131 Chiswick High Road
W4 2ED
020 8995 4548
Although billed as a family blog, it's fair to say some family members are more enthusiastic about this challenge than others. Eldest Miss West4urants likes the variety, she's always up for trying something different, the quirkier the better. Mstr West4urants recognised early on that going out more often would significantly increase his chances of getting some meat to eat. But youngest Miss West4urants is not really a foodie, her perfect meal is a plate of rice cakes while watching 'Grey's Anatomy'. So if we couldn't persuade her to come somewhere new with us, we'd have to go somewhere old she likes to go. And as there isn't a Wagamama in Chiswick, that meant a trip to Gourmet Burger Kitchen (or GBK as it likes to be called, channeling the KFC vibe).
Three Kiwi guys opened the first GBK in Battersea in 2001, "changing the UK burger scene forever" their website modestly claims. The Chiswick site opened in 2004, on the premises previously occupied by The Chiswick. (Opened in 1994 by the team behind The Brackenbury, The Chiswick was by some distance W4's best restaurant before La Trompette came to town.)
We're about 50% too old for GBK. The target market appears to be 4 to 34: from young children watching iPads, through teenagers racking up reward points on their GBK App to young parents with iPhones texting their friends to avoid talking to the young children.
The ordering system is lifted straight from McDonald's: you queue up to order, and if you're one of the few not to have the App, they will accept credit cards.
The burger options include the Taxidriver, the Habanero, the Blazing Sombrero and the disgusting-sounding Kiwiburger (with beetroot, pineapple, fried egg and cheese). Miss W4 and I both kept it simple and went for the cheeseburger (£6.55), which is the standard test of a burger joint. I have to say it's a pretty good burger - decent meat, well cooked - in a depressingly standard Mother's Pride white bread bun. The skinny fries were ok but the sweet potato fries were exceptionally good - crisp outside, sweet and soft inside. Well worth £3.95.
Mrs West4urants had the Goats Cheese Salad (obviously): grilled goat's cheese, vegetable crisps, beetroot, semi-dried tomatoes, hazelnuts, mixed leaves, pomegranate dressing. She was under-whelmed (obviously - it's a burger joint).
They serve a good range of beers, including Meantime and Brewdog, as well as a wide selection of giant milkshakes from which Miss W4 eschewed the Jager Shake in favour of a strawberry one (well, it was a bit early for alcohol, even for her).
Food (for 3): £28.50
Drink: £8.50
Total: £37.00
12 Sutton Lane North
W4 4LD
020 3819 6066
On starting this blog lots of people gave us their recommendations for their favourite places in Chiswick, with nowhere coming more recommended than the Smokehouse. It seemed that we were the Smokehouse virgins in the locality. So we went with some friends who, obviously, had been before.
Being an almost vegetarian the Smokehouse hadn't had so much appeal. And I'm talking about myself here, not Mr W who would gladly eat cows until they no longer came home. The menu has a caveman quality about it and I would suggest you go with a big appetite. Even the side dishes are meat and the beef burger comes with Korean pulled pork.
We didn't have any starters - mainly because nothing really appealed but I would suggest that was us rather than them. Knowing that a lot of meat was on the menu for the main course the celeriac dumplings, Lincoln Red (that's a type of cow for the ignoramus amongst you) tacos or the smoked ham hock terrine seemed a little, well, over the top.
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| Shortrib bourguignon |
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| Lamb hash |
Mr W had the shortrib bourguignon with mash which was boeuf bourguignon but on the bone and really quite delicious I'm told. Two of us had the smoked lamb hash which was, I confess for one who doesn't eat a lot of meat, really yummy. Quite a lot of potato but if you like your carbs ... And the fourth of us the goat cheese croquette which did look as if it was paying lip service to the customers who come but don't eat or don't want to eat meat. Grey mullet was the fish option. Am I being racist when I say that grey mullet sounds really very unappealing?
We did have a pear and blackberry crumble for pudding, largely because the goat cheese croquette had been lacking in the calorie department. The crumble got the thumbs up.
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| Goat cheese croquette |
Our bill was reasonable but we didn't take any of the specials which is essentially the aforementioned Lincoln Red (cow of the week). A T-bone would set you back £41, the Cote de Boeuf £93 (for 2/3) and the Chateaubriand £112 (for 2/3). (If you want sauce with that it'll cost you another £1.50, which is a bit rich really when you're paying over £100 for a steak.)
The garden looked very inviting on the sunny evening we were there. I'm sure in summer it will be fabulous. By contrast, the snug looked like a great place to huddle in winter.
Would we go back? Yes, with a bigger appetite. And a bigger wallet if we have the T-Bone in mind. It's not a place for vegetarians, and vegans would go home starving, but perhaps they always do.
Food (for 2): £44.75
Drink: £30.40
Total: £85.00
472 Chiswick High Road
W4 5TT
020 8994 4217
The section of Chiswick High Road between Acton Lane and the one-way Chiswick Road might best be described as 'Little Persia'. Right across the road from Rice House of Kebab & Wrap (see last month's blog) is Faanoos. Recommended by a local columnist for The Times (no, not Giles Coren), this was another first-timer for us.
Faanoos is owned and managed by Abbas Ghamsari. It has sister restaurants in East Sheen and Ealing. The website suggests the restaurants are "based on a style popular at the Tehran bazaar of 500 years ago." It goes on to claim that "Persian cuisine is widely known for its health benefits" partly due to the unprocessed nature of the food; even the bread, which is baked in the traditional oven in the restaurant, is made without yeast and will thus "support a healthy diet and lifestyle."
Our teenage son decided to put this latter claim to the test, opting for a Garlicky McGarlicface garlic bread to start followed by the mixed kebab (on bread), which he washed down with a bottle of K1 Persian beer.
The rest of us shared some houmous, kashk e bademjam (fried aubergine and onions with yoghurt and spices) and a Faanoos special salad (tomato, cucumber and onion with fresh mint and tarragon). We too had to have some of the freshly-baked Persian bread, cooked in seconds in the oven.
For the main course I had the Joojeh chicken kebab with rice, a more natural colour and slightly more chargrilled than the equivalent across the road. Mrs W4 went for the Chelo Kebab Chenjeh, grilled lamb fillet.
There's not a great deal of choice for the vegetarian. You can have a No. 34 (the attractively named "Vegetarian Dish") or pick from two of the other specials, which "can be served as a vegetarian". Our daughter went for the okra with fresh herbs, tomatoes, garlic, onion and spices. The vegetarian credentials of this dish were slightly undermined by the inclusion of lamb.
But the staff could not have been more friendly and accommodating, swapping the dish immediately. Like Rice across the road, the restaurant clearly has a loyal and local fan club. On the Thursday we were there the tables included couples, families, single ladies and groups of men.
The food is a little better in Faanoos than Rice, and the atmosphere certainly more conducive for an enjoyable evening out. (And if you fancy an enjoyable evening out with 44 of your closest friends then they have a private room.) We'll definitely go back.
As well as the beer, there is a short list of red and white wines; we discovered too late that you can Bring Your Own.
Food (for 4): £53.00
Drink: £31.40
Total: £94.40
