Kitchen Table

 3 stars in the making?

Aged pigeon and cherry

Kitchen Table is easily the best 2 Michelin stars restaurant in London, and for me always a good candidate to push to the 3 stars status. Having eaten there a few times, I always found from the strength to strength, the restaurant kept on improving, and is great to see chef-patron James has such passion and hunger to progress to go as far as possible. Since Covid, a major change happened, with the restaurant taken a massive revamp, taken over the sister restaurant space Bubbledogs and switched up to become a bar area, for diners to enjoy canapes and petit four. The price also had a big change, switched from a fixed £150 tasting menu to £250, a crazy change and has become the most expensive Michelin starred restaurant in the UK! Does it warrant the price?

Kitchen Table

Melon and radish

Cucumber and caviar

Summer berries and vinegar

BBQ mussels

Cornish native lobsters

The whole experience comes in a 20-course tasting menu format, it contains some classic dishes that the Kitchen Table is famous for, as well as brand new dishes using the finest British ingredients. One of the classics is the aged trout with a slice of foie on top, the trout had a really soft buttery taste, it had a nice pleasant dryness to it like a fine wine, and I found the use of foie on top was really clever as the soft earthy taste worked well with the richness of the trout. A new and truly wonderful dish was a BBQ lobster that was served with courgette and lemon, the lobster shelf was reused to cook up a beautiful stock, the seafood umami flavour of the dish was off the root. The pigeon cooking at Kitchen Table has always been top-notch, and this time is no different. The aged pigeon was super tender, and the salt-baked white beetroot worked so well with the meat thanks to its sweet and earthy profile. The dish was finished off with a black truffle sauce and it was indeed sensational.

Aged trout with foie

Stuffed truffle pasta

BBQ potato with caviar

Aged lamb 3 ways

Cheese and onion tart

Cherry

All in all, Kitchen Table delivered a really top-level counter dining experience, the concept is creative, refined and the whole dining experience as taken up a level with the bar food concept at the start and toward the end, the kitchen showing off its ingredients before getting to the plating stage was also a good touch as it helps for us to understand about the cooking concept, as well as the origin and care given into sourcing the perfect ingredients. The big question is, is it 3 stars level yet? for me yes if I benchmark it vs Core as I felt the cooking quality is similar, but given the price tag of £250, is just too expensive and I for sure have eaten better cooking at a much lower price (The Ledbury!). Kitchen Table is without a doubt a special, unique experience, but if are seeking value in the world of fine dining, there are other choices at a much more reasonable price.

Food 5/5


Average cost without drinks and services:
£250

70 Charlotte St, Bloomsbury, London W1T 4QG

https://kitchentablelondon.co.uk/