Hereford Road
Above: Hereford Road
Set in a former butcher’s shop in the backwaters between Bayswater and Notting Hill, Hereford Road is an unassuming place with a no-frills décor of white walls, dark wood floors and unclothed tables. Where the counter used to be is now a long, open kitchen, from where chef/proprietor Tom Pemberton (ex-St John Bread and Wine) and his crew can tempt customers with delicious sights and smells the minute they walk through the door.
The theme here is good, honest cooking and the daily-changing menu, exceptionally decently priced at around a fiver for starters and £13 for mains, champions well-sourced, seasonal British ingredients. Choosing what to eat is almost torturous. From fresh shellfish with homemade mayonnaise to robust slow-cooked meat dishes, every last dish sounds more delicious than the next. Luckily, it all eats as well as it reads so you can hardly go wrong.
Our entire meal was a lesson in simplistic perfection, kicking off with a beautifully balanced salad of hot-smoked eel with beetroot and horseradish and culminating in a spectacular whole braised oxtail, served in its own rich cooking juices. Delicious. Portions are generous but we also managed to devour a plate of super-tender braised duck with turnips and an autumnal Eton Mess, in which spiced damsons cleverly replaced the usual strawberries.
A great-value wine list with plenty of bins by the glass and carafe adds to an experience that also extends to cheerful service and a buzzy ambience. The only things missing are vegetables (few mains come with greens and the menu has no side order section) and a few bits of art to brighten up the stark white walls. Note that the place also gets very loud – great fun for a lively meal with friends but perhaps not so good for business.
by Annica Wainwright, an editor at Square Meal
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