Local roast dinner aficionados test drive Napa Restaurant’s latest offering

Very occasionally I stop being an embarrassment to my children and receive vague acknowledgement that I have uses other than free taxi and laundry service. Being invited to the launch of the Chiswick Moran Hotel’s Sunday Roasts last weekend was one such rare instance. Sadly the roast on a Sunday is one of the ever decreasing numbers of meals we eat together as a family and therefore considered sacrosanct in my household and to have it cooked for us in a restaurant was a real treat.

Husband and son arrived fresh from the rugby pitch (son playing and husband shouting from the sidelines which he claims works up an equal hunger!) and joined my two daughters and me in the hotel’s Napa Restaurant where we discovered the wonder that is the new Sunday Lunch Menu.

Priced at an extremely reasonable £15.00 per person (£7.50 for children) one could legitimately assume that the price covers far less than the four courses on offer (even for the children).

To begin a buffet starter selection of salads was offered, followed by soup of the week which on this instance was a delicious parsnip and apple veloute equally enjoyed by parents and children alike.

The main courses offered a choice of roast Irish rump of beef with Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes, roast free range chicken with chestnut stuffing and roast potatoes, butternut squash risotto or Scottish smoked salmon with dill beurre blanc.

After deliberation worthy of a G8 summit, the children chose roast beef. Child friendly portions are offered for all courses and whilst smaller portions are normally sniffed at by my eldest, he was glad for once that he heeded his mother’s advice. My husband chose the roast chicken which, aside from not wanting to miss out on the meat/fish fest and thinly veiled as ‘research’, left the salmon for me.

The Yorkshire puddings are truly awesome and have to been seen to be believed – no one managed to finish them. I was subjected to an awkward 20 minutes trying to dodge being questioned how I make mine - surely that’s what M&S is for? The beef was tender and again plentiful, the roast chicken wonderfully succulent and salmon cooked perfectly. The main courses are accompanied by a selection of roasted winter vegetables with maple syrup and nutmeg and mashed potatoes though to everyone but me (who didn’t have roast potatoes) these were superfluous as the generous portions already on the plates were more than adequate.

We took our waiter’s recommendation of a heady South African red ambiguously called The Wolf Trap (£19.50) to accompany our main courses and were really impressed. The children, engrossed in their food, were happy with their jug of iced tap water.

The more fainthearted in our party declined desert, but two children made a sterling effort to make a dent in a couple of bramley apple and sultana crumbles with homemade custard – the spoonful I sneaked was truly sublime. I took the virtuous high ground with a fresh fruit salad although by this time the damage to my waistline was all but complete.

For those children who are not fans of the roast dinner, junior sized dishes of sausages with mash, grilled chicken with mash or chips or burger and chips with beans are also offered in place of the main course in the four course menu.

To surmise – excellent food at an unbelievable price but do make sure you’re hungry! The service is friendly and attentive and with plenty of space, this is a great location for a family meal – indeed we bumped into friends whilst there who echoed our thoughts.

A wonderful time was had by all, indeed my husband and I managed not to embarrass our children for an extremely enjoyable couple of hours and we left in no doubt that this new initiative by the Chiswick Moran Hotel has the makings of a great success.

Emma Brophy

January 11, 2007