Having won over the Islington crowd with its Smokehouse concept of pub cooking, the enterprising team behind the venture has now turned its attention to wooing the good folk of west London with the opening of a second establishment in Chiswick and breathing new life a former well known neighbourhood watering hole.
Smokehouse is situated on Sutton Lane North, just a stone’s throw from the busy A4, in the former home of The Hole in the Wall pub and it opened its doors to customers last month. The old pub has been lovingly restored and now offers modern and eclectic food with a strong take on refined barbecued cooking and as the name suggests there is a smokehouse on site, you can even smell the appetising aroma of meat wafting down the street out as you approach.
In keeping with the pub theme there is a varied and interesting selection of craft beers and ales, a decent wine list and around 100 whiskies to sample.
The building, which sits comfortably in a neighbourhood area, occupies a healthy space with a pleasant bar area, dedicated whisky room and comfy dining room, which opens up to a smart paved terrace and luscious lawn area, ideal for the summer months ahead.
I visited for the Sunday lunchtime offering and there was hardly a spare seat in the house, with a lively vibe in the pleasant dining room which has something of a country house feel about it. Panelled walls are adorned with antler and roe deer heads and there is a double sided feature fireplace while the colour scheme of shades of white and greys gives an airy feel to the room.
The well- constructed menu has been created by executive Chef Neil Rankin and while meat lovers will be in their element it is not all about catering for just carnivores, there are other tempting dishes on offer. His cooking is based around seasonality and top class produce and celebrates small farms, and rare-breed meat such as Highland and Dexter cattle, which are butchered on site.
While enjoying a refreshing Sunday pint I tucked into an exciting starter of foie gras sitting in harmony with a crispy, juicy apple cake and perfectly inviting golden yoked Crackleberry Farm egg (£10). The flavours and taxtures on the plate were made even better by a belter of a bourbon and red wine dressing.
My companion Fiona raved about her dense, well balanced and flavoured potted smoked Telfarm duck with sourdough toast (£7) with hints of garlic, chilli and nuts bringing added attractions to the palate.
It would not be Sunday without a roast and my admirably cooked melt in the mouth rare Galloway beef (£18) came served with roasted carrots, parsnips, sprouting broccoli, spiced red cabbage, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. It really hit the mark, every component perfectly cooked and my empty plate and bulging stomach at the end said it all.
In contrast to my meat feast Fiona was left licking her lips with immaculately cooked coal baked salmon (£16.50) which sat lovingly on a warm Thai salad with a great balance of delicate flavours coming from ingredients including radish, fennel, pear and celery along with hits of lime. Normally she would not touch these ingredients, but declared the dish delicious.
We rounded things off by sharing a fun pud named Double D tart (£6.50) a take on the Cadbury’s favourite Double Decker bar. It ticked all the boxes in my book with coca pops, peanut butter, white and dark chocolate all coming together around nougat for a sugar rush offset by creamy pistachio ice cream.
Led by affable manager Fred the Smokehouse team were on top of their game from the well-paced service from the kitchen to the friendly and knowledgeable waiting staff.
With the menu featuring more than 100 varieties of whisky from Scottish and Japanese, to those from America and Ireland it would have been rude not to have finished off proceedings and a tipple of Compass Box spice tree (£6.25) slipped down very well.
This latest venture from Noble Inns, their other pubs include The Princess of Shoreditch, Pig & Butcher in Islington and Smokehouse in Islington has got off to a sound start and appears to be already winning favour with the locals in this west London neighbourhood.
