We were all excited to be experiencing for ourselves what all the fuss was about regarding the new restaurant on the Notting Hill block – The Fat Badger.
Tucked away behind The Canteen on the Portobello Road and subtly signposted with a tiny image of a Fat Badger sitting above an inconspicuous looking door and a friendly doorman, it felt like we were being lead into some sort of speakeasy via the back entrance.
The occasion was my youngest son’s 25th birthday party, which happened to fall on a Monday night. Not usually the best night of the week to find the ambiance you’re looking for – but here we found the perfect venue for our family gathering.
George Williams is the head chef (formally of The River Café and The Bull at Charlbury) of The Fat Badger and for full disclosure here, before I wax lyrical about our evening, he’s a great school friend of my eldest son. Consequently we’ve all been proudly watching his meteoric rise through the hard working ranks of chefdom with great pride. Fuelled by a passion for food, he came to cheffing late in the day and had to make big decisions about changing his career path in his mid twenties. When lockdown hit, he stepped up and started delivering fabulous meals in brown paper bags all over London – including free to the NHS. I can only assume that he has no regrets about his change of direction, he’s clearly found something he’s extremely good at.
I’ll get to the food in due course, but of course it’s never just about the food – it’s about the whole experience, the ambiance, the bonhomie, the chilled, cool, classy vibe – you just can’t buy that sort of thing and that’s why George seems to be so good at what he does. No surprise then that he’s attracting a wealth of celebrities and great reviews. He’s just got that edge – that star quality that provides the whole big fat wonderful shebang.
Here I am with George:-
My son and daughter with him:-
To be honest, none of us can stop talking about how great the evening was, about how “insane” the food was, (especially the fillet of beef), about how cosy and discreet and welcoming the space was – like being in someone’s kitchen, but way better. Personally, I loved the low sexy lighting (especially good for people of a certain age).
We were seated on a large wooden table in the centre of the top floor restaurant. Most of the other tables were along the edges, in little nooks and crannies, creating an interestingly convivial space for everyone there. You can also eat or drink at the bar. It had the feel of an old school pub, with wood panels, oil lamps and candles – you could imagine bumping into Charles Dickens or Shakespeare sitting at the bar with ye olde tankard and chewing the cud.
The open kitchen:-
Obviously this isn’t going to be a professional food review – I certainly won’t do the specifics of our meal justice because I’m not into the description of detailed ingredients – this is more an overall review of literally my perfect venue. Great company because I was there with all three of my kids and my daughter in law to be and my son’s best friend, great food which we all loved, exceptional ambiance, a good wine list. It made for a truly sublime experience overall.
So apologies for some unprofessional foodie photos to follow, but you’ll get the general idea.
I love how in this one she’s sneaking some of his pudding whilst he’s not looking!
“You won’t like this photo mum” said my daughter….I can see what she means, but it’s me being proud of George:-
There’s a set menu of £85.00 per head, but the portions are extremely generous. We found a Château d’Astros rosé on the wine list that was £55.00 a bottle. It’s from a very good Provence family owned producer, but unfortunately we drank so much of it they ran out and we had to move on to something else.
So, let’s get to the food. We started with the most deliciously warm soda bread we’d ever tasted and some whipped butter (no photo sadly) that came with a wonderful pea and crab soup.
Then celeriac tacos arrived, topped with tiny prawns in a delicious sauce:-
We then had a delicious Sea bass carpaccio
Followed by bite sized bits of pigeon on toast – surprisingly delicious – very tender
Monkfish in a tomato salsa with peas arrived next – not a great picture of the monkfish, or indeed my son – but that’s the face he makes when he is literally loving the flavours:-
The main course was their signature dish of Beef fillet with Hassel back potatoes and a seasonal salad and we’re literally all still salivating at the mere thought of it. Two generous platters of it for the table, delectably tender and tasty – you can see it comes with sorrel mushrooms and there was a selection of sauces including a warm Bernaise mushroom sauce:-
Dessert consisted of three separate puddings – two of each, spread around the table. A peach tart and a honey tart as well as a strawberry and basil sorbet. The meringue on the pudding that also played the role of birthday cake was delicious – all warm and soft (son expressing his excitement at the thought of eating them!).
There’s a splendid selection of cocktails to choose from as well, like a Thyme Margarita and a Dark Chocolate Negroni – we stuck mainly to wine and beer given it was a Monday night, but truly, we had a spectacular evening. It’s clearly not cheap, but it was worth every penny and for a special occasion we were all very happy to be there.
