Restaurants

Liner-like Kensington Place has steered a steady course for more than 20 years. The glass-sided room is as bright and ship-shape as ever, and has aged better than the clientele: an older crowd representing what passes for bohemia in Kensington. The long and varied menu is a Modern European archetype. A warm salmon mousse was a well-behaved starter; asparagus, simple and seasonal, couldnt fail. But mains were slipshod. Red mullet with a couple of dried-up slices of chorizo came with fennel so undercooked the fish knife couldnt cut it. Pot roast poussin, on the other hand, was cooked to a mush, making a knife redundant. Everything was underseasoned. Service goes through the professional paces well enough, and the notorious acoustics may explain a misunderstood wine order from a lively and well-ordered list but not the shoulder-shrugging reaction. Though never a dull place to be, Kensington Place needs to put some lustre back into the food. Could the December 2006 departure of Rowley Leigh, chef of KP since it opened in 1987, explain the kitchens inconsistency? The acquisition of the restaurant in summer 2007 by D&D (owners of the former Conran stable) had yet to have an effect as we went to press.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008