Caractère — Restaurant in London

I had the pleasure of being taken here for a surprise birthday meal and overall, we definitely were not disappointed. I've eaten at so many wonderful places across London, the world as well as at Le Gavroche a few times, and I can safely say that eating at Caractere turned out to be one of the best meals I've ever had.

We dined here on the third night of its opening. The restaurant itself is rustic and casual in decor and it was wonderful seeing it full and vibrant. Compliments firstly to the waiting staff - exceptional service. Professional and they really do look after you with genuine smiles. We certainly got on well with our host Antonella who was just wonderful.

Let me get to the food and drinks :) We decided to treat ourselves to the tasting menu. Prior to the food arriving, we were treated to 3 canape's. The savory burbon biscuits filled with a fish / seafoody paste was really delicious - could've had more than one. The sud tirol cured prosciutto served inside of tiny buns were so flavourful - again I could've easily helped myself to more than one.

From the 'curious' selection, we ordered the crispy veal and the roast diver scallops. Both dishes are beautifully complemented by jus that is poured in and around the dish when they bring them to do. The veal was succulent and full of flavour. The scallops were really melt in your mouth.

From the 'subtle' selection, we ordered the roasted and pureed Jerusalem artichokes and the celeriac cacio e pepe. The artichoke dish was divine - definitely would have again. Whilst the celeriac cacio e pepe was delicious, I did feel that the sauce needed more pepper. Basically, it is cacio e pepe but instead of pasta, the cacio e pepe sauce is served with thinly shaved celeriac - really subtle but lovely. Needed more pepper.

From the 'delicate' selection, we ordered the roast turbot and the cured and seared pollack. The lardo di colonata beautifully complemented the delicate pollack - crispy and salty - just wonderful. The pollack itself was fresh and had wonderfully crispy skin. The red wine sauce which the turbot came in was so flavourful - just a perfect accompaniment to the fresh turbot.

From the 'robust' selection, we ordered the seared oxtail ravioli and the English wild duck. Arguably, this particular selection was the most disappointing. Only two small ravioli came - I think 3 would've been more fair and the flavour was a bit on the subtle side. Though the broth it came with was delicious. I was asked if I wanted the duck 'medium rare' but unfortunately I found the duck to be a bit tough and overcooked.

I would without a doubt encourage you to have the wonderful Stichelton cheese. Absolutely divine. It comes with delicious crackers, sunflower seeds, an apricot / peach puree? and raisins still on the vine. It also comes with a salad. We truly adored the stichelton.

From the 'greedy' (dessert) selection, we ordered the 'chocolate cake' - more like a molten chocolate cake and also the whole roasted figs. The figs were just beautiful. Subtle in flavour, soft and melt in your mouth. The gateau basque was also delicious - crumbly on the outside and soft in the middle with a delicious fruity filling. The chocolate cake was lovely - dark rich chocolate - you can't really complain.

From the wine menu, I would encourage you to try the 'Greco di Tufo' white wine which is by the glass. we had 3 glasses each, but this is a very drinkable wine - fruity, smooth..! It would be nice if this wine is available by the bottle.

Red wines - we ordered a glass of the dolcetto d'alba and the volpolicella. Both were lovely.

As mentioned already, this turned out to be a wonderful evening. I'd definitely go and eat there again. To top it off, Michel Roux Jnr also turned up. He even said hello to us :) To top it all off, my girlfriend had tipped off the waitress on it being my birthday. They surprised us with a 'chocolate pizza' with candle - thank you so much -...

Caractère We have been coming to Caractère since 2019 and in that time have watched the team grow into where they are now. The food , wine and service improves with each visit. This is why when we heard the new that they had finally earned their well deserved recognition of a Michelin Star we couldn’t wait to go back again and celebrate with them.

This restaurant is set on Westbourne Park Road and only a five minute walk from the station or you can walk from Notting Hill and stroll through Portobello Road.

As I said we’d been coming for five years and in fact our latest visit was number 12 and when you consider we travel from Essex to West London then you will understand we think it is always well worth the trip.

When we arrived on Saturday we were greeted by Emily Roux herself and you could see how happy she was along with the rest of the team as all their hard work had paid off. We had a nice chat before being escorted by Matteo to our regular table.

We started with a drink while we browsed through the choices of menu. These were the Tasting Menu , A la Carte or the Lunch Menu. We opted for the tasting menu with the addition of the special dish of the day. While enjoying our drinks we were presented with a fabulous selection of snacks.

