Lorne

There's an enjoyable feeling of sitting in a rather upmarket home kitchen at Katie Exton's place near Victoria station. Light wood furniture, plenty of planters spilling forth fronds, contemporary pictures, and booth-seat upholstery in juicy tangerine, all combine to make a happy space, with the sun pouring in through a skylight. Exton previously worked as a sommelier, and the carefully curated wine selection is a sustaining bass note of the performance here.

Chef Graham Brown offers modern British dishes of the kind from which London dining may be moving on, but with skill and proficiency in plentiful supply. His spin on a fish and chip starter, marrying a tartare of cured bream with cucumber and kohlrabi in a nest of smashed beer batter, is a menu stalwart that still delights. An understanding of the prinicples of Italian ragù sees unctuous confit rabbit leg, onion and garlic foam, topped with pangrattato and combined with farfalle. Mains might bring on rolled saddle and braised shoulder of lamb with curried sweet potato, spinach and dukkah or chalk stream trout with prawn croustillant in shellfish sauce.

A certain over-saucing upset the balance of our principal dishes (including roast rump of veal with pea purée, spring greens, smoked bone marrow and preserved lemon) but the simple desserts are a treat – if a bit weeny. A version of Paris-Brest made with whipped pistachio and white chocolate cream came studded with strawberries, while a mirror-glazed milk chocolate mousse was topped with honeycomb. The lunch and early-evening set menu (a pair of choices at each course) is very good value. 

Warm, intelligent and attentive service sets the tone, and the wine list cries out for disciplined exploration, particularly as the pricing structure is not at all what one might expect in this postcode. The glass selection also comes in half-litre carafes, running from waxy, citrussy Carricante and plummy Sicilian Nero d'Avola to Coravin measures of Condrieu and Oregon Pinot Noir.