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When I have found that some times back this place was favorite corner of Princess Diana I made myself a promise to come and visit this place one day. Of course, checking the reviews I had to be ready to be able to pay, but I will say that after experiencing the service and food aspects and the whole atmosphere of the room and dimming lights all of that was worth the money we paid. It was a special occasion for me and my bf and I have chosen this place for this celebration. I will say I didn't do a mistake. From the very first minute we have been welcomed by smiling Italian gentlemen in the suit who showed us the way to our table. The atmosphere was so intimidating and lovely. We sticked to the taster menu and wine pairing and it was a true indulgence and diving into gastronomic orgasm. Thank you chef Ben Murphy and another lovely and well mannered waiter, I recall him as Matia. Great explanation from the wine expert (true expert despite of being seemingly young). I wish to come back soon as another special occasion will come over. And thank you for such a special day.
We've been visiting Launceston Place for a while and it was with some trepidation that we learned that the head chef was changing.
However, all the changes have been very positive. I was also unsure when they announced that they were redecorating and going for a more lighter look. But that has worked out very well too.
Ben Murphy has done a superb job of lifting the already high reputation to even greater heights. We've been able to speak with him a few times and he's always been very open about his thoughts and plans.
As we're infrequent regulars all the staff are always super friendly with us, right from the bar staff, through to the sommeliers and waiters. The GM (Sandro) always treats us like family too.
From the moment you walk into the door, the staff are keen to take care into your experience. They are very attentive and know every aspect you need to know about the food and drinks, for me this is very rare. They do what they can to make you feel welcome. Me and my girlfriend visited and decided to go for the tasting menu, I was very keen to try as much food as i could and I was nothing but blew away from each course!! I have followed chef Ben Murphy for many years and visiting today I was not disappointed, his food is very tasty as well as smart, creative and modern. Every element is there for a reason and that is clear by the way each dish tastes. Very impressed and is definitely destined to do well. Thank you so much for an amazing experience.
It seems that in these exciting times, we are more and more gripped by political spectacle. Although in some cases the worries seemed wholly justified. Just look at Brexit and the recent White House elections for a start. Those did not go the way that people thought. Conversely, sometimes it seems to just be a lot of hot air. The recent electoral worries that gripped the western world seems to have been halted in France. The world still seemed a toastier day than it seemed this time last year.
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Date night and the wish list comes out! This beauty was on my doorstep the whole time and I didn't realise. Yes, ashamed.
The moment we walked in we were treated with smiles and respect. The service here is truly exceptional, not snooty, smiley and helpful.
I believe the menu on Zomato is out of date, they serve 3 courses for £55 not £40. But still just as worth it. They bring tasters to your table and the first one was a mini fish croquette, I wish I did what the other table did and told them it fell on the floor to get another one. To start I had the goats cheese, as my partner put it, the best goats cheese we've ever had. The combination of flavours works in this dish, there are no missing cravings. This dish encapsulates them all.
The main, cod. Okay, so I've had cod many times before, but I've never truly 'tasted' cod until this dish. It's cooked to literal and scientific perfection. Falling apart on your fork, you smell what you believe to be standard cod but really, once it hits your tongue... your pupils dilate, your mouth salivates and you finally experience cod for what it is. Stunning.
Dessert, I ordered the satsuma. Now I'm normally the biggest foe of raisons. But thankfully, the talented chef created a dish where I said "YES. MORE RAISONS". Something that's never uttered out of my mouth unless I'm consuming a savoury dish. Creamy, light, spongey and citrussy, this was a true treat.
I highly recommend this restaurant for a special family dinner, a date, or a few friends who appreciate good cuisine.
The food was exceptionally well presented, most of the dishes had good combination of ingredients, the staff was extremely polite and know what they are doing. only one negative thing i can say about my tasting menu from the evening; the duck egg.. it was very disappointing as it really needed a substantial companion to have it with instead of eating the whole big yolked soft poached duck egg on it's own...the companion the chef chose for the duck egg was miniature celeriac pieces (for the non-pork menu) and i cannot say it was the best combination to be honest, but everything else was perfect.. so this place deserve rating 5.
'Strawberry Eton Mess' was the star of the evening..
My last supper at Launceston Place (While Tim is still head chef) was such a mind boggling experience, dish after dish of top quality plates of food with elegant presentation. Not a single dish failed to reach my expectations.
I had perfect lunch here last week when I went to London with my husband. The place was located at a nice point. Staff was attentive when we arrived. Menu was good. The Amuse bouches, petits fours with coffee was very good. They give a little touch of theirs in everything, which is very good. The duck egg starter was perfection and for mains I had Jon dory; the pasta, it was delicious. Both puddings we shared were beautifully presented and the portions were ideals. I would wait for my next visit and definitely recommended.
My wife took me here for dinner. A great place on a very nice location. Very friendly staff and amazing serving. Menu was good and food was served really quickly. I had the quail as the first course and loved the sauce on the main plate - it was just the perfect mix of tastes and never knew quail meat can taste so good. I also had duck meat as the main course. It was just amazing. At the end I had roasted pineapple as the desert. It was probably the best pineapple I have ever had. I really enjoyed my night here. I would love to come back here.
