South Parade
W4 1LD
020 8994 4444
We're always a little wary of restaurants where the menu is bigger than the kitchen. But with our own kitchen full of hungry twenty-somethings, and Ciara on the way, Avanti at Bedford Corner was the closest port in the storm.
Until the summer of 2007, the site was occupied by The Copper Kettle, an old-fashioned cafe that served pretty average coffee and sticky after-school tea treats. When the owner wasn't well enough to continue, it was taken over by Franck Dardenne & Patrice Cauchard, two friends born and bred in Normandy who had lived locally for over 30 years. (The name Darcau was taken from their surnames.) Offering a range of homemade sandwiches, salads and traditional French favourites, Darcau served the best food on Bedford Corner since Mrs Lad's samosas disappeared when the family newsagent closed.
Issues around parking curtailed the number of outside tables and in June 2016 (after Mrs West4urants had visited, but before she'd had a chance to write up the review) Franck and Patrice threw in the towel. The site turned into the Melody Cafe. A definition of 'melody' is a sweet or agreeable succession of sounds. Well there was nothing sweet or agreeable about the owners of this cafe. They put up a monstrous gazebo without bothering to ask for permission, spent a year arguing about it with residents and the local council, and then cleared off a little over a year later.
Avanti - which means forward in Italian - opened in March 2018. It's a Mediterranean bistro, offering tapas and classic dishes from Spain, Italy, Greece and France. Owner Hashim Gabbar Khidyer was previously involved in La Toscana, at the Goldhawk end of Chiswick High Road, and some restaurants in Ealing. Thankfully, he has no plans to put up a gazebo, although there a few outdoor tables. The inside has been completely rearranged and refurbished, it has an authentically cosy bistro feel.
We shared a few tapas to start with: croquetas de bacalao (deep-fried croquettes with "prawns and cod filling"), fabada asturiana (rich butter bean stew cooked with onion, chorizo and bacon - yes, veganuary is finally over) and some padron peppers. Of these, the peppers were easily the best, simply cooked and served. The croquettes and stew had a slight glue-like consistency that suggested they'd been re-heated rather than freshly prepared in that tiny kitchen, but that may be unfair.
We were torn between paella and pizza for main course (i.e. we couldn't agree). We ended up with pizza - a Napoli and a Prosciutto Funghi - which at £8.95 are amongst the best value pizzas in Chiswick. We chose a bottle of Cerro Anon Crianza from the unashamedly Old World wine list.
If you didn't live in Chiswick you wouldn't travel far to eat at Avanti. But we do, and we should be grateful for this friendly addition to the neighbourhood.
Food (for 2): £35.70
Drink: £32.95
Total: £75.51
