Review of 'Muriel's Kitchen'

On our way to a show at the Royal Albert Hall we found ourselves at South Kensington tube station looking for something to eat. We have not had too much luck in this area so I have to say I was not all that optimistic.

I remember the name “Muriel's Kitchen” as they used to have a restaurant in Leicester Square (no longer) and what I do remember is: A simple menu and fairly high prices. This is the case for this branch in South Ken.

The small, crowded, and noisy interior has perhaps only 10 or 12 tables with a counter selling takeaway immediately beside the entrance (interesting aside: The door was open letting the single-digit weather into the restaurant so I felt a draft - despite being at the far side of the room - for the whole of our stay, never mind letting in the noise of the busy road only a few feet away from the entrance). We were seated at a bench along the far wall and given the menus to browse. It was about 6 pm when we arrived and it was half full but when we left closer to 7 it was full.

They serve breakfast/brunch, lunch, afternoon tea (as you do) and evening meals. The evening menu has only a few sections, basically, starters, sides and mains. The specials board merely highlighted items already on the menu. Not having a lot of time we skipped the starters and ordered only mains. Muriel's philosophy is to provide “home cooked authentic food that families have loved for generations” and to use quality British ingredients which featured in spades. I suppose this also, at least partly, explains the prices.

I had the “Free Range Chicken Shnitzel” (£16) with a side order of fried potatoes (£4). The shnizel was served without a sauce on the plate with a small portion of “summer slaw”. The slaw had the most flavour and the chicken was slightly dry. The potatoes were absolutely wonderful - Whole new potatoes, slightly crunchy and slightly sweet.

My companion had the “British Flattened Sirloin Steak and Fries” (£11) which she ordered “Medium Rare” and with a side of “Seasonal Greens” (£3.50). Her good sized steak was very close to being blue (extremely rare) and not terribly tender but the bed of fries it was served on were very fresh and very crunchy. Her greens turned out to be beans, snow peas and a few pieces of tenderstem broccoli.

The service was OK but not fantastic - We did not have to wait too long for attention despite it being fairly busy. There was no banter but simply swift service. As with the service, the food was OK but nothing truly exceptional given the rather high prices. At £41.50 for the two of us, single course only and sharing a bottle of water, this is not an overly cheap option. For a simple meal made with local, fresh ingredients, you can't go too wrong here though I think there are probably tastier options available elsewhere. The crowded and noisy interior did not really feel like a place to linger too long…

Rating: “It is OK but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2017-12-15


Cuisine: American/British

Address: 1-3 Pelham Street, London, SW7 2ND ENGLAND

Public Transport: TUBE South Kensington

Location: London (England) - Knightsbridge

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Telephone: +44 (0) 207 589 3511

URL: http://www.murielskitchen.co.uk/