From Hammersmith to Richmond

Saturday, December 23rd , 2023

Indian Zing is a long-established restaurant in Hammersmith. I had not been for quite some time after one rather lacklustre experience here several years ago, but it was back on form at this visit, with several very pleasant dishes.

Core is one of London’s three-star Michelin restaurants, and there is no doubting the technical skills of the kitchen. The culinary execution of the dishes here always seems pretty faultless, and I just wish that the restaurant would up its ingredients game a little. For example at this meal we had Dutch sweetbreads and a turbot fillet from a fairly small fish, as examples of dishes that could have had top of the line ingredients rather than merely good ones. A genuinely world class restaurant on the continent such as Christian Bau’s three star establishment shows what can happen when you marry top-class technical skills with really luxurious, no-compromise ingredients.

The Dysart is producing terrific food at the moment, and at this meal we particularly enjoyed a fine scallop dish, a lovely dish of sika deer with a fabulous sauce, as well as old favourites such as the sea bream in champagne sauce with ginger. It was interesting having this meal within a couple of days of Core. The ingredients at The Dysart seemed to be of higher quality and the skill of the kitchen in no way less. Dysart’s out-of-the-centre location means that it does not get the attention that its cooking deserves. For me, this is one of the very best restaurants in London.

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas!