Tom's Kitchen

Wonderful food, lovely rustic setting and ethical cooking! Read more 
http://www.my2thumz.com/2012/11/rustic-restaurant-review-toms-kitchen.html?m=0

Myself and my husband live around the corner from Tom's Kitchen and we have been a few times. The first time I loved it, wondered why I had not been before! The food was simple and rustic but beautifully flavoured. However since then it has gone down hill in my estimations.
The last time I visited was the weekend just gone. We went for dinner on Saturday night, my husband had the shepherds pie as that is his favourite. I had cauliflower soup followed by pan fried hake with baked vegetables. My husband was happy but I was not. Firstly the soup tasted like a bowl of cream with a weird flavour that made me think of Horlicks, nice as a bed time drink! Nt sure as a starter... Most of my main was very tasty but the vegetables were not just baked, they were burnt. By burnt I mean black and tasting of sticky charcoal. I left them and when the waitress came to clear the plates I told her they were burnt, not because I wanted to make a fuss and have it taken back but just because I wanted to let them know for next time. She had a snotty attitude and told me they were not burnt, they were baked even though they were obviously black and left on my plate! She took my plate and didn't even apologise. For the money it costs to eat a meal there, to get a bowl of cream, burnt food and a waitress with an attitude made me cross and we will not be going back. It is a shame.

Came here ages ago in search of London's finest bacon sandwich, found it and then it was taken off the menu. Came back for my wife's birthday, food was great service was a little vague and the restaurant was filled with a cloud of 'cooking smoke' when we arrived. The restaurant had NO CHAMPAGNE, what sort of organisation do you have that can't ensure there is a stock of Champagne, especially at the price, it must be a huge profit centre and both from our enjoyment and for your business someone needs a kick up the arse! Finally, despite saying it was my wife's birthday and them confirming that they knew this when they called me to confirm they made no effort to make us feel special. So a little bit disapointing, nice not stunning.

please also see
http://hungryinlondon.com/2010/07/toms-kitchen-chelsea/

Sunday brunch at Tom’s Kitchen and I was not impressed. This is the second restaurant by the Michelin starred chef Tom Aikens whose other restaurants include Tom Aikens in Chelsea and Tom’s Terrace at the Somerset House. I had heard great things about this place especially for brunch and my expectations were correspondingly high. BUT, to my utter disappointment:

Firstly, Tom’s Kitchen is massively overpriced: 4 pounds for a small glass of orange juice? I know it’s Chelsea, but please!

Secondly, the service was unfriendly. They actually seemed to be annoyed to have customers and I was close to apologizing for the pure fact of my existence. Somehow they didn’t make us feel very welcome…

Thirdly, the food didn’t impress either. If you pay so much for breakfast you really want to enjoy every bite. This was not the case.

The plain omelette for example was 8 pounds. If you wanted to add cheese, ham or mushrooms (to be honest, who really eats a plain omelette?), this would cost you 1 pounds each resulting in 11 pounds for an omelette. You would expected some kind of super ham or truffles for this price. However, it was ordinary ham in an ordinary omelette, which I have had better for half the price.

The kids (not mine by the way) went for dishes from the American breakfast selection. They are American and they were not happy. The waffles (9) were unremarkable but ok, topped with some very heavy cinnamon cream and quite nice caramelized apples. The French Toast (9) however did not gain many fans on our table. The ridiculously thick piece of brioche just wasn’t particularly good and most of it was left behind.

We unanimously decided that we are not going to go back to there for breakfast. It might be really good for dinner, who knows, but I am not sure I am inclined to try it out.

On a visit to Tom's Kitchen a few weeks back, I fell in love with Tom's tomato salad with basil melon mint crayfish tails and thought it was an ideal summer dish. When can I go back? I had a bit of the seven hour lamb as well. That was lovely – and good one to keep in mind when the weather's a bit more autumn-y.

I also recently got to interview Mr Aikens:
http://londonist.com/2010/07/chefspective_tom_aikens.php#.... He seemed like an approachable guy.

Whenever I mention Tom Aikens to friends, there's always a chance somebody will say something negative about him and his business. But I gotta say the dude can cook and that Tom's Kitchen is a lovely restaurant.

