La Trompette

[david goodfellow]

I like Chiswick, I like its high street, its side streets, its shopping, but most of all its accessability from the M1.

My various trips to London usually involve speedy motorway journey,s, then involve the "other" type of nose to tail that I detest,

The snail pace journey into the centre.

Our journey could not have been any sweeter than pulling into Devonshire Road on a sunny Saturday lunchtime with a vacant parking spot virtually opposite La Trompette.

Devonshire Road has a villagey sort of feel to it which I find charming.

Spoilt for choice, we decided to eat inside, but I noticed that the tables for two were a little bit lacking in the way of a decent view for us both.

This was soon rectified, as a table for four (table 20) was relaid to accommodate us.

I think this is one of the best tables in the room.

Service throughout was exceptional, especially from William Bonfield the assistant restaurant manager, ( ex Box Tree)

Now I'm sure loads of Egulleters have dined here, and I'm kind of amazed that there is no threads on it, but please add your thoughts, I'm interested.

Choice of six, at each course had us salivating, as we fancied some straight forward food in the mould of Chez Bruce and The Glasshouse.

Ravioli of Scallop mousseline and Cornish crab served with crushed peas and a shellfish emulsion was extremely more -ish , as was the generous helping of Mackerel fillet, king prawn beignet, avocado puree, in a soy and sesame sauce sprinkled with coriander and sliced radish.

I chose an extra main course, just for the hell of it, which was plated so that we could both enjoy it, Royal Bream, crushed potatoes, tapenade, aubergine puree, tomato and basil vinaigrette.

Meltingly tender shoulder of new season Lamb was served simply with creamed potato, battons of tasty carrot, and a Madeira sauce

Grilled calves liver and bacon, potato gnocchi, onion rings, rosemary and mustard was a real bit of comfort food.

Desserts were excellent,

Big portion of Rum baba, with a decent slug of said spirit, accompanied by some fantastic glazed strawberries, and creme chantilly.

Best of all was a terrific Valrhona chocolate marquise, macadamia praline, caramel, chickory creme, vanilla ice cream.

I'm sure there was some hazelnut in there as well, it really was top notch.

The wine list by the glass is so user friendly, it tempts you to try various ones without breaking the bank

All in all this is not just a good neighbourhood restaurant, its as good (if not better) as many other Michelin starred restaurants we have dined at.

Don't just go if you are in the area, its well worth a special journey

2 x 3 course lunches £50

1 extra main course £13.50

1 x Santorini £4.50

1 x Zinfandel £5.50

1 x Rioja £6.00

1 x Touriga £3.50

1 x Bical £3.50

Jug of Thames water Foc

Service charge £10.81

Total £97.31

Edited July 16, 2009 by david goodfellow (log)

[howardlong]

It's been one of my favourites for quite some time. The wine list in particular is worth a trip, being relatively reasonably priced compared to Central London, in particular the sweeties.

Cheers, Howard

[food1]

Its what I consider a proper restaurant, not flash, no pretention, just really appealling food that you what to eat.

Also been a favourite place of mine for a long time. We are actually back down at the restaurant on Saturday, 25th for Mrs big 40 birthday!!

I think all the restaurants under the platts-martin umbrella are class acts. Not too keen on the glasshouse though. For me its the weakest of the bunch.

[david goodfellow]

Its what I consider a proper restaurant, not flash, no pretention, just really appealling food that you what to eat.

Also been a favourite place of mine for a long time. We are actually back down at the restaurant on Saturday, 25th for Mrs big 40 birthday!!

I think all the restaurants under the platts-martin umbrella are class acts. Not too keen on the glasshouse though. For me its the weakest of the bunch.

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I think it was in one of your recent posts that you suggested that you were a fan, which reminded me that I needed to visit.

Strangely enough they gave me a half price voucher for the Glasshouse and I may well visit, even though it seems to attract mixed reviews.

[howardlong]

Its what I consider a proper restaurant, not flash, no pretention, just really appealling food that you what to eat.

Also been a favourite place of mine for a long time. We are actually back down at the restaurant on Saturday, 25th for Mrs big 40 birthday!!

I think all the restaurants under the platts-martin umbrella are class acts. Not too keen on the glasshouse though. For me its the weakest of the bunch.

←

Hmm, I quite like the Glasshouse too. My least favourite of the bunch is The Square, although I feel I may be in the minority with that one. I never have figured out why The Square deserved one let alone two stars based on my visits there (although the food was OK bar the incessant use of cappuccino'ing every sauce, the service was what really let it down for me, for example staff including maitre d' not knowing anything about the miniscule cheese selection).

