Kensington Square Kitchen

Kensington Square Kitchen |

Kick start your day with our tasty breakfast menu, ranging from the best porridge in London (voted recently by the Evening Standard) to a cheeky full English.

From Midday onwards we serve a daily changing lunch menu with soups, salads, fish dishes and of course the staple items ‘the classic club’ and burger!

http://www.kensingtonsquarekitchen.co.uk

The London Review of Breakfasts: Kensington Square Kitchen ...

Kensington Square Kitchen9 Kensington SquareKensingtonW8 5EP020 7938 2598by Alotta WaffleWhat with Kensington Square being one of the country’s most expensive places to buy property, you’d think its latest café might be something special.

But oh, how deceptive appearances can be.Aghast when the granola came in a thimble – sorry egg cup-sized pot – I nearly broke a tooth on the burn-to-a-cinder oats that tasted both smoky and overly sweet from all the added sugar.

A few well-chosen raisins or figs really would have sufficed.The eggs fared a little better (again – small portions) but were a tad on the buttery side for those who prefer their scrambled to be firm.

What a relief to find that both the toast and smoked salmon were entirely edible, and the staff at least friendly.The clientele in KSQ is more media types from Associated News across the square – mainlining coffee or sweating their way through job interviews to get the hell out of there – than yummies or trillionaires.The tea was fine, the coffee OK, and the yoghurt/berry mix very passable.

But then I could have got all that (and more) from my local greasy spoon and not paid £25 purely, it seems, for the privilege of sitting in London’s most expensive square.

Kensington Square Kitchen - London Restaurant Reviews | Hardens

Restaurant review: Restaurants on London's High Street Kensington ...

People have strong opinions about the Whole Foods Market that now occupies the former Barker's department store in High Street Kensington in London.

Then, shortly after Whole Foods Market muscled into the area, news spread that Kensington Square Kitchen was opening just down the road and that it would be quite the reverse of a North American conglomerate.

I would like my marinated anchovies to be saltier, but Matt enjoys his duck rillettes and then we both sing the praises of our main courses: he has chicken breast with a light, but wonderfully fresh, pine nut, parsley and Parmesan pesto and I, like Mr Freud, have roast pink bream with a dill sauce.

One other suggestion in High Street Kensington: past the cinema going west is Timo, a sophisticated Italian where you can leave your shopping bags with the charming owner, Piero Amodio, and have two splendid courses for £13.50.

With the purest intention of doing some last-minute shopping, have breakfast with Sara Adams, lunch with Sally Clarke and dinner with Piero Amodio.

Kensington Square Kitchen, Kensington

Extra chairs and tables are put outside, and Sara adjusts the menu to include light summery dishes such as a fish of the day and risotto, and cocktails are available until late.

KSK’s wine list is large and varied for the size of the venue, and represents great value for money.

My date has the asparagus and pea frittata from the specials menu, and describes it as “quiche-like, with not too many flavours, which is good.

The KSK team aims to provide seasonal, British-inspired and locally sourced food, so there’s a different specials menu every day.

During our time at the Kensington Square Kitchen the other customers have been quite varied, ranging from the young to old, business meetings to courting couples, smartly dressed to bohemian garb’d.

The Terrace - restaurant review | London Evening Standard

Kensington property values are now so stratospheric that it makes the concept of an unpretentious neighbourhood restaurant a little problematic.

Opened a few months ago by Sara Adams, who also created Kensington Square Kitchen, it’s tiny — just one room with the kitchen behind, plus the open terrace — but pretty, painted in grey-blue tones with soft lighting, comfortable chairs and classically laid tables with good linen, and handsome cutlery, crockery and glassware: all very soigné, then.

A thick pea and mint soup, served warm, came not only with a splash of goat’s curd but had on the side a crunchy little croquette of soft, crushed broad beans.

more restaurant reviews “Cider-battered sea bass, crushed minted peas, tartare sauce” (the latter in a little Kilner jar) was a very swish take on fish ’n’ chips — although this was good fish precisely cooked, it seemed odd to find sea bass thus served, as opposed to the usual suspects, even with the batter tasting quite distinctly appley.

A sumptuous vegetarian main course from the carte, an intensely flavoured little pastry tart containing girolle mushrooms, broad beans, ruby chard and a little cheese, served with parsley-and-garlic cream and a scattering of herb salad (£16.50) showed the ambitions of the 28-year-old chef, James Kelly, more dramatically.

Kensington Square Kitchen | Restaurants in Kensington, London

Don't be disappointed if you can't see a free table in the tiny ground-floor space of this long-serving venue for breakfast, brunch and lunch: there's more space downstairs.

On one visit she came out of the kitchen in her whites to clarify exactly the degree of doneness required for an order of rare burger, which came with coleslaw, barbecue sauce and fries.

Brunch offerings really do offer the best of both breakfast and lunch, with egg dishes for late risers and enticing sandwiches and heartier stuff for those needing their second meal of the day.

You might spot both pâté and rillettes on the menu at the same time, always a good sign.

On the lunch menu you'll find imaginatively presented fish, meat and vegetarian dishes alongside 'KSK favourites': club sandwiches, and that precisely timed burger.