best thing I’ve eaten this year so far.  It smelt of autumn and earth, and the graininess of the truffle pesto did more than you would have thought to cut through the softness cheese and rice. Describing truffle as cutting through something is probably a stretch, but it’s true.  It made my arteries feel better.

Pata negra pork with its cheeks and rosemary polenta was similarly stand out. I very, very nearly couldn’t finish it, which is pretty unusual.  It’s not at all that the portions are too big, or that the ingredients are too rich, but the concentration of flavour that the brigade manages to get into these dishes is astounding. Everything is notched up and amplified to the extent that you feel you’ve eaten it three times. The pork was the piggiest bit of pig ever. The rosemary in the polenta sparkled.  I adopted a softly softly approach, managed to finish it all and still force down a really great selection of goats cheese. Everyone else had a hazelnut, chocolate and salt caramel pudding that looked incredible and made them all pull some really inappropriately pleased faces.

We drank a Pauillac as a treat for my sister and then an Australian Pinot Noir which was the friendliest wine ever.  It was uncomplicated, easy to drink and went with everything around the table. The equivalent of a smiling Aussie coming over and saying ‘hi, I’m Greg, how are you doing mate?’ and giving you a hug. In a non-creepy way.

You would perhaps expect a restaurant from Phil Howard’s team (The Square) to be excellent, but Kitchen W8 is something more than that.  This is very subjective and isn’t so much about any specific element of food, people, room (although all of those are pretty much flawless) as the fact that the whole place just has a great atmosphere. Despite being smart and beige and having tablecloths, it is cosy, convivial and buzzy, with none of those hushed tones and people following you to the loos.  Everyone who works there is incredibly efficient but also took the time to stop and say happy birthday to my sister.  Things like this are, for me, what make the difference between a good restaurant and a great one. 

Kitchen W8

11-13 Abingdon Road

London W8 6AH

ps. I won the food writing competition the next day!!