Restaurant Michael Nadra Chiswick

We dined at Michael Nadra's Chiswick restaurant for my husband's 50th birthday with his parents and our children. The front of house staff were friendly, attentive and gave a polished service which complimented the beautiful food we ate. The carpaccio of tuna with soft shell crab starter was light and delicate while the beef carpaccio with truffle oil had a more punchy flavour. The main courses were all cooked to perfection - the steamed sea bass was elegantly scented with asian spices and the Wagu beef was rich and unctuous. The rump of lamb with the merguez sausage was full of flavour. We rounded off the meal with the delightfully wicked chocolate fondant with salted caramel ice-cream and the treacle tart. The staff dressed my husband's pudding with a candle and the words Happy Birthday written in chocolate which was a thoughtful touch. We highly recommend this restaurant

I'm convinced that in general terms the thing contributing most to my enjoyment of a restaurant is the food I'm served. But most important is not the same as the only thing, and certainly my memories of driving trips around France in shoulder seasons many years ago are much more about the two of us, night after night, being the only people in the restaurant with food being delivered as fast as the waiters could carry it so they could all close up and go home. I remember that years after I've forgotten what we ate. And for the second time in a few weeks we had a lunch today that was influenced by the fact that there was only a handful of people in the dining room and in the couple of hours we were there we saw precisely one member of staff. The restaurant is within 50 yards of Chiswick High Road. Another 50 yards will see you on Turnham Green Terrace, a foodie destination. The premises are smart and decently attractive. La Trompette, normally busy, is a couple of hundred yards away at most. And the food's pretty good and reasonable value. So I really don't understand why, after a few decades of occasional walks around and eating in Chiswick, it took us till a couple of weeks ago to realise that this place existed. In essence you have a choice between a set menu of two or three courses, or a tasting menu. We chose the former, with a choice of six dishes for each course. My starter was a light and delicate duck lasagne with wild mushrooms in a light though tasty mushroom broth. My wife chose a soup of kale, spinach and broccoli with a fairly extravagant topping, and a main of lamb two ways (plus a kofta) with rosti potatoes. All these dishes were at least competently cooked , nicely presented , and very flavoursome. The portions were sufficient without being daunting. There was a chocolate fondant and salted caramel ice cream for dessert. The house red wine ( from Rhone grapes) was nicely balanced and light enough to drink with lunch. Good bread; decent coffee. A bill for £95 including service was about right we thought. Remarkably we often feel we get better value in London than we do in Berkshire where we live. Must be something to do with competition. Grumbles? Well it would have been nicer with a few more people around and a hum of conversation to distract from the music that wasn't to my taste. And it wasn't a quick meal. It took a while to get some bread after we arrived just after 12.30, and the in general the gaps between courses were a little longer than I'd usually expect. I did wonder a bit about what the timings would have been like if they'd been busy. Still, they weren't, and neither were we in a great hurry. We'll go back.

Michael Nadra remains, in terms of value for money, by far the best restaurant in Chiswick. Hedone may well outdistance it but dining at Hedone demands a second mortgage. Yesterday, I went for lunch with a friend and we had a beautifully cooked braised tuna. It was among the best I have ever had, which is as a committed tuna fan is stating a lot. Michael Nadra is committed to ingredients of the best quality and this, combined with the talents of an inspired chef, invariably produces great results. The prix fixe lunch has a great variety of dishes and at 21 pounds for two courses and 29 for three it could not be more keenly priced. The restaurant is as good at lunchtime as at dinner, although the evenings are more fun and service is more animated. Interestingly, and for a weekday in Chiswick, the restaurant was if not full certainly well attended. This is reassuring. Michael Nadra graces Chiswick with its presence and we locals are lucky to have this excellent restaurant among us. Long may it remain.

Despite living in Chiswick, we'd never eaten here, because the Glass House and La Trompette are our special meal choices. The standard of cooking is undeniably high, even the delicious tarte tatin was correctly prepared for once (virtually uniquely in London). The prawn and scallop dumplings were very delicate, perhaps over-bland compared with the aggressively fishy veloute that came with them. My wife was very happy with her steak dish, my cod was less successful. The fish itself was very fresh, although perhaps 30 seconds undercooked, but the accompanying fennel salad was extraordinarily salty. There are probably better fishy choices on the menu. Service was pleasant and efficient but given the fact that the restaurant only had a few tables occupied, the kitchen was unacceptably slow, perhaps because of the very audible joking and chit-chat going on. I think most people would be very happy to eat here, but for us it is not quite at the level of our regular haunts.

This was our first visit but wont be our last. The welcome, food and service were all excellent perhaps the rather cramped layout being the only negative. Not cheap but very good!

Whilst there was some confusion over the booking (which they lost) and their subsequent ability to fit us in (they “managed to find” us a table despite there being several empty tables for the duration of our meal), there was certainly no other cause for complaint. A nice, small restaurant. Service immediate and attentive thereafter without being intrusive. No faulting the food (prawn/dumplings to start, iberico presa/pork belly main). Couldn't comment on the wine list as I don't drink. Food of this standard deserves a wider audience. Would be more than happy to go back there.

The decor is modern yet a bit too dark for my liking. For some strange reason, it made me feel like I was in a submarine or under the sea and, with hindsight, I should have taken that as a hint as to what to choose from the menu. There is a fairly big a la carte menu (for a fine dining restaurant) as well as a six-course tasting menu; both of which are excellent value for money (a la carte = £29 for two courses and approx. £35 for three courses, tasting = approx £45). I chose thinly sliced veal to start, sea bass for main course and cheese to finish, and my sister chose tempura soft shell crab, followed by suckling pig and then pear and almond tart. We shared a portion of spinach and a portion chips. Clearly, Mr Nadra is a demon at cooking fish and if I was to go again to this restaurant, I would stick to fish for both the starter and the main; his fish dishes really are in a different league to his meat dishes. One slightly frustrating issue was that most of the dishes were served at temperatures which were way too hot to eat; it seemed as if the plates had been put under the hot plate for a long time and which would perhaps also explain why the suckling pig was overcooked. My only other complaint was that the spinach was so laced in garlic that it was pretty much inedible. Cheese and pudding selections were good. Overall, not a bad place to go for a sophisticated supper in Chiswick but, I'm afraid, there are other restaurants in Chiswick which I will be returning to much more quickly than Restaurant Michael Nadra.