Kensington Place

The huge glass frontage of this chic Kensington restaurant means it's a place to see and be seen in. The fashion conscious clientele all vie for attention making this a noisy and vibrant setting rather than your cosy or romantic atmosphere. The modern European menu changes to offer fresh produce that is in season to give the best possible quality.

Having been at Cambridge University with Rowley Leigh, the founder chef of the restaurant, I have followed his career with interest, though in 2007 he moved on to open his own place, his ethos with food has been carried on afterwards, though the style is more modern now.

The secret at Kensington Place seems to be that it is always buzzing, the menu never fails to excite interest, and the standards are amazingly consistent - plus, for a fashionable restaurant in London - the prices are perfectly acceptable.

A favourite of mine used to be the sweetcorn pancake with griddled foie gras, very spoiling. However, the new chef has made his mark, and, on a recent visit, I discovered that it had been replaced by pan seared foie gras with poached rhubarb, hazelnuts and yoghourt, a most unusual combination, but it worked, whilst the smoked haddock carpaccio, with quail's egg, curry dressing and coriander was a subtle success.

To my surprise, as you so seldom see it offered in London, I found cassoulet on the carte, with confit duck, Toulouse sausage, Tarbais beans and persillade, a wonderful blend, pure joy on a plate, basically peasant food, but served looking thoroughly posh,

The wine list is well chosen, and their mark-ups are quite sensible, so no problem is choosing a good wine to accompany what should be a superb meal, their Tin Pot New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is to be highly recommended, a really fruity example - just as I like it.

The desserts are another delight but perhaps best of all are the wonderful homemade sorbets, always a favourite of mine, though the chocolate fondant, with its melting centre, proved irresistible, served with an almond tuile, milk puree and vanilla ice cream.

The only downside for me is that sometimes, when it is really busy, the buzz of conversation is so loud that - being slightly aurally challenged - I can find a little difficulty in following a conversation.

It was a pleasure to discover that the standards were as high as ever, and the value for money provided by their two and three course set price menu - especially for such a popular place - was amazing, in the evening, £19.50 for 2 courses and £24.50 for three.

Why not have a look at their Website to view everything from menus to their wine list, and then you might find them so tempting that you will understand the continued success of Kensington Place?

Richard Bradford