Hereford Road

Situated in an old butcher’s shop near Notting Hill, Hereford Road’s simple and sparse interior allows the food do the talking with its seasonal British menu that relies on high quality ingredients. Similar to St John, where the chef trained, Hereford Road has a focus on offal, but it is also well known for its simple yet accomplished fish dishes.

Visited this Notting Hill-Billy ‘diamond’ against my better judgement having read the reviews and hoping to be proven wrong. Think again. The service seems jaunty enough at the start and promises good things but frankly the food – not helped by the open kitchen where you can visibly see the rather too hirsuite sous-chef dropping his sweat and hair onto your dinner – is terrible. We waited the best part of an hour, having passed on the starters due to the ambivalence of our adjoining tables, and awaited the mains of rack of lamb and pork belly. Sadly either would have been more at home in the confines of a public school dining room. If you are seeking finesse from this establishment, forget it – driving diners to the nearest fast-food burger bar is never a good policy for a local eatery but that is where Hereford Road leads.

The food at Hereford Road is not bad. Its not very good either. But unfortunately, the restaurant staff – and the “service” given by them – do not reach even those mediocre heights. Thankfully, it is pretty unusual these days (I have never otherwise experienced it in my 10 years of eating out in London) to receive throwback, 1970s style “what do you know, you are just the customer” care and attention – especially in a restaurant that has pretensions in the direction of the excellent St John's Bread and Wine and its peers.

After taking exception to being served with an anaemic and greasy pile of what appeared to be deep fried potato crisps with Pheasant (they were supposed to be fresh game chips) we told the waiting staff we were disappointed. Their response: “The Chef calls them Game Chips. So they are Game Chips”. No attempt to placate us, no dialogue. Just “take it or leave it”.

The French restaurant manager did an excellent job of guaranteeing that we left with an awful taste in our mouths, telling me “you talk too much” (i.e. how dare you complain); telling us that “you will pay the entire bill or there will be trouble” by agreeing that the more appropriate way of treating his customers in this situation might be to offer an apology or even a coffee on the house, but that “I am different” and “do not care what you think about the food”. In fact, the only helpful suggestion he had to offer was that “you need to find another restaurant”. Don't worry, we will. Any other restaurant, in fact.

If there is anyone out there planning to open a restaurant, pub, or any other establishment that relies on pleasing and impressing its customers, I suggest you pop along to Hereford Road for a cautionary lesson on how bad an experience it is possible to give your customers, if you really, really try.

Hereford Road deserves a prize for seating. They have created the most optimal type of seats for a given space that I think I have ever seen. You enter along a corridor of romantic two-seater banquettes where couples can eat in an almost side-by-side format. Then most of the restaurant is given over to generous six-seater booths which encourage conviviality and a good night out. The rest of the decor is modern, cool, but quite plain.

Service, wine and pricing were all excellent. We were amazed to get out at £45 a head after a three course meal with plenty of wine and bottled water.

My only disappointment was the food, which is the St John, grisly carnivore style. I’m sure it’s great for those who love it but I prefer my food to be refined and elegant and struggled to find anything I really wanted to eat. My razor clams and brill were well-executed and fine, but I longed for more dishes to choose from. My friends spent most of the night dismembering half a lamb in a soup with carrots which they loved, but left me cold and looked like something people ate in medieval times. A dessert of profiteroles was also quite hard.

Overall – a lovely space, great for couples or groups. Many will love the food, and I will be back, but wish I could have true modern continental sophisticated fare.

The Westbourne Grove area is awash with overpriced, average restaurants or the ubiquitous gastro-pub so it was a fabulous treat to have dinner at Hereford rd. Truly ambrosial food, very reasonable and a nice little romantic banquette, warmed by the heat and flavours from the open plan kitchen. A triumph.

We were pleasantly surprised by this new neighbour of ours, popping in for an unplanned dinner just after it opened. The food was excellent – honest, traditional, perfectly cooked – simply delicious. The open-plan kitchen made the whole experience a lot more personal and added buzz. The value for money is outstanding, given the high quality of food and wine and very reasonable prices. The only slight criticism, which may have been a teething problem, is that the floor staff seemed rushed, not entirely in control and not always that attentive. However, service was very friendly, which mostly made up for the occasional wait. I have tried to return to this little gem of a restaurant ever since, but its become so popular I have not been able to get a table!

We had the most delicious Sunday lunch this rainy and miserable afternoon. Starters of sautéed duck hearts with green beans, shallots, capers and tarragon was different; served medium rare, juicy and very flavoursome with a good balance of flavours and the fish soup, which was fresh and lively were both greatly liked. The main course, braised shoulder of roe deer with carrots for two to share was meltingly tender and enormous! The bread was freshly baked but lacked salt and there was good unsalted butter. We shared a bottle of Morgon 2006. The prices are very reasonable, the waiting staff charming and attentive. A great neighbourhood restaurant with a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. We asked the waiter if he would receive the tip, sadly he declined to comment…