The Silver Birch — Restaurant in London

I arrived at Silver Birch with high expectations, drawn in by the restaurant’s reputation for creativity and its clear ambition to achieve excellence. The passion of the kitchen was unmistakable, yet, regrettably, several serious missteps compromised the overall experience.

The beef tartare, typically a dish that exemplifies precision and finesse, was hampered by an unpleasant and unexpected textural issue—pieces of unchewable cartilage. This was a disruptive element that should never have left the kitchen. Similarly, the Devon Crab, otherwise delicately prepared, concealed a sharp shell fragment, rendering the dish not only uncomfortable but also dangerous to eat.

Perhaps most disappointing was the kitchen’s inflexibility. A much-heralded carrot course, traditionally accompanied by a gluten-containing cheese sauce, was served bare when no alternative could be offered—despite prior notification of dietary restrictions. What arrived at the table felt more like an afterthought than the carefully composed dish I had anticipated, leaving the presentation and flavor lacking the sophistication one would expect from a restaurant of this caliber.

At over £200 per person, these misjudgments became all the more pronounced. There is undoubtedly potential at Silver Birch, but if it aspires to truly compete at the top level, these inconsistencies need addressing. The foundation is there, but refinement...

Until Hawthorn closed in Kew there was no reason to come here as we stay loyal to restaurants as they need all the support they can get. We were also put off slightly by the negative reviews, which seemed plausible. Still we decided to give Silver Birch a try and were not disappointed. From the beginning. The amuse-bouche were all well executed, subtlety flavoured and enjoyable. Bread also good, and the two butters exemplary (if butters are allowed to be that). The crab starter was superb: delicate but rich. Initially I was a little underwhelmed by the beef tartare - more from the small portion size - but the beef was high quality, the flavours complex and complimentary, and I enjoyed that it had been thickly cut. We decided to go for two meat dishes as the main courses and I suspect we made the right choice as both the venison and the pigeon could not be faulted. Again high quality meats, cooked perfectly. Puddings excellent. Service was attentive and professional; and we liked the ambience of the room. It was clear that the chefs have well-honed skills and know what they're doing. Too often when dishes are a coming together of complex textures and flavours the result is a mess. This was not the case tonight. Not cheap of course but that's London pricing. The food itself was a very reasonable £65 a head but drinks and service will easily double the final price...

We are lucky enough to eat at good restaurants across London quite regularly and were hoping this would be a good local independent place we could come to more regularly

And so we really wanted to love Silver Birch. Perhaps the expectations were hard to meet; perhaps it was the chefs night off but our food was very poorly executed and my wine (by the glass) was on the turn…

We took the little gem and duck starters. The former tasted like an over dressed Caesar salad made with wilted leaves (very lemony and covered in olive oil; it just didn’t work as a dish) and the duck was absolutely swimming in soy sauce (v different to the photos I have just seen on here). The duck was perfectly cooked but it could have been basically anything served in soy sauce with a few olives on top.

Mains we had chicken and steak with garlic potatoes. The chicken had a soggy batter which was actually quite nasty The steak was slightly unusual but tasty. The garlic potatoes were very oily.

The knickerbocker glory was excellent

Service started off outstanding but deteriorated slightly (change of staff)

I will try again but right now my view would be that dinner for 2 at £120-150 I would rather get in a taxi and go elsewhere like a Jason Atherton restaurant or one of the very many good restaurants along the old Brompton road or up to Notting hill. Or la trompette...