SUNDAY LAUNCH

If only all Sundays could consist of a three course lunch served in a comfy, stylish townhouse in a smart street in Kensington. We’d have to spend the rest of our lives wearing elasticated-waist trousers if it did, but boy would it be worth taking the fashion hit. Settling into a dining area in Town House that was decorated like a dream sitting room with a glass of cold fizz, something caught our eye. It wasn’t the hundreds of books in the many bookcases lining the walls (including Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable which was an excellent choice to flip through between courses), but in fact a table featuring a host of culinary delights. It transpired that this was the starter – and what better words are there than ‘help yourself’ when you are faced with a delicious array of super-food salads, cured meats, patès and enormous prawns? The Guinness bread was so delicious we asked the very attentive staff to wrap up the remaining piece for us as we couldn’t bear to leave it behind. The words ‘pace yourself’ cropped up more than once during this lunch.

Town House at The Kensington only launched its new Sunday Lunch menu on the 15th of May. Overseen by Executive Chef Steve Gibbs, formerly of Hix and The Ivy, it’s a new take on the traditional British roast. The mains include slow roast sea trout with fennel & dill fricassée, and spring vegetables with field mushroom, courgette & goat’s cheese tart, as well as the more expected roast lunch options, prepared in a unique way. Roast rib of dry-aged Devonshire beef with roasted broccoli, lentils, almonds & honey mustard served with boulangère potatoes, and slow cooked Cornish lamb shoulder caponata. We opted for the lamb, with a side of the boulangère potatoes, as frankly who can resist that on a menu? Not us it seemed. We managed to leave enough room to eat every last crumb of our dessert sharing selection – strawberry shortbread trifle with vanilla custard, chocolate and passion fruit tart and baked cheesecake. A brilliant idea to avoid any food envy – just have 3 mini desserts each.

Sunday Lunch at Town House every Sunday from 15th May, costing £29 per person, from 12 noon until 4pm.