Amazing food! Highly recommend it. Set menu is well priced and food is extremely delicious, fresh and unique. Location and internal deco is great as well.
From partying in East London on Saturday night in weird bars to lunch in a Michelin star restaurant in West London on Sunday. Launceston Place provided us with the perfect hangover lunch. . We started off with white polenta bonbon with tomatoes and duck egg with bacon and foie gras. Really enjoyed the polenta bonbon which was all gooey and amazing inside. The duck egg was lovely as well however there are quite a few restaurants doing a similar dish so it was less of a surprise compared with the polenta bonbon.
Food And Drinks Noob
+4.5
My ninth visit to the one Michelin starred Launceston Place, I am a big fan of Head chef's Tim Allen's innovative modern European cuisine, taking the best ingredients that are in season and delivering a taste bud sensation with modern cooking techniques and creative ideas.
A really special place, for a really special meal. Took my wife for her birthday and we were treated to a gastronomic feast. Ok, so you know it's going to be expensive (bill for the two of us £375.00), but does it really matter? When food's this good it shouldn't and it didn't. Just go and keep going - you won't tire of this lovely place
Food And Drinks Noob
+4.5
Once again I went for the tasting menu, glazed duck breast was a really ambitious dish with an uncommon ingredient combination of duck, eel, beetroot and foie gras.
We had the tasting menu. This was a mixed experience. In general food tasted much better than it looked (very bland presentation) and table service wasn't quite up to par ("Left, right, where do i put this? not sure". "Should I tell you what's in your plate?") I think they were training a few folks that night. Everything felt a bit rushed. Warm welcome before that though. Loved the mushroom mousse with hazelnuts we started with but wasn't on the menu. Overall a nice dinner. They need to get a few seasoned waiters and work on making these plates a little more exciting or at least intriguing.
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Otherwise known as Very Special Place. I finally made it! And this is now officially my second favourite place in the UK after The Sportsman. Fact.
In terms of good signs of a restaurant...while we were having coffee the waiter started clearing tablecloths around us and I started having a word, at which point Himself pointed out it was 1am and we'd been there for 5 hours, and maybe, just maybe, it was OK for them to clear the tables...to be at a restaurant for 5 hours and at no point feel bored, or let down, or not looked after...I think it should be renamed Very Special Place.
As has been mentioned, the dining rooms are lovely - black walls, white nappery, would like to replicate at home. Kir Royale to start with devilled potato crisps tied up in a little ribbon, sweet. We had the tasting menu:
Amuse bouche of celery sorbet, walnut foam, candied walnut and apple batons - deconstructed waldorf. I am usually a hater of foams and swooshes, but this one actually made sense.
Beef tartare with anchovy and chervil toast, then roasted scallop with sea purslane and buckthorn (someone's been to Noma) - great. They cook the scallop in its shell, flat on the pan so it steams in its own juices. Lovely.
Truffled duck egg on toast, oh my. Perfectly poached, generously truffled.
Baked sole with brown butter, shrimp, more purslane.
Roast venison loin with beetroot and artichoke for him; milk fed lamb chops with sorrel for me. I won :)
Lemon posset with marjoram jelly as a palate cleanser then chocolate souffle with Laphroiag cream. I'm not a chocolate person but this were grand.
The sommelier was super helpful - we alternated between a 2006 Meerlust Rubicon and an Alsation Pinot Gris, both great choices.
Can't recommend enough.
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Personality on a plate.. Set lunch at Launceston Place is extremely good value at £20 for 3 courses. Selections are limited to 3 choices per course but they all sounded very appetising, so should have broad enough appeal. I like the dining rooms - all luxurious, modern, comfortable & cosy.
Service was professional & attentive. They even acknowledged me with a 'welcome back', which I thought was a nice touch. Food is modern British fine dining that uses good quality, seasonal ingredients. First signs were good: an entire loaf of excellent in-house baked bread was presented on a wooden board with good butter and even better pickled herrings. The bread was light and fluffy, with a proper crust, and more impressively, was wonderfully seasoned.
Isle of Wight tomato, basil cappuccino was a fancy bowl of intense tomato soup topped with a chilled basil foam. The flavours were good, distinctive & strong, and I enjoyed the duo temperatures at play. Beef, beetroot & wild garlic risotto was a playful dish that uses grated beetroot to act as the risotto and doesn't actually contain any rice. It even has an 'al dente' texture, and was also very intense in flavour with some beef marrow and carpaccio. Very good starters that showed various forms of preparations & some imagination.
More mains, we both had a more down-to-Earth roasted duck leg with mashed potato & confit garlic. All the elements were well executed & complimented well but not as exciting as the starters. Desserts perked our interests again with a sublime dark chocolate & raspberry mousse. Classily served in a Martini glass, the chocolate mousse was rich & smooth, almost creamy, deftly balanced by a strong raspberry foam. Every spoonful was intense in flavour, yet light in texture - the chocolate never cloying, the raspberry never too acidic. It was simultaneously satisfying & refreshing. This is confident skills. Recommended!