Visited this lively restaurant to try a special lunch tasting menu for the Cloudy Bay shack (pop-up promotional stall) for this summer.
The restaurant has a lovely feel to - very light and bright space with an open kitchen down the left and rear sides so all diners get to witness the bustle of the kitchen. Tables are light wood and the ceilings are high with original pillars and sweeping ceiling fans.
Upstairs are a further 2 floors that feel much more like a private home - Victorian fireplaces and wooden floors, darker colours and comfy lounge chairs. The first floor has a smaller white marble bar and lounge and a dining area for more intimate groups. On the second floor a private dining room has a vast antique table for 12 and an ante room for drinks.
My companion and I luckily got to meet chef Tom Aikens on his arrival to ply him with questions about a new venture before we enjoyed our meal. Tom is the youngest British chef to be granted a Michelin star and his passion for seafood and fresh fish is legendary.
On this occasion we tried deep fried paprika squid and lime ( delightfully light with the batter melting off the squid in the mouth), salad of shredded dorset crab with chilli and ginger ( a zesty salad perfect for summer ), his famous seven-hour lamb (slow-cooked so the lamb falls off the bone with a wonderful gravy and mashed potato ) and a tomato salad with basil, watermelon, mint and crayfish tails ( amazing mix of sweet melon with salty crays and herbs). The quality of the food was amazing, really nothing to fault here it all. Service was swift and unobstrusive, our glasses were kept full and we both thoroughly enjoyed it!
All the above dishes were devoured with chunky chips on the side and a bottle of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc. At £40-odd per bottle the wine was a real treat, with menu items varying from £9-£30 for the lunch menu. They open for breakfast as well as lunch and dinner, with breakfast items starting from £4.00, so quite affordable.
I'd recommend this for a group of friends or family to eat in the main restaurant, and use upstairs for a date or more stylish affair.

Fabulous private room(s) upstairs for drinks and dinner... good food got cold very quickly - not the restaurant’s fault... We were so busy talking!

It felt more like a party at someone's grand house rather than in a restaurant. Service was unobtrusive but slick.

This place is awesome and simply the best place for breakfast in Chelsea. I have tried loads of places in that area and Tom's Kitchen quite simply is the best by a country mile. The service is super friendly and always helpful. The food is excellent and of a very high standard: fresh and prepared onsite (if not they source from superb suppliers). The atmosphere is great fun. Total bliss! Can it get any better? Well, if one has to be picky the orange juice is not freshly squeezed but I guess otherwise they would be going through a ton of oranges. I will let them off the hook for that. Super place and excellent quality.

Went there for brunch: the choice in the menu was a little limited compared to the dinner menu but the food was rich and delicious indeed. And I was surprised by its relative good value for a Chelsea establishment. The place has a very good feel to it, recommend it!

great food, from the chef and yet still affordable. I love the burger with fat cut chips, homemade sauce and great meat. They understand what rare and juicy means!
Also the cote de boeuf is a must! Try to eat at the bar where you can have a chat with friendly staff while overseeing Tom cooking your food.

I first heard about Tom’s Kitchen in Conde Naste Traveler when they named it one of the best new restaurants in London. We checked with our ex-Pat friend and she agreed that it was a great spot so we decided to give it a shot our first night in town.

Let me just say that Tom’s Kitchen set the bar high for the rest of our dinners in London. Everything was fantastic but the clear winner was my fish and chips. I didn’t bother getting fish and chips anywhere else during our stay because I just knew that I’d only be disappointed after the fantastic version I had at Tom’s Kitchen.

With such a friendly, efficient staff, lively dining scene and fantastic food, I can’t recommend Tom’s Kitchen enough.

Went with daughter's friend who had worked there and were welcomed and given the star table (in the window, behind the coats where people can't easily see you, as opposed to the celeb tables where everyone can gawp at you to your heart's content) and had a pretty flawless evening. Good manhattans and cosmos (for the daughter) and a decent coupe for me followed by fois gras with eggs and bacon - amazingly delicious! We had to order bread - ok and baked on the premesis - to soak up the juices, pointing to the fact that you don't automatically get it when you sit down. I suspect that reflects its high quota of slender young things who try not to nibble....). The restaurant is strong on meats of the heartier variety and the party had roast belly of pork, which was just that - very tasty with plenty of crackling. My lemon sole was a disappointment - rather small and undistinguished, but they usually are so it was my poor choice. Daughter had a beautiful birthday dessert without the awful knot of waiters singing tunelessly but calvados was third-rate and only good for cooking. We had a fine Australian pinot noir from the short list and the whole meal ran out at about £6o a head....not bad for a noisy brasserie!

Tom Aiken's chose wisely when decided to open a restaurant;instead of going for a gastro-pub type thinghe chose the Brasserie style of eating. Having eaten there I can only describe it as being a trendy place to eat and worth every penny.It has soaring ceilings and some very neutral painted walls.There are plain laid tables only inches apart,which is not a good idea because other diners could overhear your conversation and the decibel levels can be so high at peak times,I found myself shouting to be heard.
But the food was really worth it because its French cooking at its best-infact I would describe it as being inspirationally tasty.
The Celeriac Remould was good to eat made with Bayonne Ham,Bouillabaise,accompanied by a rack of roast Lamb with a herb crust. It was prepared with care and exceeded all expectations. Simple things like Sour-dough bread,Leeks with Black Truffles,Lentils,Parmesan cheese were cooked to perfection.My friend had the a really seriously good buttery mash a spit-roast chicken with ceps and a side dish of Savoy Bacon made with smoked bacon-proving to be a brilliant combination. To round it all off with grand retro finish we indulged in a Baked Alaska for two. Good house wine starting at 13.00 pound a bottle.