Fat Badger; Notting Hill, London

a let down of immense proportions

A few weeks ago, my best friend Anna, who is my forever restaurant partner, sent me a place she thought we should try. Fat Badger is a new restaurant that just opened above Canteen in Notting Hill. Helmed by a team hailing from Canteen, the Pelican, and the Hero- all places that warrant a second glance at the unassuming Instagram page.

It feels very cloak and dagger, with a website equipped with the bare minimum- a reservation link, the address, and an email. No menu, no pictures, no clues as to what’s inside.

When you book a reservation, you pay in advance, meaning that you need to fork over the entire amount without a single idea of what will be served.

That didn’t really bother me, as I’m not a picky eater, and I can appreciate the desire to keep it a bit under the radar. However, for less adventurous eaters, I could see it becoming a problem. Or so I thought.

When you arrive at the restaurant, you’re confronted by a velvet rope and a bouncer with a clipboard. I did suffer a momentary flashback to trying our luck at clubs on a Friday night at university, but I can’t judge too much- I could see the particular aesthetic they were trying to achieve (I think).

Once our reservation was checked, we were allowed in through a small corridor that was shared with the back of house of Canteen, which made for an interesting journey upstairs.

You go up two flights of stairs, where you’re greeted by the hostess and led to your table.

I have to give credit where it’s due; the interiors were absolutely stunning, and I loved the bright, airy feeling of the dining room. It was also an open kitchen, which has always been a particular favorite detail of mine when I eat out.

We were led to our table, and it was here that the experience started souring a bit.

You know those tables that are wedged right up to where the servers keep the water and the POS machine is kept? That was us! I’m usually pretty relaxed when it comes to things like that, but this whole thing was marketed as a sort of special tasting experience, so when we asked if Anna could move her chair, and our request was denied, we were a little taken aback.

So, unfortunately, poor Anna was subject to the constant back and forth between servers and the inevitable flurry of movement that comes from a seat like hers. To rub salt into the wound, we had a 5:30 seating, and when we arrived, it was fairly empty, so one would think adjustments could be made. But, alas, it was not meant to be.

We moved on and committed to not letting that spoil the meal.

Our server came over and explained the menu, which ended up not really being an explanation.

This is how it worked.

There were different courses, and each one would be brought out one by one. There was no set menu, and instead, the chefs made what the producers and suppliers brought in that day.

Fair enough, that’s how most good quality restaurants operate nowadays.

When we asked if we would be told what the courses are in advance, we were told that each dish is explained as it’s set on the table to keep the element of surprise.

Now, do I think it’s all going a bit far? Perhaps. But I also am not the pickiest of people, and I’m always interested to see people’s concepts in action. So, we patiently waited in suspense for what our first taste would be.

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We started with soda bread and whipped butter. Pretty traditional to have a bread course, and this one didn’t disappoint. The bread was lovely and warm, with a sweet, rounded flavor that worked well with the salty butter.

Next was a nettle soup, which came in what looked like a slightly larger version of a thimble. When placed on the table, it simply came with the explanation of “nettle soup”.

Ah. Well, let’s see how it tastes!

I was very taken aback by this, and the first thing I remarked to Anna was that it tasted like saag paneer! It had a very south asian flavor profile, and for me, while the flavor was nice, it just felt very out of place in what the cuisine seemed to be. It was a perfectly nice soup, nothing special, but nothing negative.

Next was duck tacos. Now, these were something to write home about. It seemed like confit duck with some sort of sauce on what was actually a piece of thinly sliced celeriac. Again, when it was placed on the table, the only explanation was “duck taco”. Now, as someone who loves food and someone who really values knowing what ingredients are in each dish, I was starting to get a bit irked by the lack of explanations. We called the waiter over and asked him if the taco shell was made of celeriac, and only then did he confirm it. It just seemed like a missed opportunity to showcase what the chefs are doing with the produce. Regardless, they were delicious and were a very nice 2-bite situation to start the meal. The pickled onion/shallot added a lovely acidity and worked well with the fatty duck. I wish I knew what the sauces were.

Next was something called scampi, which was placed on the table. It was essentially fried scallops, I think a white fish (red mullet, I believe), samphire, and lemon. Once again, not really explained, but we got the gist.

