Review: Tom’s Kitchen summer menu
Having only dined at Tom’s Kitchen during busy weekends, it was refreshing to see that the restaurant is still a huge hit even on an early Tuesday evening. This place is very popular, but it doesn’t take long to figure out why.
I headed to the restaurant to try the current summer menu, which was incredibly different to the venue’s previous menu. The new menu brings a whole new life to the restaurant, and is really quite impressive, with a huge variety of flavours which are much more lighter and refreshing to suit a summer palette.
After settling into a booth with a bottle of Pinot, Veritiere ‘Colline Pescaresi’ to be exact – some things never change – me and my guest looked at the menu. Last time I dined at Tom’s Kitchen, which is sat just a stone’s throw away from Harvey Nichols in The Mailbox, I was taken aback by the price of the dishes. However, now I knew how high the quality of the food is, I looked at the menu in a whole new way.
We began with homemade crusty bread on the table, which was fresh from the oven and tasted beautiful. For starters, I went for the Burrata, which came with orange dressing, walnuts and mixed seed crackers. It was gorgeous and is the perfect summer dish, where you don’t want something too heavy and stodgy. My guest opted for the Chicken Liver and Foie Gras Parfait, which came with brioche, chutney and cornichons, which he also thoroughly enjoyed. Both starters tasted fresh and ready for the next course.
For mains, I chose from the grill section, and went for a Grilled Baby Spatchcock Chicken, which came with spelt and quinoa salad, avocado and charred broccoli. I was in absolute heaven with this dish, it was stunning and by far the best main meal I had enjoyed for a long time. The flavours together were beautiful, and again, were so fresh and light.
My guest opted for the Mussels, which came accompanied with garlic, herbs, cider and French fries on the side. Both dishes were adored, and were incredibly filling.
However, I am not one to say no to a desert. Me and my guest both chose the Chocolate and Peanut Butter Marquise, which came with salted caramel ice cream. It was delicious and left me absolutely stuffed after a three-course meal. Other options on the dessert menu have been carefully selected too to bring summer into the restaurant, with Rum Baba, Peach Melba Sundae and a selection of ice creams and sorbet all on the menu.
What I have learned about Tom’s Kitchen is that it is so unlike any other upmarket restaurant, where the dishes are tiny and you leave still starving. The dishes are actually pretty big and there is more than enough to fill you up.
It is also clear that the team behind Tom’s Kitchen have put a huge amount of thought into the menu, as it is the one of the very best menu’s I have ever seen, with a wide selection of both meat and vegetarian options.
When I came to leave at around 8pm, the restaurant was packed with people chatting and tucking into their dishes, something that I have never seen on a Tuesday night. The sign of a fantastic restaurant in my eyes.
Tom’s Kitchen review: 9/10
