Kew Grill
10b Kew Green, Richmond, TW9 3BH (020 8948 4433)
Tube: Kew Bridge
The scene: Set in leafy Richmond, Antony Worrall Thompson’s Kew Grill has a laidback, welcoming style. Exposed brickwork and framed vintage Tube posters provide character, and the place quickly fills up with what appear to be local regulars.
The grub: The menu reads like a carnivore’s dream but for starters we plump for seafood – tiger prawns with roast garlic paprika and chilli, and chilli-salt squid. Both are fresh and well-cooked but lack the zing promised on the menu and seem overpriced at £8/£9.
Things perk up a bit with the mains. All Kew Grill’s steaks are Aberdeenshire Scottish beef aged for 35 days, and my fillet steak certainly tastes it.
The chunky chips are good but the accompanying grilled tomato/mushroom are drab and the spinach watery. My friend enjoys her free-range spiced chicken but at £16.95 there is little wow factor about it. Dessert is a trio of sorbets: blackcurrant, peach champagne and delicious blood orange, and some chewy éclairs with strawberries.
Behind the bar: A fairly standard, uninspiring selection of wines.
Bill please: Starters from £6.95 and a 6oz fillet steak will leave you £21.95 lighter in the pocket.
Verdict: Good food but at these prices you would expect better.
3/5
– Alison Grinter
