Small and cosy Kings Road restaurant serving good value set menus at lunch - Michelin starred at time of visit (star deleted as at 2015)
Medlar is a long-standing Chelsea restaurant co-owned by Head Chef Joe Mercer Nairne and Manager David O’Connor. Background on the head chef (Source: Medlar) is thus: “After attending Eton and Oxford University, where he read Archaeology and Anthropology, Joe [Mercer Nairne] embarked upon his culinary career. He first attended Leith’s School of Food and Wine in 2001, only deciding afterwards to make cooking his profession. Roles at Carluccio’s, The Savoy Grill and Chez Bruce followed, along with a spell in Sydney working at Neil Perry’s Rockpool. This is my second visit to Medlar after 8 years and it was good to see the cooking on point as ever and a familiar, signature dish on return which has not aged or reduced in its impact. Why Michelin removed the star we will never seemingly know.
No nibbles, snacks or canapes were seen on this visit which is the only shame of this meal based on the prix fixe prices of the menu:
The signature dish had before was the duck egg tart with red wine sauce, turnip puree, lardons and sautéed duck hearts. Our host who loved duck hearts went for this dish and was genuinely blown away by how good this was. My taste reminded me just what superb depth the jus has, the creaminess of the turnip puree (even better now) and the delightful crips of the pastry beneath the duck egg. Not exactly a light dish in anyway, but for indulgence, this is one of the best you can get.
Crab ravioli with samphire, brown shrimps, fondu of leeks and bisque sauce was nicely judged. Cornish cod with miso glazed aubergine, nori, sesame seeds, coriander, chilli, spring onion and tempura squid was a satisfying dish and made all at the table very happy. Another hearty dish of chargrilled calf’s liver with onion ravioli, crisp pancetta, girolles, rainbow chard and sage made another good impression. A side of triple cooked chips and béarnaise was clearly never going to not be ordered and was another lovely treat with the bearnaise having good consistency and tarragon punch.
Our host kindly covered this meal so I do not know what the final bill was but you can get a sense from the above generic prix fixe prices. By the time of dessert, we had all had enough calories, but the chocolate truffle petit fours were a welcome site to accompany our coffees (which, I believe is supplied by Union, a well-respected brand).
This is a confirmed, quality and reliable venue and I can’t think of a better dining venue in Chelsea for just the food alone – if there is, I would welcome the challenge in any comments so I can go and see for myself.
Food Grade: 78%
A very pleasant visit on this occasion whilst it had a brief spell holding a Michelin star. I’m not sure why it as lost it’s star as the menu I had was perfectly acceptable and comfortably in the middle echelon of 1 Michelin starred restaurants and for me personally, it was a lovely set menu at a reasonable cost and even more lovely to see steak and béarnaise sauce on the set menu! The food was highly satisfying and probably the highlight was the duck egg starter – a lovely, rich feel to the dish naturally, with the duck egg yolk which went very well with the accompanying mushroom jus, crispy base and spinach. Although the interior was a little wide, it is certainly homely and stylish at the same time. A very nice option if you are in the area in need of somewhere and certainly better quality food than say, The Bluebird up the road which is mainly popular because of the design of the establishment than anything else.
Food Grade: 78%
My hobby-turned-passion began to evolve during my assignments to London where I was fortunate enough to be able to explore all the Michelin starred restaurants in my spare time and as a result, I gradually built up a catalogue of all these venues.
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