Sam's Kitchen Chiswick — Restaurant in London

Fine dining brings me out in Hives. Nervous waiters stumbling through painful descriptions of food and what’s been done to it. The clanking of cutlery on china drowning out murmurs of disapproval from people with too much money and not enough life in them to enjoy it. Dinner at SK describes itself as fine dining. But Maitre d’ Sam Harrison wrote the book on genuine hospitality (look up Sam’s Riverside and Sam’s Waterside to see how he rolls) so how’s that going to work? Well work it does and splendidly so. The ‘SK’ bit stands for Sam’s Kitchen, a venue that manages to blend cosy and chic without mashing up the blades. In the daytime it’s a bright and bubbly brunch place. But by night the low lighting transforms it into something more seductive. A sweeping marble bar to the right, tables to the left, lots of wood and ambient lighting in between to pull you in. Huge windows looking out onto Turnham Green Terrace. We’re in the heart of Tweetown but Sam’s Kitchen feels modern, smart, comfy and friendly. A warm welcome is followed by a cold glass of sparkles and the dreaded food spiel which, for once, is mercifully quick. It goes “One choice for each course and a veggie option if that suits you more. All seasonal. Changing every night. £55”. Music to our ears. Choice is an illusion. Pure folly. Time yourself next time you look through the Netflix menu. All that choice. All that time choosing. And the result? John Wick part VI. But get yourself to a place where skilled people love what they do and there isn’t much need for choice. That said, only a lunatic wouldn’t choose the miniature loaves with herb butter that come first. Warm and fluffy pillows of yeasty bread served with a quenelle of the good stuff. Good start. Crab salad is a triumph. People who wang on about balanced flavours are the same people who chat shit about a film’s wonderful cinematography or a song’s intricate bassline. So apologies for boring you about the way this dish was put together and the effect on the mouth it produces. It has to be done. The white crab meat is served as a quenelle and has finely chopped morsels of what I think are asian bits and bobs dispersed within. The yuzu and white soy dressing is mayonnaise based and one small finger dab confirms that this was made to be mixed in wholesale to the crab. The result is heavenly. The mandolined pickled turnip adds bite in both texture and taste. The black rice cracker that lays on top is a dramatic finish. Its nutty flavour is drawn out by the other elements. Put together carefully on a bit of cracker and duly deposited, the mouth is treated to something that is at once sweet and sour, crunchy and soft, warm and cool, sharp and comforting. Close your eyes as you eat it and apart from looking like a nob you’ll be magically transported to a kitchen where people put things on plates for an actual reason. Care and attention and thoughtfulness. Saddle of venison, Pomme Anna, damson and juniper forms our brilliantly executed main course. Delivered by someone who smiles and is genuinely excited as she brings it. Powerful taste. Beautiful presentation. Perfectly balanced flavours again. Chocolate and passionfruit delice is served with a white chocolate ice cream. The delice looks like a bar of gold and tastes as rich. The sweetness of the ice cream cuts through the richness of the delice and the zing of the passionfruit sauce cuts through the sweetness of the ice cream. It’s almost like these people do this on purpose. As the bill arrives I do a quick mental calculation. So by foregoing too many waiting staff, amuse bouches that don’t, a cloakroom attendant and a perplexing range of menu options I can eat two star Michelin food in relaxed surroundings served by people who are generous with their hospitality for the price of a trip to Five Guys...

I am unable to actually comment on the quality of food in this establishment. The man serving when we visited was so incredibly rude to my entire family when we arrived that we just ended up leaving.

We visited this cafe for breakfast during a recent trip to London for a special occasion. After waiting near the door to see if they had a vacant table (and being completely ignored by all the staff) we decided it was maybe just a case of sitting down at one of the vacant tables (there were several). There was no notice saying 'please wait to be seated' which led me to believe that this was the case.

An older guy who was serving (may have been the owner) evidently took huge umbridge to the fact we had done this. He loudly told my wife and daughter off and instructed them to wait near the door to be seated.

This was in full view of other customers, so consequently they were a bit shocked and embarrassed and immediately apologised (in hindsight i really wish they hadn't bothered).

He then came over and told us all of again (in front of several other customers) before 'shooing us away from the door' with the comment 'well I think we do need our front door - dont we - so if you would like to move out of the way' (making that annoying 'shoo' gesture with his hands).

1 of the other customers (also waiting) said 'i wouldn't have taken that'. I decided they were absolutely right so we left the café immediately. I really regret not addressing this directly, but as my family already felt quite humiliated I decided against causing a further scene at that time.

We then went to place over the road (Cote) where i have to say the service and food was absolutely brilliant (which was a nice end to what had started off as quite an unpleasant start...

Visited this place for breakfast with five friends, and unfortunately, it was a letdown from start to finish.

They don’t take bookings, which is fine. But even with plenty of empty tables, we had to wait to be seated. The staff looked confused, having open discussions in the middle of the restaurant like they were trying to solve a puzzle for us get seated. We were first squeezed into a table for four (six adults…), and only later moved to something more reasonable.

Ordering was fine, but that’s where the positives ended. Drinks came quickly, but the smoothies were bottled – not fresh, which was disappointing. Cutlery only arrived after the food did, which shouldn’t happen in any restaurant.

The food took a long time to come out and when it did, it was served in a weird, disjointed way. For example, a dish that was meant to be avocado toast with poached egg came out in separate pieces — the egg wasn’t even on the toast. On top of that, two different side dishes for two different people showed up together, on the same plate, so they had to awkwardly share until the staff could sort it out.

I had the French toast, which was just one thin slice of bread — supermarket-style quality — and an insult of a portion. I’ve had the same dish at Sam’s Kitchen in Hammersmith, and this was nowhere near it in quality or size.

The space is nice, but the experience was disorganised, slow, and disappointing. Definitely wouldn’t go back or...