The flavors were great, and the scallops were cooked to perfection. I especially loved the fried lemons. Disappointingly, everything was soggy. It was such a letdown because it would have been so good. But truly, the texture was as if it had been left under the heat lamp for about 10 minutes before being served. And when I say soggy, I mean the batter was completely soft. Seemed like a rookie mistake for a restaurant that’s building this much hype about it. It was served with what seemed like a wild garlic mayo, but again, it wasn’t communicated.

Our fish course was John Dory with pumpkin puree, asparagus & a wild garlic asparagus puree (we think). It was getting a little tiresome calling the waiters over to clarify what things were, and in my head, I was surprised they weren’t taking it upon themselves to explain more when we obviously wanted to know more. Maybe we should have communicated that better.

When the dish was put down, we were told it was parsnip puree, which, immediately upon tasting, I knew was wrong, as this was not parsnip. I had to make parsnip puree every other day in the restaurant for two months, so I knew something was up. When we clarified, we were told it was actually pumpkin puree, which made a lot more sense, but also seemed not very seasonal.

The fish was underwhelming—underseasoned, with soggy skin, and overcooked. Now, a John Dory is a firmer fish, so it’s reasonable not to expect the glassy pearly flesh of a perfectly cooked white fish. However, I personally hate the squeaky rubbery feeling of overcooked white fish, and this unfortunately was. Squeaky, I mean.

Everything else was fine, but nothing stood out. No pops of acidity, contrasting flavors, or textures. Overall, not an impressive dish.

At this point, we were starting to wonder if we had picked the wrong restaurant to have a cool tasting experience at. We also weren’t sure if it was good value for money.

Luckily, the next course saved it a bit.

Out came grilled lamb with peas, salsa verde, and goat curd. It was accompanied by Charlotte Hasselback potatoes with garlic butter and a fresh bitter leaf salad.

Now, this was a platter of gorgeous food. The lamb was perfectly cooked, tender, and smoky. Anna felt it was a bit too charred on the bottom, but I love a good hard char from a BBQ personally. The peas were lovely and fresh, and the goats’ curd was a fresh and cooling contrast to the intense smoky lamb. The salsa verde was punchy and lent a nice unctuousness to the dish as a whole. It was also a lot of lamb, so it pushed the meal over into feeling like good value.

The potatoes were subpar. Slightly burnt and very sweet, I feel Charlotte might not have been the best choice. They also needed more salt.

The salad was very pretty and the first few bites were nice, but after a while, it started to feel very salty and overseasoned.

For dessert, we were given a brown sugar custard tart and a hot cross bun donut with a hot cross ice cream.

The brown sugar tart was a classic custard tart. Nothing incredibly special about it, and if I want to be picky, the tart lining could do with a bit of work. It had also gone a bit soft, which makes me wonder how old the tart was/how well it was blind baked.

The hot cross bun donut was sensational! It was different and unique and had so many cool flavors. The cold contrast of the ice cream and the warm donut was a match made in heaven, and it was a nice way to end the meal.

However, we felt that the two desserts were very winter-coded, and wished one of them was perhaps a more seasonal fresher option.

Since the bill was already paid, we awkwardly sat there for about 10 minutes. At some point, a menu was given to us with the date and a personalized message, which was a lovely touch. But when nothing seemed forthcoming, we figured it was time to leave.

On our way out, as we were putting our jackets on, our server came running down to us and asked if we wanted to pay the service charge. I, of course, will always pay a service charge as someone who’s worked in hospitality, but it was a little jarring having someone come to us as we’re leaving and sticking the payment machine under your nose as you awkwardly have one hand in your jacket. Perhaps a better time to ask for it would have been when they handed us the menu at the end of the meal. Regardless, it isn’t the end of the world, and we had a giggle about it as we left the restaurant.

We were in and out in under 1.5 hours, which can be considered fairly quick for a “tasting experience”, but I’m not too picky about that.

Our main takeaway was that it seemed like a restaurant that was trying to be something it wasn’t. The clientele was very posh and seemed more interested in the exclusive vibe than the actual food. Canteen downstairs was miles better and much more affordable. And not quite as pretentious.

The total damage was 85 pounds each with no alcohol and 10 pounds for service. So 95 each.

Final rating: 6.3/10

Love,

Laila xx