From the brains behind Hammersmith’s Sam’s Riverside, resauranter Sam Harrison’s newly-opened Sam’s Kitchen offers up a new affordable yet impressive fine-dining menu.
After soft-launching in May this year, Sam’s Kitchen in Chiswick is a price range below its sister restaurant over on Crisp Road, offering up a daily brunch menu.
It’s classic, simple, very well done food, and now has fine-dining offering called Dinner at SK.
In October, head chef Abbie Hendren recently launched the supper club, priding itself on using the same suppliers as its Riverside branch to create an elevated dining experience at a much lower price tag.
Whilst sitting unceremoniously on the local high street, Sam’s inviting glow pours out through large windows onto Turnham Green Terrace
The restaurant is small and has the warmth of someone’s living room, seating only a small number of guests at a time.
The menu is set weekly and is in tune with the seasons, and customers’ only choice is the wine pairings with each course or to look at their wine list, which was also very reasonably priced.
Up first was a welcome drink, a seasonal cocktail with definitive notes of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
Its warmth from the spices was impressive, all while being extremely palatable.
It encapsulated autumn into a flavour making the spirit was barely noticeable.
The first course was Portland crab with yuzu and white soy dressing, served with a black rice cracker.
The seafood was impressively fresh and a generous portion too, while the mixture of shredded and chunks of crab meat was a welcomed texture balance.
The crab was firm and incredibly well seasoned, and was a strong nod to the quality of their suppliers.
The rice cracker was a little soft to support the weight of the crab meat, so we had to tackle it in smaller bites.
The elements together were strong, but together the flavours were harmonious.
The crab, yuzu dressing, and cracker were all relatively mild in flavour, albeit it delicious, but when paired it became one flavour profile.
The components of the dishes are clearly very well understood by the chefs at Sam’s.
This was also demonstrated in their main, a saddle of venison, with Pomme Anna (‘100 layer potato’), fruit puree and a juniper and damson dressing – a sweet berry not too dissimilar to a blackberry.
The venison was exceptional and cooked to medium-rare, you couldn’t cut against the grain as it was indistinguishable.
The meat was incredibly tender and almost unrecognisable as venison, with a complete absence of gaminess which can be common.
The damson and juniper sauce was sharp and had a flavour-packed punch that sang in harmony with the venison.
The potato was good, crispy on the outside and soft inside, however not a showstopper alone.
Sat on a bed on gravy, it was rich and authentic in flavour, clearly derived from a well tended-to stock.
Again, the flavours alone were excellent, but as a bite it blended into one unique taste profile.
Each component felt like a carefully curated puzzle piece that wouldn’t fit without the other.
The flavours were impressive, and the venison remains one of the best bites of steak I’ve ever had.
For desert, the menu offered up a chocolate and passionfruit delice.
However, due to a nut allergy I was served with a French toast stick topped with hazelnuts and vanilla ice cream.
Like the rest of the menu it was delicious, but took a back seat in comparison to the starter and main.
It was well prepared and perfectly presented, but was overshadowed by its savoury counterparts.
Harrison’s hallmark has always been great food, relaxed service and warm hospitality, and he has exceeded that at Sam’s Kitchen.
The expertise of the Hendren shines through in the creativity and construction of dishes, and names Sam’s as a rare jewel in the London food scene of extremely well-done, and affordable food.
The weekly event, is available for £55 per person from Thursday-Saturday, 6pm-9pm, offering a changing tasting menu of the best seasonal dishes.
Visit Sam’s Kitchen at 59-61 Turnham Green Terrace, Chiswick, London W4 1RP.
Image Credit: AWC Comms and Lucy White
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