This modern British bistro opened 4 July with secret weapon Andrew Evans in the kitchen, a chef who has worked alongside many of the greats. Is Hatchetts meeting the Mayfair standard? Scroll down for our review.
Andrew Evans has spent 20 years working alongside many London greats (Gordon Ramsay, Marcus Wareing and Angela Hartnett) and this is certainly evident in his modern, British cooking. The staff are friendly, charismatic and lend the restaurant an air of calm. With a relaxed atmosphere and despite decor reminiscent of 80s fine dining, Hatchetts is on to a very good thing.
To start we chose scorched mackerel paired with apple, fennel and mackerel tartare, presented with fastidious precision. The smokiness that comes from scorching the mackerel was a clever match for the soft tartare and sweet/sharp hit of purée. A soup-like celeriac risotto was delicious, filled with soft-braised snails and infused with plenty of garlic; this worked beautifully with the earthy celeriac flavour.
For mains, chicken-glazed cod with steamed cockles and clams was rich but incredibly light. The umami-like taste to the dish makes it a winner, although we could take or leave the unappealingly salty seaweed jelly that accompanies it. Other mains include ribeye on the bone with Lyonnaise potatoes and bone marrow gravy, as well as caramelised onion tart with roasted baby beets, braised courgette and rosary ash goats' cheese.
We devoured a dessert of dark chocolate marquise with cherry sorbet, packing a sweet and fruity punch to cut through the richness of the chocolate. If we haven’t already given you reason enough to visit Hatchetts then go for the cherry sorbet alone; you won’t be disappointed.
A succinct, French-heavy wine list and inventive cocktail selection, including Rum Forest Rum (muddled forest berries, lime, sugar, spiced rum and Chambord), add another dimension to this excellent, reasonably-priced newcomer.
Find out more and book a table at Hatchetts here
This article was published 15 July 2016
Yasmin Godfrey