The Kitchen Table — Restaurant in Richmond

As a local to the area I was very excited that the kitchen table was back up and running. My parents and I visited this evening, the parking lot was overflowing so it was certainly a busy night!

We received some buns to start the meal off- they were very light and lovely. I got my favorite cocktail-a bee’s knees- which was solid. For starters we got the arancini (perfectly crisp on the outside, ooey gooey in the center), the harvest salad (more sweet potatoes in salads please! Also I usually detest fennel but it was well placed here), and the potato cheddar ale soup. THE SOUP, ya’ll. If you’re a Richmond local, you may remember Toscano. Specifically, their potato soup. That soup was one of my favorites of all time, and the kitchen table’s soup brought back that flavor memory so strongly. It was surprisingly light considering the main ingredients (potato, cheese, beer, and lots of cream) and it had that perfect midway consistency between thick and thin. Order the soup.

My dad and I both got the pappardelle (his with Italian sausage, mine without). The squash and broccolini were roasted to perfection, each of their flavors added significantly to the dish. The pasta itself was thin, with just the right amount of chew, and you can tell it had been made this morning. And all of that cozied up in a rich butter sauce? So savory. So smooth. Again somehow light even with traditionally heavy flavors. My mom got the short ribs which she devoured. Loved the sweet potato mash and the brussels sprouts on the side.

We managed to save room for the Matilda cake, which is not for the faint of heart. It was a gigantic slice, with three layers of dark chocolate cake, sandwiched between a light and fluffy chocolate buttercream, a chocolate ganache coating the exterior, and a little chocolate cookie crumb on top of that. This is the cake you wish you were eating while watching the Great British Baking Show. The bitterness of the cake itself and the lightness of the buttercream means that even if you’re full, you can handle at least 2 full forks worth of cake. And you’ll happily eat the rest tomorrow…. Or this evening, I...

This place was really highly recommended and I hope we just came on a bad night. Walking up to the building we felt like we were in for a treat. Gorgeous building!

We had the poutine which was so salty we could barely eat it. The fries on their own were awesome but the gravy was beyond salty and I generally love salt. We were expecting the baked Brie to be warm if not hot but it was cold. Just a Brie round with jam on it with toast on the side. If the Brie had been warm or hot it would have been! The Brussel sprouts were charred to the point where they were almost inedible. I tend to like a bit of color on my brussel sprouts but these were almost cremated.

Our mains were okay—nothing super special about it. We got the Matilda cake for dessert. We had drooled over pictures of it online and it was mentioned in a Seven Days article as being amazing as well. We were pretty excited to try it. The cake itself was really dry. The cake in Matilda was almost ridiculously moist and I was expecting that. But instead the texture was more like it had sat cut in the fridge for a week and all the moisture was gone. I think it was the most disappointing part to be honest. The buttercream was great though.

As others said the service was okay. Definitely didn’t get a welcoming vibe at all. Delivered the bill with the dessert like we needed to leave immediately.

Ultimately our mood going into the restaurant was loads different than walking out. I’m really hoping we just happened to be in on a bad night. It was definitely disappointing for the price. Hoping if we make it back it will be a...

I was one of a party of four for early dinner on Wednesday evening. The food was delicious. I especially enjoyed the rolls, the brussels sprouts appetizer, and the salmon and veggie pasta. Portions are large, I had plenty left over for lunch the next day. Service was also good. The old house is really pretty and interesting.

That said, the restaurant was extremely loud. Though some rooms in the restaurant were completely empty, they packed in almost all the table in the small room we occupied. Everyone in the room kept having to speak more and more loudly. That was especially unpleasant as my husband and I are hearing impaired. No setting on our very modern hearing aids could dim the surrounding noise.

I measured the noise level on the Soundprint app (https://www.soundprint.co/) and it rated as 'Loud', averaging 79 dB. So, not just my opinion.

If the whole restaurant had been full, I could have understood the crowded room, but it made no sense. I wish they'd inconvenience the servers a bit, and make the experience nicer for paying customers. We won't be going back.

There was also an "optional" kitchen staff service charge. I'm happy to pay that, as I think all restaurant staff should be paid what they deserve, and I know it is hard for restaurateurs to raise menu prices to cover wages. However, the "optional" 4.5% charge appeared on our bill by default, and to make it optional, one would have to ask for a new check with the option removed. We left a 20% tip for the service, as...