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Amazing british cuisine. Went to Launceston Place with a group of friends. We reserved the 'chef's office' and had a private table downstairs with access to the kitchen i.e. we got to go in individually to watch them prepare the food. There was also a live plasma screen showing the chefs at work. The chefs also came out to explain each dish to the table which was a nice touch to the meal.
We went for the £60 tasting menu and I have to say it was one of the best meals that I've ever had in London. One dish that stood out in particular was the pork that was perfectly tender with a crispy layer of crackling on top. The rest of the dishes were also delicately balanced and made fantastic use of fresh seasonal ingredients. Lastly, the tarte tartin for dessert was simply delightful with the crust strangely being the highlight for me!
The tasting menu is very good value for the food that you're getting, but be warned that drinks do not come cheap here! A great experience with a wonderful atmosphere and impeccable service, I would highly recommend launceston place for a special night out.
Food And Drinks Noob
+4.5
I went for the great value tasting menu for my 7th visit, starting off with some well crafted gougeres using Epoisses Monbazillac that really lifted up your taste buds with the lovely bold and rich tastes.
Food And Drinks Noob
+4.5
If there is a 1 star restaurant deserving to be promoted to the 2 stars territory in London in the upcoming Michelin Guide, I can't think of a better candidate than Launceston Place
Food And Drinks Noob
+4.5
Over the past year the food at Launceston Place has progressed and in my eye it is now one of the very best that London has to offer along with the likes of The Ledbury and Hibiscus.
Food And Drinks Noob
+4.5
This is my fourth visit to this Michelin starred Launceston Place in Kensington. You might wonder why I keep returning to this restaurant and the answer is simple: Launceston Place produces some of the finest cooking in London
Food And Drinks Noob
+4.5
Launceston Place once again delivered another very high level of fine dinning experience, it has evolved from my last visit with some very forward thinking dishes which were very intriguing and eye opening at the same time.
In my view it has now reached 2 star level if I were to benchmark it along with other 2 star establishments in London, the cooking was a nose above all of the other 1 stars I visited
Launceston Place is a neighbourhood restaurant serving modern British cuisine situated in a quite part of Kensington just north of Gloucester Road Station. Part of D&D London, the company behind some high profile restaurants such as Skylon and Quaglinos.
One of the things I found quite pleasant, especially compared to the Ledbury, was the setting of the restaurant. With tables sprinkled onto corridors, the labyrinthine outlook was interesting and more intimate than the grand rooms of other restaurants that just remind me of canteens. There were flowers on all the tables, giving the place a sense of freshness. The ever-present gratuitous canapees, under the form of shrimp and cheese puffs, offered a good prelude to the dinner overall. We were then presented with a complimentary amuse bouche, a cauliflower mousse, which, luckily, tasted nothing like cauliflower (not the one I would have
The dessert was a triumph – a perfectly risen souffle, which had a beautiful light texture and a, strong raspberry essence, softly breaking into a rich white chocolate center.
Launceston Place has been at the back of my mind for absolutely ages now. Everyone keeps talking about it, photos are popping up all over Twitter and the food looks stunning. The head chef here that's worked his magic is, Tim Allen. Tim's started working here in 2012, and was previously housed at none less than the two Michelin starred restaurant, Whatley Manor in the Cotswolds. He gained his first Michelin star here at Launceston Place, in the same year he started - what a fantastic achievement. A glass of something fizzy and some heart attack worthy pre canapes really helped settle us in, and give us a taste of what magical things we still had yet to come. I must admit i was a bit clueless to what these decadent canapes were as i was too busy downing my rose. Crisp, thick truffled sandwich was one - unbelievably rich and smelt like a dream. Another were pastry bowls filled with a minty, jelly pickle mixture. I really have no idea, but it was just as intense and dreamy. When i starte
since Tim Allen joined the kitchen in February this year, who previously worked at the 2 Michelin starred Whatley Manor in Cotswold. The food has clearly stepped up a level, ingredients are still seasonal British produce but the clever mix of ingredients and attention to detail have made it sensational. The duck egg, perfectly cooked to ooze but still holding its ground, lightly salted and accompanied with mildly sweet pea cream/voloute. The lamb cooked in different ways to announce the distinctive flavours of ea
Together with the immaculate cooking in the kitchen, this is effortlessly the Best of British.
I rather like that the Michelin star has not changed Launceston Place too much – it still has the same understated elegance and charm it always had.
I rather like that the Michelin star has not changed Launceston Place too much – it still has the same understated elegance and charm it always had.
At the start of the meal we were presented with a few spicy crisps tied together with a piece of ribbon bearing the restaurant name.
