REVIEW: Restaurant at The Petersham, Nightingale Ln, Richmond

A view, a stunning hotel, a sumptuous restaurant and Richmond Park – the most beautiful park I think I’ve ever strolled through in fact. These were all things I’d never expected on my Saturday afternoon and quite honestly the whole few hours in this neck of the woods took my breath away. It’s a beautiful suburb of London. Up on the hill overlooking the river Thames sits The Petersham Hotel – a striking and stunning privately owned four star hotel whose site has a rich history dating all the way back to 1863 – featuring a restaurant with light pouring in and an atmosphere quite unlike anything you’ll come across in central London.

Inside the hotel it’s just as lovely too. Gilded mirrors, beautiful furniture, assents of gold, dark wood and spacious communal areas. Granted some areas are a little too open and “roomy” which may not be for everyone, but perfect for us – I hate clutter. The hotel also boats a beautiful Portland stone staircase (reported to be the tallest unsupported stone staircase in the country) that has the most spectacular roof with paintings looking down on you from the staircase ceiling. Perhaps a little haunting at night, but magnificent during the day. And then that view again, from our table this time. I thought the dining room could have done with a little updating when I first walked in but once I sat down I changed my mind – I wouldn’t alter a thing.

All of our waiters and sommeliers were very good here in this restaurant. Proper, mature, informative, educated and confident. One thing you will notice if dining here is that both the staff and clientele are mature. We were the youngest diners by about 10 years. I suppose with this place being around for so long, it’s become a bit of an institution in the area and has a loyal following. With that in mind it’s interesting to see regulars coming back as the food hasn’t been left in the dark ages at all. It’s all very current and with only a few nods to the past till remaining – a clever trick from the head chef, Adebola Adeshina. With just a few days after national Beaujolais day we opted for a stunning Fleurie which went down like silk. Sadly there was one thing about this meal I really wasn’t a fan of – the bread. I have no idea if it’s brought in or made on site but it wasn’t anything special and could do with improving. Rolls are out of fashion and fluffy slices of airy pocket white are in. An amuse bouche from the kitchen shortly arrived and oh-my was it good. Smoked salmon with cream cheese and beetroot. It sounded simple but it was far from it. Incredibly fresh, full of flavour and perfectly seasoned. The little dollops of beetroot puree were a dream – rich, earthy and moorish.

While The Restaurant at The Petersham may not be the cheapest you’ll ever encounter, it’s neither the most expensive and for your money you get a lot of food, portions are huge. Escabeche of yellow fin tuna glistened from the sun pouring in from the huge windows and was served with an aubergine fondue, kohlrabi and muscat grapes. An almost faultless dish whose every bite was as agood as the last. For clarity however the aubergine fondue should be changed to aubergine tapanade, it’s no fondue. Just as good or in fact even better still was the honey roast saddle pork belly with baked apple, gorgonzola gnocchi and carrot puree. Everything about this dish oozed flavour and precision – with the pork belly cooked to utter perfection. I loved that gnocchi too but a little bit more blue cheese in the middle wouldn’t be a bad thing *hint hint*.

What I love most about this place is that as you go through the meal, each new course just keeps on giving more. Head chef Adebola Adeshina has a real way with flavour and from what I tasted during our lunch – a lot more to give which we’ll no doubt see as the menu keeps on developing. The star dish of our entire lunch was an easy accolade to award, because each mouthful left us weeping with happiness. When a dish is just right in every aspect and everything on it is cooked to perfection – that memory is everlasting. It came in the form of a duo of Brechin beef with potato Anna and a rich Bordelais sauce. The meat was a medley of fillet and Jacobs ladder – both of which were utterly divine. The meat was falling off the bones of those short ribs and the fillet cut through like soft, supple butter. Roasted bray head pheasant was another stunner and served with confit leg, kale, swede fondant and red currant sauce. If there was ever an essence of winter this must be it.

A palate cleanser later and a little more wine – dessert arrived at the table. With such generous portion sizes I was close to combusting – but somehow and some way our body always makes room for dessert. Rivalling that beef dish as star dish was this chocolate delice with honeycomb, marinated strawberries and vanilla mousse. The delice was incredibly rich but the fresh fruit and light mouse turned the whole thing into a rather lighter affair which I didn’t want to part with. Our other starter of apricot soufflé with honeycomb ice cream was on the cusp of perfection. The ice cream was very well made, had lots of honeycomb flavour to it, along with a spoon of apricot sorbet. The soufflé itself looked the part too. Almost every spoonful was a delight, but the very last millimetre was ever so slightly runny. If they made this soufflé just a tiny bit smaller (as it’s already huge) I don’t think they’d ever have that problem again when cooking. The bigger the soufflé, the harder it is to perfect in my experience.

The Restaurant at The Petersham was for me an incredibly unexpected find and one which I never thought would be this good. Why hadn’t I heard about the place much before? And why aren’t people talking about this place more? With all that’s going on in central London at the moment during this never-ending restaurant boom we must not forget about restaurants such as these which offer so much more than just a meal, but an experience. The Restaurant at The Petersham is a stunning venue and the food is equally matched, just a few reasons to return back for. If you live in Richmond, go now. If you live anywhere else – it’s well worth the travel. Oh and did I mention they have guaranteed snow throughout December?

8.5/10