|
||||||||||||
![]()
Interested in restaurant reviews?
Sign up for our Newsletter!
Recent reviews:
Archived Richard & Peter’s Restaurant Reviews:
All articles January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 |
The Abingdon W854 Abingdon Rd 020 7937 3339
10 November 2005
Rebecca Mascarenhas a great London innovator-survivor. Her Sonny’s, in Barnes, may be credited as a mid-’80s fore-runner of the ’90s London restaurant revolution. The name of that establishment may mean little to those who get lost outside Zone 1, but Sonny’s has consistently been hailed by residents of the SWs numbered 13-19 as one of London’s most satisfactory destinations for nearly two decades. Duplicating the Sonny’s magic has proved vexed, however – attempts in Putney, Ealing and North Barnes, and in Nottingham, have sometimes lacked staying power. This latest opening – bringing Ms M’s current stable to four in number – is in a quiet road just off Kensington High Street that looks set to (re-)emerge as a ‘restaurant row’ worth remembering. Everything at a first-week lunch at the new venture was of a consistently high standard, if with a slight feeling that the simpler the dish, the better it was. Service was informal but professional, dealing efficiently with a good crowd apparently stirred up by favourable reviews elsewhere. Prices are reasonable. If there is a criticism, it is that the whole of the style – which includes a menu of what might be described as ambitious comfort cooking – is not so very different from what’s already on offer at two other places in the street. The newcomer’s style puts it head-to-head with near-neighbour Whits, and it’s not so very different from the Abindgon (note the potential name-confusion). And the builders are in opposite, at the restaurant site long known as Trattoo. Let’s hope they go for something completely different. Experience shows that it’s better for restaurants to cluster than to be isolated, but potentially four good ‘modern British’ restaurants (almost) in a row? That really might be too much of a good thing. Lunch or dinner from £30/head. Two-course lunch/early-evening menu, £12.50. <<9th November 2005: The Wolseley W1
>>11th November 2005: Christopher’s in the City EC3
|
|
||||||||||
![]()
|
||||||||||||