...Complimentary Choccies given to us by the Maitre d' as we departed
£20 for a three course meal at a destination fine dining establishment, complete with celebrity chef – I consider lunch at Launceston Place a real bargain. Especially when you also get an amuse-bouche and a pre-dessert on top of the three courses and leav
After my food lover friend TB came back gushing about Launceston Place, I couldn't wait to check it out. It took weeks to round up a party (celebrating a friend passing all her exams was a good enough reason) for a celebratory lunch. We had a table by the
I am a relative newcomer to Launceston Place. I first heard of the restaurant when I watched one of their former chefs, Steve Groves , win the BBC's Masterchef: The Professionals 2009 TV show - you know, the one that introduced the fabulous and terrifying Monica Galetti to an unsuspecting world. My interest in the cooking of Launceston Place's head chef, Tristan Welch, was piqued, but it's taken me this long to actually eat there. But as a worried teenage girl might say, better late than never. Launceston
Launceston Place has a cosy feel to it, with several small carpeted dining areas in a smart neighbourhood. The new head chef Tim Allen was the senior sous chef at two-Michelin starred Whatley Manor. The menu offers a set of appealing British dishes, with three courses priced at £46 and a tasting menu at £60.
The atmosphere I find is perfect for a (good) date – not only comfortable and intimate but also – due the little surprise dishes you get served in between courses – you really don’t feel rushed to finish your food quickly.
Launceston Place is a plus sixty cover restaurant, but the rooms are laid out in a way that it manages to feel quite intimate wherever you're sitting.
Launceston Place (LP) is quite insanely good value. For the price of one small steak at somewhere like Hawksmoor (or perhaps Aberdeen Angus Steak House if you want to be as cliched as Jay Rayner) you can have a three course meal replete with great food, r
After a rather dismal start to kensington lunchers (a mediocre meal at Wodka that none of us bothered to put pen to paper about) our second outing, at Launceston Place , was distinctly more successful. For one it was more in line with our unintentionally
There's something comforting about a Sunday roast, and in this post I'm checking out two of West London's finest. Whilst neither Kensington nor Fulham are amongst my regular haunts, I thought I'd slum it for the blog. The things I do for my readers! Every
A cookbook in its purest form. A bedside story book for the last read before falling asleep. A Who's Who of the most exciting talents working in kitchens today, honoured in colour. An encyclopaedia teaching you everything you need to know before going to
Wednesday this week was a bit of an auspicious day. Not only was it pay day (which calls for a monthly celebration, especially after my big spending habits of late), it was also me and Panu's three year anniversary. This might not sound like a long time f
It’s embarrassing to have gone to a restaurant like Launceston Place and think you’ve lost your photographic evidence. I dined here in August with the boy as we said goodbye to one of my best friends who was moving to Leeds. Fast forward a few weeks, a couple holidays, a business trip and all of the sudden I realised that not only had I not written about the wonderful experience, I had no clue where my pictures were. Luckily, they’ve been found and the review – while not at all timely with a summer menu – still holds true: Launceston Place was one of my favourite meals of the year.
Food-wise, from our experience, the menu at Launceston Place was playful, clever and enticing, while drawing upon well-sourced and fairly traditional British ingredients.
The restaurant looks like more like a glorified gastro-pub from the outside and the interior is dark, intimate and cosy. We were seated by one of the windows and were brought some lightly spiced handmade crisps to begin with. These were tied up with brand
Another restaurant that has garnered a lot of attention from the food blogging community, I was keen to see what all the fuss was about. Also, I hear that although the head chef Tristan Welch is famous enough (previous head chef of the two Michelin starre
We arrived at Launceston Place eager to indulge in a feast of imaginative food and a trough of fantastic wine and we weren't disappointed. Having read various glowing and negative reviews on a range of blogs we were keen to judge Launceston Place for ours
Background: Launceston Place hit my restaurant wishlist with a big bang after I tried their innovative rhubard and custard ice cream crumble (presented in an ice cream cone) at the recent Taste of London festival. Head chef Tristan Welch, formerly of Petr
It is true british food has a bad reputation. It's so bad even british people think so too… but not everybody. There is a growing contingent ( or I should say, one that has always been there, but just very quiet ) who know
It has been a long, busy and hectic week for me. In between my graduation, I have been very busy eating both in London and all the way in Germany. There is plenty of updates to come in the next couple of days (when I can spare some time away from eating).
Gingle Lists Everything
+5
What with Christmas coming up, me and my friends were in the mood to treat ourselves. But we didn’t want to splash too much cash. Luckily, Launceston Place is another one of those high-end restaurants that do ridiculously good-value set lunches.
Three courses are £30. But before you even get started on the starter, you get some delightful canapés. Ours were beetroot tartlets – the best beetroot I’ve ever had, and parmesan crisps sandwiching truffle cream. As good as it sounds, the crisps melted in the mouth.
Bread was provided and replenished – the onion bread was our favourite. And then we had an amuse bouche as well – a celeriac ice cream with apple foam. However, we didn’t realize that they weren’t both the same thing and ate them separately and didn’t really like it, though it probably would have tasted much better together.
