Kitchen W8

Kitchen W8
In these days of text-write, the name of this restaurant gives pause (weight?) but it actually describes its location just off Kensington High Street.  Abingdon Road is down at the non-U end of KHS, but there's nothing downmarket about this restaurant.  Executive Chef is Phillip Howard whose food we've enjoyed earlier (see The Square Pops Up at Putney), and we are looking forward to a pre-Bank Holiday lunch treat on a typically cool and cloudy day.  Summer seems to have skipped out early, handing over August to the gods of Autumn, so the dining room is a welcome retreat from the elements.  London seems to have emptied out for the weekend, and few tables are occupied - by the time we leave at 2.30pm it's still spotty though a couple of old writer chums are more than making up for the lack of ambient noise at a nearby table.  At first we regret there's no cover of background musak, but in the end just give up and shamelessly eavesdrop. 
The plan is to stick to the set menu - 3 courses for a very affordable £19.50 - but another plan is quickly hatched: one 3-course set, and one dish from the A La Carte leaves us open to negotiation on who gets dessert.  I start with a dish of thinly sliced pork belly with house-made piccalilli (a mustardy pickled vegetable chutney for my US followers!), chicory and mustard dressing.  The pork belly is ethereal and, while the piccalilli may be a touch strong, the mustard dressing is its opposite - subtle and with the right amount of emulsion it sings with the lardo-style silkiness of the pork belly fat while chicory adds a nice crunch.  Main courses are, for me, Cornish Mackerel and, for him, Rump of Lamb.  The Mackerel is served on a bed of finely diced potatoes, an even finer dice of pickled cucumber and red onion and with an accent of silken beetroot puree.  The vinegar in the cucumber cuts the oiliness of the fish perfectly, and the beetroot makes for an interesting counterpoint.  The Lamb is perfectly cooked and is the most colourful presentation with a puree of fava beans contrasting with red shallots and a drizzle of rich red wine jus.  I manage to snag a taste before it all disappears, and while the lamb is great, it's the puree that enchants - it melts in the mouth, its flavours fleeting across the palate just long enough to make an impression.
Dessert was a no-brainer from the start: roasted figs with an oat biscuit and a vanilla mousse.  It's just a question of who gets to eat the most, especially once the first few bites confirm it was the right decision.  The vanilla mousse is like a panna cotta, but without the firmness; it's like a cream without the denseness, just somewhere between the two, and it's fabulous.  The figs are warm and luscious with the honey lifting their innate sweetness while the biscuit adds a welcome crunch of brown sugar.
The wine list covers all the bases and though the by-the-glass list is disappointingly limited, we each enjoy a 250ml carafe with our dishes - one a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc and the other an Australian Pinot Noir - which both worked well with our dishes. 
The conversation at our neighbouring table continues to fascinate - we could probably stay all afternoon but have to drag ourselves away.  We'll be back for more another day as food this good and this well-priced deserves a second look - even if we add a little more w8 between us.  C u l8r.

http://www.kitchenw8.com/