H

[david goodfellow]

Its what I consider a proper restaurant, not flash, no pretention, just really appealling food that you what to eat.

Also been a favourite place of mine for a long time. We are actually back down at the restaurant on Saturday, 25th for Mrs big 40 birthday!!

I think all the restaurants under the platts-martin umbrella are class acts. Not too keen on the glasshouse though. For me its the weakest of the bunch.

←

Hmm, I quite like the Glasshouse too. My least favourite of the bunch is The Square, although I feel I may be in the minority with that one. I never have figured out why The Square deserved one let alone two stars based on my visits there (although the food was OK bar the incessant use of cappuccino'ing every sauce, the service was what really let it down for me, for example staff including maitre d' not knowing anything about the miniscule cheese selection).

H

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I had a look at The Square earlier today, I've only been the once, and quite some time ago.

I fancied something for this weekend, but decided against it as the pricing put me off a bit.

Its not reviewed at all, yet for a two star place I'm a bit surprised to say the least.

There are some terrific bargains in London currently so I ended up booking somewhere else, although when I have my more serious head on I will give it a try perhaps.

[genuineness]

Its what I consider a proper restaurant, not flash, no pretention, just really appealling food that you what to eat.

Also been a favourite place of mine for a long time. We are actually back down at the restaurant on Saturday, 25th for Mrs big 40 birthday!!

I think all the restaurants under the platts-martin umbrella are class acts. Not too keen on the glasshouse though. For me its the weakest of the bunch.

←

Hmm, I quite like the Glasshouse too. My least favourite of the bunch is The Square, although I feel I may be in the minority with that one. I never have figured out why The Square deserved one let alone two stars based on my visits there (although the food was OK bar the incessant use of cappuccino'ing every sauce, the service was what really let it down for me, for example staff including maitre d' not knowing anything about the miniscule cheese selection).

H

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Howard, may I ask when was your visit to the Square? I recently visited last Monday and the service was exemplary although while chatting with the maitre'd he did admit that before he arrived, service was in shambles as the restaurant went through a period of multiple short-stay maitre'ds which may explain the very poor service.

They also hv cut down on the number of sauces with foam in them... unless of course you go for the lasagna of dorset crab with er... shellfish cappucino

[food1]

The Square has always been bang on for me, where as I've visted The Capital twice, and have pondered as to how the the place has a two star rating.??Loved the wines, but I thought the food was a real mixed bag. Then again, I've pondered over how a few restaurants have star ratings. Thats another thread I suppose.

[Matthew Grant]

I had a look at The Square earlier today, I've only been the once, and quite some time ago.

I fancied something for this weekend, but decided against it as the pricing put me off a bit.

Its not reviewed at all, yet for a two star place I'm a bit surprised to say the least.

There are some terrific bargains in London currently so I ended up booking somewhere else, although when I have my more serious head on I will give it a try perhaps.

←

No reviews? I found three dedicated threads:

The Square 1

The Square 2

The Square 3

[NatashaH]

The other restaurant in the group is Chez Bruce, just on Wandsworth Common. A bit off the beaten track for most, but it's the perfect neighbourhood restaurant. The food is - in my experience at least - startlingly good, without being pretentious. It's mainly French, although it digresses into Italy occasionally or the occasional Asian nuance - the slow-cooked bunny with polenta and 'nicoise' jus is sublime. Like all the other restaurants, the wine list is a stonker too...

[david goodfellow]

The other restaurant in the group is Chez Bruce, just on Wandsworth Common. A bit off the beaten track for most, but it's the perfect neighbourhood restaurant. The food is - in my experience at least - startlingly good, without being pretentious. It's mainly French, although it digresses into Italy occasionally or the occasional Asian nuance - the slow-cooked bunny with polenta and 'nicoise' jus is sublime. Like all the other restaurants, the wine list is a stonker too...

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Tried a few times to get a table on a Saturday/Sunday without much luck, however I generally leave it late to decide on where I want to eat,(3 or 4 days max) so perhaps a bit of extra planning is in order.

[howardlong]

Howard, may I ask when was your visit to the Square?

Sure, about five years ago! However, those occasions were bad enough such that I'm not at all interested on risking it again. Of course, if someone else is paying, then that might change my mind!

Cheers, Howard

[howardlong]

The Square has always been bang on for me, where as I've visted The Capital twice, and have pondered as to how the the place has a two star rating.??Loved the wines, but I thought the food was a real mixed bag. Then again, I've pondered over how a few restaurants have star ratings. Thats another thread I suppose. 