The starter may have been the star of the show, but all of the courses were exceptional. Three of us had the duck egg which was cooked so that the yolk was gelatinous but not overdone. It came with spinach, some fatty, salty pancetta, confit duck leg and two crunchy croutons, and then a velvety jersulaem artichoke was added to the mix. Faultless. The egg and veloute were rich and creamy, the spinach helped to counter it, and the croutons provided the bite. Wonderful.
My friend who is allergic to duck eggs had the ‘autumnal salad’ of vegetables on a chickpea puree and even this wowed him, lover of meat that he is. They did something amazing with cauliflower that he particularly liked but he couldn’t figure out what they’d done.
Our mains were no less impressive. Us girls ordered the partridge, the boys had the plaice. Our partridge was a breast cooked pink (a little too pink towards the end, which would be my one, minor, complaint) and served with the leg encrusted in flaky pastry like some kind overachieving sausage roll. ‘English brassicas’ (otherwise known as Brussels sprouts) made you feel you were being a little bit healthy and a sourdough puree finished the dish.
The boys’ plaice was cooked perfectly with some brown shrimp and a crab sauce to hammer home the seafood taste. Stephen’s only complaint was that he wished they’d provided more sauce with it – the bundle of pasta that accompanied the dish absorbed it too easily.
The slices of pear that were provided to cleanse your palate were a lovely idea.
Desserts were similarly successful. I had the chocolate mousse with a thin peanut nougatine and bananas that had been caramelized. Lest this be too sickly, a passion fruit sorbet accompanied it to refresh you. I would have been equally happy with the roasted pineapple and spiced brown sugar custard, however. It was all naughty enough to feel like a proper dessert without sitting too heavily. Just the right balance.
We had two bottles of a really reasonably priced Picpoul (£27) bringing our lunch to just under £50 a head. Quite, quite excellent.
Don't Believe In Jet Lag - Blogger
+4.5
Launceston Place has been around for quite a while. It’s changed quite a bit since our first meal there, which was over ten years ago. Now it has a very cool retro Mad Men kinda thing going on.
We ordered drinks in their lounge and they came with truffled Parmesan cream on Parmesan crisps. How delicious does that sound? Oh it was.
The Lunch menu offered a three-course meal for £30, but they also have a 7 course-tasting menu for £70. The caramelised onion bread is as surprising as it is tasty. They served us an amuse bouche that was also quite complex: heritage tomatoes in three different forms – chopped, liquid and creamy. Come to think of it, not that many restaurants in London serve an amuse bouche before lunch (especially if it’s the set lunch menu).
The entire meal was exquisite and what made us even happier was to see (and taste) their impressive cheese trolley. Bravo.
I visited 29th August and this is one of my favourite restaurants this year! This place gets top marks, food is amazing and service is impeccable. Well worth a visit, very special and more deserving of 2 michelin stars than just the 1 that it holds
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Launceston Place has been at the back of my mind for absolutely ages now. Everyone keeps talking about it, photos are popping up all over Twitter and the food looks stunning. The head chef here that's worked his magic is, Tim Allen. Tim's started working here in 2012, and was previously housed at none less than the two Michelin starred restaurant, Whatley Manor in the Cotswolds. He gained his first Michelin star here at Launceston Place, in the same year he started - what a fantastic achievement.
A glass of something fizzy and some heart attack worthy pre canapes really helped settle us in, and give us a taste of what magical things we still had yet to come. I must admit i was a bit clueless to what these decadent canapes were as i was too busy downing my rose. Crisp, thick truffled sandwich was one - unbelievably rich and smelt like a dream. Another were pastry bowls filled with a minty, jelly pickle mixture. I really have no idea, but it was just as intense and dreamy.
When i started to tuck into my starter i realised I'd suddenly stumbled upon a gem. Slow cooked duck egg, pea fricassee, bacon and a pea cappuccino - finished with fried bread for yolk dipping. I was wondering when i was going to wake up from this surreal taste sensation. The egg was perfectly good. The bacon gave this lovely meaty and smoky element to the dish and of course the pea. I can't remember the last time I've wanted to head plunge my face in to something which shouldn't be anything more than simple. Chef Tim managed to take such a contracted flavour from the pea, whisk it up and not lose any of that gorgeous colour and seemed to only conjure up more flavour - he must of been using some sort of magical variety of pea.
Tartare of smoked haddock with granny smith apple, mooli, pickled cucumber, buttermilk and horseradish - it was as if someone just hit me with a stick and told me it was summer. Undeniably one of the freshest dishes I've had this year. There was bags of acidity which left you dribbling. The intensely flavoured smoked haddock had that rare balance whereby you could still actually taste the fish and the cold pickled cucumber and similarly chilly buttermilk made for a lovely, vibrant dish.
Picking a favourite dish here, naturally would be a hard thing to do. But actually this plate of sole, brown shrimp, piquillo, squid, fennel, padron pepper and brandade ticked every box for me - even if it wasn't perfect. I'll start by saying the sole could have been slightly less cooked, and the fennel slightly less overpowering (perhaps a hit of balsamic vinegar or slow cooking). Otherwise the sole had a lovely buttery flavour with that padron juice seeping in to it. And the padron pepper with its filling was quite literally a thing of beauty. The dab of piquillo just gave this dish that extra little Spanish opmh it so gloriously deserved. For a few minutes you were left feeling as if you'd been stranded somewhere in the Mediterranean.
