Ad - Delicious food with no menu fear

For over a month now, Sam's Kitchen on Turnham Green Terrace has been running a new venture called Dinner at SK. From Thursday to Saturday, you can come for dinner for a seasonal set menu with optional accompanying wines.

At first, we wondered what it would be like to have no choice in the menu. What if Sam had dusted off some olde recipes for tripe or discovered some long lost tins of fruit cocktail he wanted to use up? But silly us: as an experienced restauranteur, if there is one thing Sam knows, it's what people want to eat.

And in fact, having no choice made the evening much more relaxed. It was a bit like visiting friends for dinner knowing that they were really, really good cooks. No panicking over the menu, no food selection regrets when your companion seemingly makes better choices, no rushed ordering when a waiter has a pencil poised over a pad.

The restaurant was full the evening we visited with a real mix of young and old and couples and larger groups. We were having the wine pairing so were quickly supplied with wonderfully chilled glasses of Spanish Albarino white wine. Then 2 cute little miniature loaves of freshly baked bread arrived with a pat of butter with Chiswick House garden herbs. You can't go wrong with hot bread and these were just heavenly.

The starter was diver caught scallop with saffron beurre blanc, chorizo & sea herbs served in a scallop shell. The scallop was beautifully soft and the generous portion of beurre blanc velvety and rich.

The main course was Devonshire chicken breast, glazed chicken wing, Scottish girolles, braised leeks & fondant potato. Chicken is a particular favourite of mine and this did not disappoint. The chicken was nicely cooked - again soft and moist and had clearly taken advantage of the Devonshire air as it was full of flavour. The potato was as decadent as a fondant potato should be and the leeks and sauce perfect with it. This came with a glass of Italian Blauburgunder red. I know some people are very rigid about having white wine with chicken but I've no truck with that. Red wine is wonderful and goes with everything in my book and this was no exception.

Normally, we wave away the dessert menu in restaurants due to being 'elegantly replete' after our main courses. But - alleluia! - thanks to the careful thought put into the balance of the starter and main course, we could dive in with enthusiasm. So a Muscovado Custard, Caramelised Banana & Hazelnut ice cream paired with Rutherglen Muscat from Australia times two it was. Again, this is something I probably wouldn't have chosen and more fool me - the custard was a bit like a particularly tasty creme brulee and the ice cream on top a chilly treat.

The service throughout was excellent and the food delivered at pleasantly measured pace.

So if you suffer from indecision or just like delicious surprises, I'd definitely recommend calling in at 59-61 Turnham Green Terrace one weekend soon.

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December 3, 2024