Review: Park Terrace Restaurant, Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London

Located in the 5-star Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, only a stone's throw away from Kensington Palace, you'll find the award-winning Park Terrace Restaurant, a stylish place to grab a relaxing meal. 

Led by Executive Head Chef Steve Munkley, the talented team here prepares a variety of seasonal dishes using fine ingredients and produce sourced from local farms and orchards to ensure the utmost quality.

The  vibe
The service is 'no frills without the fuss', meaning the waiter was always at hand when needed, but was by no means obtrusive.  Given that the restaurant is located within a hotel, it can lack a bit of atmosphere depending on the night you visit, but is a good place to go if you want to enjoy a conversation with your dining companion.

The crisp, white linen tablecloths and the smartly dressed waiters lent a bit of formality to dinner, making it feel more like a special occasion - even though we'd arrived straight from work, early on a Tuesday evening!

The menu
During our visit, I ordered from the Bobby Moore menu, which has been created to mark the hotel's 50th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the England team winning the World Cup. This seasonal  menu is based on the former England captain's favourite foods and was created by Bobby's widow Stephanie and Steve Munkley. The menu will be available until the end of the year, with a £1 donation from each dish going to the Bobby Moore Fund,  a charitable fund, which is dedicated to raising money for Cancer Research UK to fund pioneering, life-saving bowel cancer research.

The Bobby Moore menu included a charcuterie platter with olives and soda bread; Gazpacho Andaluz with a toasted baguette; en-croute Scottish salmon with Jersey Royals, wilted spinach and tomato salad; and for dessert an English Strawberry Jelly Trifle with a gin and tonic sorbet. 

Throughout the meal, we couldn't fault the service or the food. I really enjoyed the 'build your own' gazpacho, which came with a chilled bowl of tomato gazpacho and sides of freshly diced veggies (celery, cucumber, peppers and shallots), so you could add as much or as little as you like of each of the ingredients!   

Meat lovers would go nuts for the charcuterie platter, which had a variety of meats piled high atop a wooden serving platter.   The salmon en croute was also fab and had a light, flaky pastry, making it a new favourite dish.   The star of the show for me, however, was the trifle, which was so fresh, so British and the perfect summer dessert.

Overall, this is a  great place to go if you want a relaxed meal in a refined setting. 

Park Terrace Restaurant
Royal Garden Hotel
2- 24 Kensington High Street
London
W8 4PT

http://www.royalgardenhotel.co.uk/Restaurants-Bars/Park-Terrace

A.A. Miln