The Blurb
I’ll say it from the off, The Silver Birch, Chiswick’s latest neighbourhood bistro with a Michelin menu, is truly excellent and the best meal I’ve had in a long time. If it were not for a desire to increase page views (and a small amount of hubris), I’d just slam a 5/5 at the end of this sentence, send the review off to the editor and then go about the rest of my day.
Whilst I will certainly – spoiler alert – be slamming a 5/5 on this review, with broadly the same level of joy I feel when I see my neighbour’s dog come bounding up the road, I will expend a few more words to tell you just what made Chef Nathan Cornwell’s (previously of multiple Michelin Starred venues including Kitchen W8, Copenhagen’s Geranium and Cheltenham’s Le Champignon Sauvage), new venue so great.
The Style
The venue itself has very much a bistro feel. The interior draws heavily on its Cornish roots, rustic timber beams contrast against contemporary metallic ventilation. Amber lighting bounces off wood-panelled walls and if you’re fortunate enough to be sat close to it, a wide window into the almost suspiciously serene kitchen (Yes, I have been watching ‘The Bear’, I now expect chaos anywhere professional food is involved), and you can witness your treats being prepared.
The Food
Menu-wise, we went a la carte though there is a very reasonably priced 8-course tasting menu for £100 per head and an optional £60 per head wine pairing.
We started with Ex Dairy Beef Tartare and Duck Ragout which were both superb, the former brought to life with the clever addition of mustard and kohlrabi and the latter punched up with crispy duck skin and coolea cheese.
The mains bought Cornish Texel lamb and sweetbread and Yorkshire Grouse with smoked Bacon and Celeriac. It would be nigh-on impossible to find fault with either, though I suspect the Grouse edged it in the ‘which one was best, though?’ stakes.
Sandwiched around the starters and mains we also experienced several – rather delicious – amuse-bouche appetisers from Cornwell’s ever-changing selection.
Approaching the end of the evening, instead of selecting two puddings, I acquiesced to a cheese board and one sweet dessert with my companion (yes, I have a bit of a sweet tooth). This then brought forth an enviable plate of all-British cheeses with crackers and seasonal chutney before, finally, the money shot of the evening; Brown butter chocolate delice, milk sorbet and caramelised white chocolate, which was placed triumphantly in front of us. It was, in a word, biblical. God-and-Satan-having-make-up-sex-on-your-tongue biblical and I still think about it more than is probably healthy.
In a Nutshell
I know I already gave it away at the start, so the following won’t come as much of a surprise but just to be clear, The Silver Birch in Chiswick provided the most delicious food and the best service I have experienced in a very long time (not to mention, in a beautiful setting). I highly recommend it and cannot wait to return.
The Blurb
Menu varies due to seasonal variety
142 Chiswick High Road, W4 1PU
Tel: 020 8159 7176
