Orasay
Notting Hill, London
The uninhabited Hebridean island of Orasay may have inspired the name, but Jackson Boxer’s restaurant owes a lot more to the cool vibe of Notting Hill. The interior is muted and stripped back, with herringbone wood flooring, plain off-white walls, squishy orange banquettes, funnel-shaped pendant lighting and rattan-backed dining chairs. Tables are shoehorned along the long, thin front room, but there’s more generous spacing at the back that benefits from a skylight – delivering a warm, welcome flash of winter sun when we visited. There have been personnel changes in the kitchen of late, but the focus is still on seafood from the Outer Hebrides and Western Isles (supplemented by just one meat dish such as grilled sirloin with wild mushrooms). We kicked off with grilled potato bread filled with whipped cod’s roe and topped with chopped chives – the soft flavours given a chilli hit from a citrussy kosho. After that, three big wood-fired prawns with pickled kumquat and miso butter received the thumbs-up, likewise a chawanmushi of white crab, mushrooms and black truffle in a cured pork emulsion accompanied by rice crackers. Best of all, however, was a glistening piece of steamed sea bass teamed with cauliflower purée and roasted yeast emulsion. Portions are on the small side, so you should have room for some Cox’s apple fritters accompanied by creamy pork-fat custard and pepper caramel. Service is helpful and well versed. Wines (from £30) are on-trend, with organic, unfiltered, orange, oxidative style, 'glou-glou' and non-alcoholic options available – or you can seek out one of the distinguished bottles on the 'black list'.
Dining Information:
Private dining room, Family friendly, Dog friendly
31 Kensington Park Road, Notting Hill W11 2EU
020 7043 1400
