Kensington Wine Rooms

KWR's front-of-house wine bar and shop are textbook examples of how single-glass Enomatic dispensers have changed the game. An evening's drinking can be a self- or staff-guided exploration, taking in both low-priced small producers and landmark clarets.

A wide-ranging, well-explained list, with 40 varieties by the glass and some 200 in the bottle, facilitates this admirably, along with a cosy, low-lit bar space and a deli-style tapas menu.

In the back room - a comfortable den of dark furniture and open brickwork - the concept has been extended into a restaurant with a wine suggestion given for each dish on the short international menu, but on our visit, the dining aspect was stumbling.

The food was of decidedly mixed rendition, from excellent gazpacho and a creamy-tasting buffalo steak tartare, to indifferent fish and chips and a poor prawn, grapefruit and mangetout salad with neither dressing nor seasoning.

Second, the suggested glasses - a Loire Chinon Rouge with the buffalo - weren't always an immediately harmonious match. Had a sommelier explained the taste journey, this needn't have been disappointing, but the staff exuded kooky charm rather than wine expertise.

Since our visit, in summer 2011, we're told that the chef has changed, and the menu substantially altered. We're hoping that this will bring KWR up to the good standards we have experienced on our previous visits.