The Voyage of Zheng

Saturday, September 02nd , 2017

The Don is the sister of The Bleeding Heart, and is a long-established City restaurant noted for its wine list. The menu is appealing and the cooking quite capable. This is not a place that is going to set the world alight, but the food was very nice and the wine list was not only extensive but had some real bargains tucked away if you look carefully.

Zheng (pictured) is that rarest of thing in London, a Malaysian restaurant, though the name refers to a famous Chinese admiral, and I suspect that the restaurant has at least as much Chinese ownership as Malaysian. Still, it serves all the classic dishes, such as nasi goreng and beef rendang, and generally cooks them pretty well. A Chinese broccoli dish was actually the dish of the night, and it is nice to find a decent Malaysian restaurant over here. 

Launceston Place has had many chefs over the years. The latest is Ben Murphy, who was previously at The Woodford. I had quite enjoyed his cooking over in east London, but the transition to Kensington has not gone well. For a start this modern style of food seems out of place in such a long-established place, just as Fera always felt a bit weird in the surroundings at Claridges. The meal included some good potatoes and nice bread, but there were plenty of unsuccessful dishes, far too many for this price point.