←

You see it's different strokes for different folks here: I really like the Capital, although I would accept that I found earlier visits several years ago were a bit of a "mixed bag".

Cheers, H

[food1]

Visted here a week ago. Another very enjoyable experience. The only duff note was an under cooked souffle, which wasn't a big deal, but the chef was pissed off with himself. Good to know some still care!! (Wasn't charged for pudd by the way). Good service by Will, who seems right at home in the place now.

One of the pudds they have on at the mo, is a 'lemon meringue pie' with a black currant sorbet. It looked superb and I would have definately choose, if wasn't intolerant to eggs and blackcurrant!! Was going to suffer the consequences but had to fly next day

Had the grilled calves liver, which was just the job. Yum

The folks of Chiswick are a lucky bunch. That said, I bet most don't know the place is there

[cachan]

The folks of Chiswick are a lucky bunch. That said, I bet most don't know the place is there

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The folks of Chiswick DO know this place is there, which is why this place has been quite busy for years.

[food1]

The folks of Chiswick are a lucky bunch. That said, I bet most don't know the place is there

←

The folks of Chiswick DO know this place is there, which is why this place has been quite busy for years.

←

Well top marks to Chiswick then!

[food1]

Forgot to say, sister restaurant, The Greenhouse is doing a cracking deal until the end of August.

They are offering their dinner menu at half price. Its something like £18 n something for three courses. Offer valid on every night of the week they are open (not Sat). I think they are doing the same offer for lunch but not 100% sure.

So if your in or around kew, then looks like you could be on to a winner

[cachan]

This half-price offer at The Glasshouse is only available if you have received a special voucher after eating at Chez Bruce or La Trompette, during August only.

[Man]

We have finally tried La Trompette for a Saturday lunch and, as so often, we agree with David: it was a thoroughly pleasant experience.

A starter of mackerel in two ways (mousse + escabeche) was particularly impressive, a fresh, rich zingy and very precisely assembled dish. Crab with asparagus was very simply plated and had excellent raw materials, though living 3 miles from Anstruther (where we enjoy, just caught, some of the best crabs in the UK) has made it difficult for us to be overly impressed by crab dishes.

Mains were a gentle lamb offering with broad beans puree (almost too gentle for me, though Woman liked it because that's the way they like it in Rome, from where she is), and a more powerful cod of excellent quality.

To conclude we went for the cheese option. The serving waitress was on top of her job and had a real understanding of her material, and the cheeses we tried were excellent and in very good condition. A creme brulee was more than OK.

As so often happens to us, we were not too impressed by the espresso. We had candidly told the cheese waitress that we wanted to go for filter coffee because of our fussines about espresso and we feared a 'French' one...but this of course stimulated her French pride, and she insisted on preparing the espresso personally for us. In the end she was so sweet that we just pretended to like it (exactly the same that happened to me at Pied a Terre). No matter.

As others have said, the wine list is one of the most appealing features of La Trompette. We had a truly excellent Bierzo for just over £40. As we didn't finish the bottle, they offered to seal it for us to take it home. Nice service.

For something like £120 we had a thoroughly satisfying lunch of fine cuisine and we were very well attended to (only the maitre d' looked strange, distracted and and nervous to us, maybe he had some issue going on, but apart form the initial order we had no more to do with him). Paul Merton was sitting at a nearby table and his contagious, loud laughters contributed to creating a jovial atmosphere. To conclude a pleasant afternoon we recommend a walk around Chiswick (a nice village where we used to live when we could still almost call ourselves young, over ten years ago).

[marcusjames]

Anthony Boyd, who was at sister restaurant The Glasshouse for years, and pretty much made it what is today, has returned to the fold after a brief spell in his native Wales. He's been cooking at La Trompette for about 4 months now. The restaurant was always good, but I've a visit penciled now he's back at the stoves - the man can cook! I just hope his long-standing signature of the pigeon salad and truffled egg is on; that remains one of my all time top starters.

[Matthew Grant]

I like Chiswick, I like its high street, its side streets, its shopping, but most of all its accessability from the M1.

You've got a treat and a half coming up then, not sure if I can say too much at the moment but I suspect that quality wise it will be a lot more ambitious than La Trompette.

[david goodfellow]

I like Chiswick, I like its high street, its side streets, its shopping, but most of all its accessability from the M1.

You've got a treat and a half coming up then, not sure if I can say too much at the moment but I suspect that quality wise it will be a lot more ambitious than La Trompette.

You got my juices flowing now.

If you can reveal, and don't want to share you can always pm me. I promise that I will keep it to myself.