Our first course would be the special Handmade Gnocchetti with 30 month aged parmesan , vin jaune and black winter truffle and oh my god it was incredible.

Now it was time to begin the tasting menu with our first course from the CURIOS section the Roast Orkney Scallop with sea leek , black winter truffle , beurre noisette. We also enjoyed the other dish of Balfego Bluefish Tuna. We then moved to the SUBTLE where we both loved the “Acquerello Risotto “ with red sicilian prawn , green shiso and a bisque. Now onto the DELICATE section where thought the two fish courses were amazing. The Steamed Cornish Cod was a delight and the new Roast Monkfish with peas , smoke bacon , eel and a heavenly rich matelote sauce.

This led us to ROBUST which is the main course section. Here we chose both the dishes a Roast Squab Pigeon with mushroom , beetroot and plum along with the Saddle of Lamb with onions and peppers. These dishes were paired beautifully with two different red wines selected by sommelier Marco.

We then had a little break where it was nice to have a chat with head chef/owner Diego. He told us how pleased the team was in getting the star and their plans for the future. He then offered us the the choice to have a selection of the the three desserts on the menu to which we gladly excepted.

GREEDY - The first dessert was Chocolate heaven with hazelnut crisp , brownie and salted caramel , the second choice was the “Tart Bourdelaise” with Williams Pear , almond , vanilla then we finished with the Choux , passion fruit cremeux , coconut and almond praline. All three were absolutely delicious and paired once again perfectly with two sweet wines from Marco. This was a perfect way to end another amazing dining experience at Caractère.

With a coffee and petit fours this brought to and a truly fantastic afternoon. The food was once again stunning , the wines were excellent and the service was first class. I really can’t recommend a visit to Caractère highly enough as this team goes from strength to strength. As I said at the beginning we’ve now been twelve times and I can honestly say our next visit will not be to far away. Congratulations once again to Emily , Diego , Gaetano , Matteo , Marco and all the team for your well deserved Michelin Star and look forward to seeing you...

I have been there for dinner this week. I was very impressed from what I have seen on Internet and I dicided to go and try. I was prefering michelin star restaurants most of the times but I was very interested and I was believing that something good is happening there.

Upon my arrival I seen a nice looking restaurant, nice table and comfortable chair.

I did decide to go for tasting menu with a quite good selection of wine, thanks to sommelier.

Long story short, the food wasn't good although it was looking stunning. Everything was very beautiful plated and nice selection of plates.

The plates that save a bit the day was the starters, crab and veal sweetbreads. Very tasty and well presented, especially the crab. Also the pre dessert was one of the best I did try last year. Very simple but very balanced and tasty. Blood orange sorbet, orange and pistachio .

Worth mentioning was the bread .

Other than that very bad experience.

The temperature of the food was coming on the table was bearly hot.

The cod with scallop mousse probably the worst plate I ever had. Fish almost cold and the combination of sauce, fish and garnish didn't work. The other fish course that my girlfriend has and I did try a small piece was not bad.

And now we coming on main course. I have had venison and my girlfriend lamb. I did like the sides . Was very interested to get the lamb belly and the venison rib in the bbq but they came cold and hard .

The lamb had a very heavy and strong taste of lamb, not very delicate. Although nice try with the spinach and duck liver. I have had venison as a main. I got the last part of the loin , the end(tail) Which is not the best piece to get.

On top of that I get a piece almost raw. I do like medium rare cooking and I have not problem at all eating it but the piece I get was about to talk to me.

I called the waiter and he did change the plate for me. The second I did get inhad two small pieces which was better than the first with better caramelisation outside. Apparently the restaurant didn't show to me that they are sorry for that and they didn't take the plate out of the bill or give as glass of champagne or coffee later on from the house. I am not a person who ask for that and I am not looking to pay less so I didn't really care but I said that to show the way of the treating.

The service wasn't good at all. Apart of a very kind nice waitress, Angela. Thanks once again for the nice service. The rest of the team have had a weird attitude and the was looking all time on our table , not in a good way, like they are have to say something funny between them about us.

In conclusion, I left very disappointed about my experience from service and food and on my way out no-one came to say goodbye or thank you, especially after this issue on the main course, and I had to look for the waitress to get my jacket.

Nice looking food, taste needs a lot of work and service needs to change...