This is the first UK outlet from Australian Bill Granger (restaurateur and author of a number of cookery books). Notting Hill has taken to this simply decorated, no-bookings eaterie with a passion – queues form at weekends for brunch, and even early in the week the tightly packed tables and stools along the bar are fully occupied. It’s no wonder: the room is appealing and light-filled, the global menu inventive without being alarming, and the cooking assured.
There are snacks (crispy salt and pepper squid with lime aïoli), starters (ceviche salmon with grapefruit, avocado and sesame), pasta dishes, a steak and a burger, plus a range of globe-trotting dishes; lunch sees more soups, sandwiches and salads. At dinner, both the beef burger (which came with tomato relish and pickled courgette, and had a proper meaty taste) and fried brown rice packed with crab, chorizo and kimchee (punchy in all the right ways) passed with flying colours; the next table enthused about tumeric-spiced chicken with ’slaw, and lime and coconut dressing.
Prices are on the high side, but portions are generous – especially the puddings. A heap of banana fritters were perfectly matched with caramel and honey ice-cream, and a bowl-like white chocolate and pistachio pavlova groaned under a mass of strawberries and rosewater cream.