W4 2EU
020 8747 1836
I know what you're thinking: "Devonshire Road? Again? That's 4 out of 8 so far. Enough already." And: "Chiswick's best restaurant? It's only February. That's not very imaginative." And to be honest we didn't expect to be visiting so early, Trompette is for special occasions. But when we heard they were participating in a wine merchant's free corkage offer, we had to re-consider. Chiswick's best restaurant does BYO - what's not to like?
La Trompette was opened in Chiswick in 2001 by Bruce Poole and Nigel Platts-Martin, the men behind Chez Bruce and The Glasshouse in Kew. It was probably the most exciting opening in Chiswick since Jayne Mansfield used her gold scissors to open the Chiswick flyover in 1959. For the first time Chiswick had its own destination restaurant, fine dining no longer required a taxi.
Rob Weston took over as head chef in 2013 after 15 years at The Square and has kept its Michelin star. It's also top ranked by Square Meal and Zagat, which describes the wine list as "exceptional value" for those not lucky enough to be able to take their own.
We visited on a Friday night in February with local friends. Everyone will have their own favourite place to eat in W4, but there can be little dispute that this cooking is on another level, and worth every penny of the £49.50 set price. To start with I had the warm salad of thornback ray, smoked eel, golden beets, horseradish and apple. Mrs West4urants had the Cornish mackerel with grilled baby squid, calcot onions, lovage and Amalfi lemon gremolata (below).
She kept with the Cornwall theme for the main course - loin of Cornish cod with razor clams, shimeji broth, grilled king cabbage and lardo. I went for the roast shoulder of suckling pig with kabocha squash, creamed potato, cavolo nero, chili and garlic. (This is definitely the first time I've used shimeji and kabocha in the same paragraph. In fact, almost certainly the first time I've ever used either word.)
For pudding there can only ever be one choice at La Trompette: soufflé. Mr Weston may take issue with me describing it as the restaurant's signature dish, but it is always outstanding, and appears to feature in most reviews. The day's soufflé was rhubarb crumble, with a dollop of rhubarb ripple ice cream dropped into the middle. We had to wait a little while for pudding, which you'd expect for a soufflé, but they generously knocked the cost off the bill.
Another memorable meal. And sadly the memory is all we'll have of La Trompette for the rest of 2016.
Food (for 2): £83.00
Drink (one fresh mint tea): £4.50
Total: £100.97
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