SMOKEHOUSE, CHISWICK

Chiswick's got a new star!

It seems West London is finally coming into its own as far as good food is concerned. Slowly, restaurants are starting to open that aren't part of a huge high street chain and it's all very exciting. Neil Rankin is the latest chef to take anchor in W4 with his 2nd Smokehouse restaurant - the original is in Islington, and was the UK's first real wood BBQ restaurant. Smokehouse Chiswick has taken residency in the old pub, The Hole in the Wall, which has been transformed into a gorgeous restaurant, with dark walls, benches and cosy seats, whilst retaining a true pub feel with a long bar stretching round into the whisky room.

 

We visited a couple of weeks after they opened and the place was really busy. The menu centres around BBQ-d food, with a hint of spice in most dishes. We started the evening with the Smokehouse Summer Cup - a fruity punch cocktail - for me, and a Camden Pils lager for the boy. The beer offering at Smokehouse is plentiful and varied and will be something that tempts us back there time and time again.

 

For food I started with Somerset goat tacos, served with chipotle and green salsa. I had high expectations having read wondrous things about these, and my expectations were met. Soft, falling-apart goat meat on a picante, red-with-chilli chipotle mayo topped with a tangy green salsa. A starter portion is 2 of these tacos but I honestly could've eaten many more. They're juicy and so full of flavour.

 

The boy had the burnt leeks, Portobello, truffle oil, parmesan and Cackleberry Farm egg - a dish of pure decadence. Rich and heady it was a delight to eat, with the runny yolk providing a sauce to bring the whole dish together. Rankin is extremely proud of the produce he uses in the restaurant and you can really taste the quality of each element.

 

 

Other starters include foie gras apple pie with egg; deep fried rock oyster, beef dripping toast and smoked bone marrow, and many more mouth watering dishes that I had a lot of trouble choosing between.

 

For our main course I had the delicious smoked Elwy Valley lamb shoulder, polenta, raclette and sambal. An excellent combination of tender, flavoursome meat, melted cheese, and spicy sambal. Again, I can't fault this dish, and am still dreaming about it now.

 

 

The boy had the Smokehouse burger made with Highland beef and topped with cheese. A really good burger, though I feel that other dishes on the mains menu may trump this - think ham hock and pigs cheek "sphere" with squid romesco or shortrib bourguignon, creamy mash, bacon and Essex Portobello mushrooms - but the boy's chilli allergy did limit his choices somewhat. The restaurant have assured us that they'll work around his chilli allergy next time we're back so he can try some of the more exciting choices.

 

We went to the Smokehouse mid week and it was busy. Every table in the restaurant was full while the bar was buzzing - a mixture of locals with their dogs, chaps drinking beer and couples cuddled up on the smaller tables.

 

Smokehouse is exactly what Chiswick needed, and is sure to be a huge success. It's an affordable, excellent pub serving top notch food. With starters ranging from £6-10 and mains £13 upwards it's not going to break the bank, even if I do go weekly! I'm already looking forward to many evenings, weekends and late mornings (they serve brunch) spent there, slowly working my way through the menu.