Antony's

Antony's Polish owner has an eye for style. The room of crisp, white tablecloths, dark furniture and artfully presented dishes - modestly sized, served in posh bowls - prepares diners for exceptional Polish cooking. Alas, apart from a beautiful, sweet borscht with fresh dill and delicate tortellini, our food was disappointing.

The pierogi dumplings had a striking similarity to shop-bought versions and contained a hard-to-identify potato and cheese filling; a Polish sausage was salty and little better than what you might find in a corner-shop, although it arrived with a decent mustard and sour cream sauce; pork knuckle with apple sauce was too dry, had no recognisable hint of apple, and was accompanied by flabby chips, oily courgettes and carrots sprinkled with soggy sesame seeds.

The homely goodness encountered on previous visits was only discernible in some crisp potato pancakes that were slightly over-seasoned but tasty. Antony's offers a curious retro pan-European menu (carbonara and lasagne included), yet though it desires to project a cosmopolitan image, it seems instead outdated.

We hope the kitchen will regain its earlier flair for producing good Polish nosh with a light touch. The airy atmosphere and relaxed, if slightly restrained, service certainly deserve it.