Kitchen W8

Fantastic food at affordable prices

Kitchen W8 is a real find. The emphasis is on the amazing food which is up there with the best I have had, It is a lovely friendly place, good service and would highly recommend.

We've eaten here quite a few times, before the makeover (when it was usually very quiet at lunch) and after (when its quite often busy. I guess that if we keep going back we must like it, and that's certainly true and todays set lunch experience did nothing to shake that.

Conveniently placed just off Kensington High Street, with meter parking outside though expensive, its a modern-looking place with fashionably grey and muted interior. We ate the set lunch which is remarkable value at £19.50 for three courses. The main menu- which not too many seemed to be eating- is considerably more expensive , though I wouldn't say exorbitant for a starred restaurant. The menu gives a choice only from two starters.mains and desserts, so in theory there is a chance you won't find food you like on it. But in at least a half-dozen visits since the make-over, we haven't found that at all. Our cauliflower veloute with crab tortellini was tasty, smooth, comforting and we could taste crab despite the veloute being mildly curried. Our main course of pork fillet, belly and rissole was tasty though I'd give start billing to the mashed smoked potato and probably least marks to the belly where the meat/fat ration was a little adrift.. My dessert of chocoate pave with salt caramel and malted barley ice -cream was tasty and not too heavy. None of the courses were huge, but on balance three courses here leaves you feeling just right for lunch.

The wine list is probably set more appropriately to the a la carte than the set meal, so possibly nothing under £20 and little under £25. Our decent but maybe understandably unexciting Touraine sauvignon was £25. Service was perhaps a little slow ( we had to skip coffee to rescue our car) and was a relationship-free experience. So decently efficient, not at all fraught, but not warm and chatty either. The bill was a little under £80.

So- is the food of Michelin standard? Yes, emphatically, and always has been since makeover. Is it good value? certainly. Will we go back? Absolutely, and suggest that you give it a try too. Best to book.

This lovely restaurant consistantly delivers great food every time – in particular for this high-end quality. Very good service and good wine offering. Very good value for money, in particular for the food

Kitchen W8 is magnificent. It is a very simple restaurant but one that does everething to a standard of excellence. The award of Michelin Star has not changed this, to the contrary – it seems to have spurred the team on to even greater heights. It does maintain the vibe of a – albeight very high end – neighbourhood restaurant, but one which (much like it's neighbourhood) is amongst the best in the city. All this is wrapped up with an imaginative and friendly team that prepares special dinners, and weeks – watch out for the truffles in autumn!

An excellent mix of lovely choices from fish to pork and beef. All dishes were well cooked and presented. The service was exceptional especially as a friend of mine has a wheat/gluten allergy which was easily accommodated including bread for her. The restaurant is a nice size but does lack a bit of ambience as its bright and white

My wife and I ate here for the first time last night, with two friends who go there reasonably often (and whose daughter is a major fan). Apart from the somewhat overpriced wine list (I could only find two wines at prices I considered appropriate for the wine), I have to say I was mightily impressed.
The place is not at all pretentious, but it is comfortable. The food is not cheap, but it is good value and absolutely delicious and very well presented. The service was not servile, but it was friendly, smiling and attentive. My crispy hen's egg with truffles was a great way to start and the veal was just “melt in the mouth” tender, beautifully pink in the middle and tasted sublime. I also had a taste of my wife's poussin with leg pie,,, clearly the dish was on the “bijou” side, but the miniature pie's crust was absolutely right and the contents together with the artichoke (if memory serves) on which it was sitting was again, just great.
So far as food is concerned, this place scores a 9+ with me. The food and drink score is 8 overall as I really do think that there ought to be a red “house wine” at around the £20 mark as well (though the red Pays D'Oc Cabernet Sauvignon was acceptable as the sole “entry level” wine).
Hope the second visit is as good as the first !

A real gem… a nice looking restaurant (if decored a little like wallpaper showroom) coupled with welcoming service and really top notch cooking…

The star of the show for us was their BYO offering – a real gem of an offer (for a £15 corkage fee). We enjoyed a lovely bottle of Krug I was given not long ago which somehow felt too nice to open at home. This shouldn't detract from the wine list – which itself had some cracking choices on it – all fairly priced.

Rather amusing & quirky crowd of locals too (though not sure they'd see themselves as that).

Can't wait to go again.

What a delightful surprise. A very popular establishment with locals, we were very keen to try it and we took the plunge with a couple of our foodie friends from NY. The dining room is smartly decorated and the atmosphere lively although a bit loud. The service was relaxed and to the point. Our your waitress was very competent and made very good suggestions for the wine. The focus is really on the food. The chicken raviolo was a real revelation: moist, tasty filling wrapped in lovely light pasta. All my companions had the foie gras and rated it highly. My main of Rump of veal, caramelised cauliflower, roast salsify and parmesan was bordering on exquisite. I am partial to salsify and it matched beautifully the milky sweetness of the veal. A quick taste of
the fried sea bream and of the pork belly and cheek made me realize that I want to go back before these to dishes go off the menu. The deserts were equally compelling. The creme catalan with vanilla doughnuts and seville orange marmalade was a triumph of bold flavours. The bill was accetable for a restaurant of this caliber. There is some real passion for food in this place. They just got a star, it is completely deserved and we will be keeping watch of how the progress to the next one.

W8 is refreshingly kitted out with a tad more interest than the formulaically bland décor of high end gastro-destinations. However, the hope was that the food would still do the talking. The attraction is the influence of high pedigree craftsman Phil Howard, but how would his recent protégé’ interpret cuisine on this appealing menu?

A simple looking plate of partridge ravioli with ceps served on melted onions was a well accomplished, delicious opener and I’d have happily eaten this as a main. My better half didn’t consume with quite such gusto, although his plate was void of remains. Rich, dark ox cheek perfectly soft was served with contrasting flat iron (my knowledge of meat cuts didn’t extend to this terminology, so somewhere around the shoulder was indicated). This was presented pink, properly rested and thinly sliced without a trace of blood, being essential as it rested beneath a superb quenelle of horseradish cream. Separately came the most comforting gravy like sauce to accompany the cheek which sat upon cabbage. Grouse, described as “slightly gamey” was somewhat more powerful, and this factor combined with the acidity of choucroute, meant that the dish required a carb’ other than the beetroot puree which was an inadequate counterbalance. (We obviously had the French perspective of slightly gamey as later another waiter used the adjective “very”, illustrating the dichotomy in staff opinions.) My partner didn’t grumble at all as I reneged on the deal of a swop half-way. Exchanging again after only a few mouthfuls, I was so pleased to be reunited with my gently yielding pieces of ox and…..that sauce.

Dry wit from our waitress who was polite and knowledgeable was more than one could ask for. The sommelier recommended a sensibly priced Lombardy wine which delivered exactly as described and worked well with our choices. I can almost forgive them for not completely removing strings from the runner beans as the thin chips were spot on texturally and properly seasoned, but a mark has to be deducted for the inaccurate grouse description.

Skipping dessert, my eyes jumped to “Share of the Crop” on the back of the menu which was a novel touch. 24 hours’ notice normally required for ordering, but we asked if any mushrooms could be spared and delightedly came away with 200g of chanterelles plus some pleasurable food memories. Native lobster and lamb rump were also amongst the five or so options to take away. A smart performance which registered a big score on my taste senses means that I have to go back to sample belly of veal with polenta or one of the fish choices. The menu was seasonal with wild mushrooms featuring in many dishes – exactly why I like this time of year.