Tuesday 13 April and thanks to my wife working some extra hours she was again providing a treat - a visit to Monsieur Max in Hampton Hill, Middlesex. A slightly late arrival due to problematic traffic caused no concerns and we were welcomed by a member of staff and Monsieur Max himself who was front of house on this particular evening. The restaurant was recently awarded the title of "Best French Restaurant" in the Carlton/Evening Standard Restaurant awards, ahead of Le Gavroche and the Oak Room at Le Meridien, amongst others. The dining area is split into three separate areas and it is clear that as money becomes available it is being re-invested back into the restaurant with a new floor in the main area and obvious attention to improve the decor in progress. As in France bread arrives as you take a seat and also like in France the bread basket keeps being replaced with more fresh bread. When we take our daughters to France I am always amazed at how much bread they can eat along side the meal - they would like this a lot! Quite an extensive choice on the menu and I was uncertain so unusually asked for assistance, with the wing of skate being recommended for the main course so I chose a terrine of guinea fowl with roast vegetables as a starter. This opener had a good texture although guinea fowl has very little taste this was a good combination and certainly went down well! My main course skate had been deboned and folded over to be roasted and was excellent, resting on mash potato enhanced with capers. My wife did not recognise the fish as it looked so unlike the normal presentation of skate wings. During our first two courses we had seen the cheese table moved to other tables - it is not a trolley but a table carried between the dining tables and it is fair to say that it is "groaning" with the weight of cheeses - all French of course. There was a very wide range including some we have seen before and some new ones (I believe there are over 400 different French cheeses). We selected our cheeses and as with Chavignol (see earlier review) the waiter tells you the order in which to eat the cheeses (actually he lays them out to be eaten from left to right - very clever). My wife's last cheese acted almost as an anaesthetic on the mouth - I have no idea of its name. A three course meal is £19.50 and our total bill for two including alcohol was £99 including service. Quality of food and presentation was good and I support the recent award - in suburban London this is very close to being a French restaurant. Maybe it was our choice of courses but I missed the opportunity experienced in parts of France to enjoy the remains of the sauces at the end of the main course in particular with a spoon to catch those last essences. However I believe good value for money at these prices - and I am not alone - the restaurant was full on a Tuesday evening which I am sure would be welcomed by many other places.
United Kingdom