I used to be obsessed with ordering a main course which always had meat. The idea of missing out on it for fish, or vegetable always left me feeling a little cheated. Slowly after i started eating out religiously i realised that more often than not - that choice can go very wrong and far more often than it needed too. Chewy meat became a regular occurrence, and a request of medium-rare meant they thought i wanted it well-done. Thankfully Launceston Place don't get involved with any of that laziness - but instead cook salt marsh lamb as if it they'd be trained by some higher being. Courgette and basil were singing in freshness, a lamb sauce was infused with a delicate hint of rosemary. And the most satisfying thing i ate was a little pastry parcel filled with polenta and flavoured with the best thing in the world - sage. A stunning dish.
The cheese trolley sat literally opposite our table, with a clear cabinet. Through our whole meal, and right from the start we said no cheese. Of course they put it straight in the centre of the dining room to tempt you. Serving them very well I'm sure because we couldn't resist any longer. Our lovely waiter, whose name i missed, helped make that hard choice for us - picking out his favourite examples. A blue with a powerful spicy finish, an earthy and pure goats cheese - were just a couple of our favourites. My only complaint was not the crackers but maybe those dried fruits were instead a compote or similar. A little wetness wouldn't have gone a miss.
I'm customary to a dessert - I've got an insatiable sweet tooth which I'm sure will leave me gummy by the time I'm in my mid 40's. Either way that hasn't stopped me and I'm so glad because this white chocolate mousse with the most succulent poached peaches was a rare find. At this point i was drooling, and that only got worse when i took a spoonful of the soft and concentrated raspberry sorbet, fresh ripe raspberries and some milky chocolate covered nuts. This dessert quite simply and plainly - incredible.
Petit fours were understated and quite simple - but perfect against the backdrop of such an incredible meal we just had to the opportunity to divulge in. In fact this was one of my favourite meals I've had in London this year. Every dish was so well balanced, had a concise, concentrated array of flavours - and nothing was over complicated or trying too hard. Tim Allen is certainly a very talented chef, and so is the team behind him. For lunch, this level of cooking will set you back a mere £30 for three courses including all the bits in between, which quite frankly - seems like a little bit of a bargain to me. Launceston Place may have already gone places, but I'm sure this hidden gem off the back streets in Kensington - still has plenty more to offer.
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The Vibe
The idea of going for dinner on a first date strikes fear into the hearts of most. Add a Michelin star to the mix and you’re literally daring them to flake. Launceston Place in Kensington is old school West London dining in its simplest form – no eclectic fusion menus, no Scando/Modernist interiors, barely a reflective surface in sight. It’s just a classy blue house, on a mews near Gloucester Road, where you can enjoy exceptional food and wine in a dining room with less than 12 people. Parties of two will be seated perpendicular to each other at white-clothed tables where, in the evening, the candlelight and wine glasses as big as cereal bowls calm you right down. This is an unexpected 4-5 hour date, and surprisingly reasonable thanks to some great set menus (£35 for 3 courses, plus way too much on drinks).
The Order
While nursing your cocktails in the wooden-paneled reception room, you’ll be handed a pile of menus: wine, cocktails, a la carte, taster, set meals and the Sunday lunch. Your friendly and clipped waiter will then talk you through some specials to add into the burgeoning mix and inform you that whatever combinations you desire are possible. If you’d like to sub dessert with brandy, go for it. It’s this ease of ordering that makes LP different from rather stuffier Michelin joints and makes a dinner date considerably less stressful.
Go for meat in every course, the more game the better. The Partridge breast with rosemary potato puree is insanely good, as is the frozen crumbly foie gras that features in several dishes. An amuse bouche of cauliflower mousse with hidden curried lentils and truffle oil will rock your goddamn world – we would have necked those all night. You may be too full for cheese, which is a shame as the tray is enormous, but the mignon chocolate ball with salted caramel , foamy bits et al, is a fitting enough end to a damn perfect meal.
The Game
The obvious option would be to go for an evening meal here. However, if you’re ballsy enough, I’d suggest the following. Meet on a Sunday at 2pm. Head into the front room, shake off the cliché of a Bloody Mary and order two stiff Manhattans – whiskey on a Sunday, now we’re talking. Chat away for a minimum of 30 minutes, choosing your dishes while seated. Balk the trad vibe and dress messy chic – you’ll feel like true comrades being the tipsy ones amongst Sunday Best diners. Enjoy the meal, I mean really enjoy it. Eat everything, don’t treat the dishes like sharing plates, stick to your own. Ask the friendly Spanish sommelier to suggest a good red wine, finish a bottle and then get two more glasses. Show how comfortable you are in this setting by doing something atypical, like engaging the waiter in a bet. Win and it’s two more drinks on the house. The restaurant is now empty, the evening beckons and you can stumble out before the dinner service. There’s no one left in there to disapprove, and the booze has dumbed the surprising blow of the bill.
