Bill Granger’s first restaurant in the UK – no relation to the confusingly-titled Bill’s – opened in Westbourne Grove in 2011 to mixed reviews. This second branch has been better received, not least because they accept bookings, making getting a table less of a lottery and avoiding the need to queue. The large dining room is spacious and bright, with verdant views over a churchyard. The brunch and lunch menu are particularly popular, and the ricotta-filled hotcakes (ie US-style pancakes) with banana and honeycomb butter might just be the best brunch dish in London.
Other dishes worth ordering are the Korean fried chicken, which is crisp and goes well in a lettuce leaf wrap with a chilli dip. Appetisers are fun too, such as a dip of whipped tofu and avocado served with a radishes and flax and chia crackers. Least successful was cardboard-like tacos filled with braised lentils, as both the flatbread and the pulses were too dry. There’s a small selection of cakes on display at a counter, including an Aussie-style rocky road cake.