Medlar - hurry on down!

The World’s End stretch of the Kings Road is a strange locale, smart Indian restaurant Vama never quite made a go of it. 808 - a Pan-Asian-Eclectic from the Will Ricker stable - enjoyed some success but hasn’t blown anyone away. With the arrival of Medlar, however, things are looking up. Joe Mercer Nairne (chef) and David O'Connor (front of house) have an enviable pedigree: Joe has cooked at Neil Perry’s Rockpool in Sydney and then Chez Bruce, while David has served his time at the Square, the Ledbury and Chez Bruce. If we were talking racehorses the bookies would be shortening the price and chalking up a new favourite. Even without all the background the Medlar menu screams Chez Bruce. This is a very good thing indeed.

The menu at Medlar is short. A choice of six, six and six. And that is a huge problem, every single dish reads so well that you want to choose it. If your normal approach to choosing your meal is to start off by discounting less favoured dishes (the veggie option is usually dismissed fairly early on when using this reductive technique) the menu here will prove very difficult. No dish on the carte sounds less than excellent. Even the veggie option “ravioli of squash with trompettes, Parmesan, hazelnuts and sage beurre noisette” sounds well-balanced and looks to have good contrasting textures.

These were the starters for the lunch menu:

White onion soup with sautéed chanterelles, braised chicken wings and cheese straw.

Duck egg tart with red wine sauce, turnip puree, lardons, girolles and sautéed duck heart.

Foie gras and ham hock terrine, green bean, dandelion and shallot salad, cobnuts, toasted brioche.

Rare grilled salmon with sauce vierge, sea purslane, oyster beignets and herb mayonnaise.

Crab raviolo with samphire, brown shrimp, fondue of leeks and bisque sauce.

Deep fried calf’s brain with sauce gribiche and red wine jus.

Appropriating a gross Americanism… What’s not to like? The terrine is perfectly made, contrasting textures, foie gras not over cooked. The brains come to table in crisp chunks, piping hot within. These are deceptively simple, thoroughly delicious, dishes.

Main courses dishes continue the winning streak, Grilled plaice comes with surf clams, girolles, celery and mash potato; there’s an epic Middle White pork chop and cheek that’s served with celeriac purée, black cabbage, crackling and marjoram. Or how about under blade fillet with persillade snails, salad, triple cooked chips and Béarnaise? Puds are trad and good – pear and frangipane tart with clotted cream; a real macaroon with raspberries and lemon curd.

Tick off the other elements: pleasant modernist room and décor; accessible wine list; service that is gentle but efficient. Pause to consider the remarkable pricing – at lunch £25 for three courses; £19.50 for two courses; £14.50 for one course.  And then go back to the key element – talented, seasonally biased, cooking that is a joy to eat.

The slang French name for the fruit of the medlar tree is “dog’s arse” which is what it is said to resemble when the crown of a ripe fruit is viewed from above. In a similar vein the perfect vulgar description of Medlar restaurant on the Kings Road is “the dog’s bollocks”.

Medlar Restaurant, 438 Kings Road, Chelsea, London, SW10 0LJ (020 7349 1900 www.medlarrestaurant.co.uk)