The Faults
The set menu is very reasonable. But go to town on the booze and you’re in deep water.
Sex Factor
3. Totally mood and time of the day dependent, but a real treat nevertheless.
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The dining room here has an unusually relaxed and peaceful feel, partly due to the low noise levels due to the carpet and absence of music. Being spread out into several little rooms, the 50-seat dining area feels quite cosy, despite its rather gloomy black wallpaper.
This meal began with some nibbles, a caraway biscuit with beetroot, and a very enjoyable Parmesan biscuit (15/20). Bread is now prepared in the kitchen, and had good texture (15/20). I really enjoyed a further amuse-bouche of warm cauliflower mousse with curried lentils, which had just the right level of spice to lift the earthy flavours of the main components, the lentils very tender (easily 16/20).
Leveret (young hare) came with lightly pickled cabbage, caramelised bacon and baked potato cream. At the table a little 100% cocoa powder was dusted over the plate. The hare had excellent flavour, the cabbage nicely balanced the richness of the hare, and the potato cream and bacon were comforting (16/20).
Cornish mackerel came both grilled and as cold smoked and tartare, served with gooseberries, charred cucumber and iced grain mustard. The mackerel tasted very fresh, was accurately cooked, and the iced grain mustard worked nicely with the oily fish (15/20).
Iberico pork was served as both loin and belly, with black pudding, Braeburn apples and English brassicas. The pork had deep flavour, the crackling was good, and the apples cut through the richness of the dish well (16/20).
Widgeon (a type of duck, also spelt wigeon) came on the bone, alongside a pastille of widgeon leg, celeriac baked in aromatic orange salt, red pear and caramelised red chicory. This was another good dish, the duck cooked rare, the minced widgeon leg in the pastry nicely seasoned, the celeriac providing an earthy contras and the pear bringing useful acidity (16/20).
Cheese and lemon curd ice cream, yoghurt and granite was a refreshing pre-dessert (15/20). Caramel chocolate sphere came with Williams pear and caramelised walnuts. This was an attractively presented dish, the chocolate rich and enjoyable, nicely balanced by the pear, the walnuts providing some texture (16/20). I slightly preferred this to home-made puff pastry layered with cinnamon cassonade, spheres of caramelised Cox apple and frozen calvados apple. I enjoyed the apple, which was caramelised to just the right degree, but although I admire the effort in making the puff pastry, it did not have the airy lightness of the very best puff pastry, as can be found for example at Michel Guerard’s restaurant in Bordeaux, or indeed more locally at Hedone.
Coffee (£4.50) was Musetti, and was very pleasant, served with petit fours. Service was excellent, friendly and engaging. The bill at lunch came to £70 a head with just water to drink. This was another enjoyable meal at Launceston Place, which combines an appealing menu, relaxed setting and skilful cooking.
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We booked for Sunday Lunch, which is a pretty good deal at £29.50 for 3 courses along with those little extras that are typical of Michelin Star venues (the amuse-bouche and the appetizer).
The amuse-bouche of bechamel cheese in Choux pastry was a good start, I certainly could have eaten lots of these rather moreish cheese profiteroles, and the caramelized onion and mushroom soup appetizer that followed was rich and tasty.
For starters we ordered Hot smoked mackerel with beetroot, apple, watercress and horseradish ice cream, and Poached Hens Egg with white asparagus, followed by Cornish cod fricassee of peas and broad beans, heritage tomatoes and new season Jersey Royals, and Iberico pigs cheeks, with caramelized apples, sage mash and barbequed Leeks.
Then for dessert we had the 70% Cru Virunga chocolate mousse, caramelised bananas, glazed raisins and chocolate sorbet and the Baked English custard tart with cox apple cooked in caramel and glazed puff pastry filled with Calvados cream, which was effectively a rather lovely deconstructed Apple Tart. The only negative on the food front was the bread, which consisted of a rather ordinary selection of brown bread and sour dough.
Launceston Place is a very civilised and relaxing venue and the staff were just as efficient, professional and friendly on this visit as they were on our earlier visits. I rather like that the Michelin star has not changed Launceston Place too much - it still has the same understated elegance and charm it always had.
A wonderful journey of modern and fine cuisine. Comfy ambience. Started with a fun menu to play with on a board game. Amuse bouche was interesting- the word I used. Followed by tasty bread and home made spread and finally starters and so on. Every garnish and sauce were specially designed to pair each dish. Staff are friendly and welcoming. Highly recommend this place and will revisit to try the whole menus for sure!
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We had the MOST amazing meal here after happening to find the restaurant through others’ reviews. The highlight of our trip to London!
The dining EXPERIENCE started off with a playful menu that was like a bingo card (apparently a game called draughts over here) where you uncovered which courses you wanted. (I, of course, didn’t know this, and I tried to “open” the menu and spilled my pieces all over the floor).
