The French Table

Much loved by patrons – not least for its personalised service – this Surbiton restaurant undoubtedly serves the best food in the neighbourhood, though we can’t help feeling it would be even better if the kitchen relaxed a bit. Dishes from the extensive menu are certainly well executed, but their intricacy seems designed to impress rather than to be enjoyed. Throughout the first & main courses, foie gras abounds: it even turns up as an ingredient in a very good mini pork burger – just one small element of a dish celebrating pork belly in multiple ways. For dessert, a millefeuille of exotic fruits, though obviously homemade, looks & tastes scarily similar to the 70s canned version of a fruit salad. The diner would do well to follow advice intended for the chef: stick to the simpler dishes.