We had a 3 course dinner and every course was delicious and stunningly presented. Food as art.
The amuse bouche was presented on beautiful ceramic platters that I’m sure were custom made for this specialty dish. The food itself looked like art that melded beautifully with the ceramic.
The bread (which was warm and delicious) came with flavored butters which were so smooth and flavorful.
The ceviche appetizer was like a beautiful sushi jigsaw puzzle meticulously assembled.
The entrees were equally stunning in presentation and sooooo delicious!! I had sea bass with a garnish that had two thin slices of some translucent vegetable with herbs and flower petals pressed in between like an art panel. My husband had the iberico pork which was so tender and juicy.
And finally, the desserts were colorful, beautiful and absolutely delicious. We had a mango dessert and a yuzu dessert. The yuzu was shaped like a lemon and the inside was a beautiful tasty custard with some apples and dill (I think). Such a creative combination of flavors!
Finally, the service was of the highest caliber. Everyone was so friendly and helpful, and each course was perfectly timed, placed, presented and removed. They explained each course and wanted to make sure we had the best dining experience.
Our only regret is that we didn’t find this gem sooner on our visit to London!!! Hopefully we will return some day.
Fabulous lunch, looked after amazingly without being fussed over.
Food is superb and different from what you would normally have.
Highly recommend, and we will be back to have an evening meal there. Can't wait.
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Loved the atmosphere and the food was interesting and well presented. I can see why people say the Michelin star could happen in the future. Excellent wine selection and also the champagne by the glass as a pre dinner drink is well priced. However, there are some things that could be polished. Service was great but there was too many people serving you or attending, it would be more simple yet elegant to assign a waiter/waitress and not be served or assisted by so many different ones throughout the dinner.
We did the chefs tasting menu. A few days before we had called to change the reservation to an earlier time, which was accepted. However, during our dinner we got a call from the host right by our table asking if we’d come to dinner. They hadn’t removed the previous time so it’s as if we had two reservations. Also it was a birthday occasion, which they said by e-mail they’d bring a little dessert or something with a candle, but they also forgot or didn’t communicate well, I had to remind them at the end of the meal. Apparently the host’s assistant didn’t quite send the memo. One more thing: when you get a set tasting menu you expect exactly that for the set price. After all the savory courses we were asked if we’d like cheese for an extra cost. To me this felt tacky and cheap. If cheese were to be extra they could’ve asked at the beginning of the service when deciding which menu we’d go for. Asking us right before dessert and giving us a price felt a bit forced. We did get the cheese and it was good but not amazing. Then there were two desserts which weren’t that well varied, mostly just chocolates in some sugar sauce. I think a better approach would be to ask or let the guest decide if they’d like a cheese or sweet course, instead of making the cheese optional and then two desserts part of the set menu. We did enjoy the meal overall, and if they polish some service mishaps they can definitely go far and become big when it comes to places for fine dining in London.
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We visited Launceston Place on a quiet Sunday evening. When we entered at 6:30pm there was one other table occupied. But soon the majority of the restaurant filled up. The service was impeccable and the greeter remembered that it was my friends birthday and made her feel special.
We ordered the Summer Set menu which was exceptional value for what we had.
The menu is based on draughts and we were handed a plastic tray with draughts to select our dishes. This was an innovative concept and made the experience more playful.
The chef started the experience with snacks, then a bread course, an amuse bouche and then our three course menu which we selected started.
Every dish was curated precisely, with dining-ware made specially to fit each dish. The food had great balance of flavour and texture and was sublimely presented. The pastries were delicate and each mouthful had a tasty punch of flavour. The summer menu costs £45 with a glass of rose champagne and is a great price in todays world and a wonderful option to celebrate an occasion.
I would certainly return and I cannot fault this venue.
What a wonderful restaurant! The Phyllis menu is an inspiration and the chef has created some amazing dishes to admire and enjoy. The staff were fantastic, very friendly, engaging and attentive. The little extras both before and after the meal were loved by all. For a special, memorable lunch you won't be disappointed with Launceston Place.
A very good fine dining.
Booked a private room table for 1x ppl, we just sit beside the kitchen and sometimes they kept the kitchen open. Still enjoy the food.
An elegant restaurant with excellent service and acceptable food. We went there for the 3-course meal experience and it went better than expected due to the additional opening snacks and excellent service from the whole team. We will probably try again for different menu.
I've been wanting to visit for a few years now, and was finally treated by my husband for my birthday last night. The service was impeccable and the food was absolutely stunning. If I had to choose a favourite, the venison belly bite was a real standout... But then so was the chicken liver parfait... And the white chocolate, mandarin and hazelnut dessert was delicious and one of the prettiest things I've seen in ages!! I was bowled over, and will definitely be returning.
Absolutely wonderful place that you need to try in London. The tasting menu is priced reasonably and every dish was done really well. I loved the ibérico pork which was tender and delicious and the white asparagus that was so juicy. The lychee sorbet and jalapeño was also refreshing with a hint of spiciness. Service was also excellent.
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