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Description: Opened in mid-2007, this hidden-away Notting Hill pub-conversion boasts a chef with an impressive pedigree; we enjoyed our early-days visit to the pretty upstairs dining room, but the slow service was part of a formula that seemed unduly grand (and expensive) for the setting.
Food: 
Service: 
Ambience:
Phone: 020 7727 9250
Website: http://www.crescenthouse.uk.com
Open: Mon - Fri: 6pm - 10pm
Sat: 11am - 4pm & 6pm - 10pm
Sun: 11am - 4pm
Dress code: None
Good for: Romantic meals, Good food, Ambience.
Payment options: All major cards accepted
Attention to detail: Head chef Dan Ostler, formerly of C Garden at Crescent House
A few years ago I hosted a party above the Earl Percy in Ladbroke Grove. "Oh, how nice of Earl Percy to lend you his home," said Lady Olga Maitland when she RSVP'd. Er, no, Olga, I explained politely, the Earl Percy is a pub not a person. Her misapprehension worried me. The pub decor was so down-at-heel that I spent hundreds of pounds tarting the place up to make it fit for party purpose - or at least salubrious enough for an Earl's daughter. Since then the Earl Percy has changed beyond all recognition, transforming itself into a Thai food bar, a pizza outlet and latterly a hotel, but it still seems unsure of its identity.
The Crescent House in Tavistock Crescent is symptomatic of this status anxiety which seems to afflict most Notting Hill pubs. Formerly known as the Mother Black Cap, formerly known as Babushka, formerly known as the Frog and Firkin, formerly known as the Tavistock House, the pub has had more makeovers than Madonna. Its chief claim to fame is that the cult film Withnail & I was shot on location here. It is the setting for that iconic scene in which Withnail orders: "Two large gins. Two pints of cider. Ice in the cider."
There was no danger of anyone hailing me as a perfumed ponce (as in the film) as the downstairs bar was empty bar a couple of Brylcreemed waiters. Well, it was a Monday night in August. A blackboard on the street outside beckoned us into the herb garden. This sounded promising but it turned out to be a misnomer as the garden was fully decked and there wasn't a herb in sight. Unless they were referring to some wild parsley on the railway track.
Despite Crescent House's expensive facelift there's still a chronic disjunction between its aspiration and its location. Sited on the fringes of Notting Hill, Crescent House is hemmed in on one side by the Tavistock Housing Co-op and on the other by the Tube line. You can hear the constant rumble of trains. It really does feel as if you are dining on the wrong side of the tracks.
The downstairs bar is laid back and offers reasonably priced all-day snacks (suckling pig sandwich £8.50, baked mackerel £9.50). The upstairs dining room is more formal without being too overbearing: white tablecloths, full-length mirrors, gilt-framed portraits, gilded wallpaper on the ceiling. It has a whiff of Victoriana about it but any fustiness is offset by a large moose head over the fireplace.
From our table we gazed liked Olympian gods at the passers-by below. We felt safe and snug if slightly unnerved by the security camera on the opposite side of the street, which has frills halfway up the pole to prevent it being vandalised.
Despite the injunction in Kitchen Confidential-not to eat fish on a Monday (it'll invariably be left over from Saturday), we chanced our luck and plumped for fish starters. The seared Scottish hand-dived scallops with champagne velouté (£10.50) were plump, fresh and tasty. But the accompanying shaved summer truffle didn't smell of anything. Shouldn't truffle be perfumed?
My Dublin Bay prawn tails, aged parmesan gnocchi and squid ink purée (£12) sounded a bit of a mouthful and it turned out to be one. The ingredients were delicious eaten separately but the parmesan and prawn didn't gel. The tastes only served to camouflage each other. It was like a flavour off-setting scheme. You get a sense that chef Daniel Ostler (formerly of C Garden) is trying a little too hard.
The main courses were a carnivore's delight. My fillet of Aberdeen Angus beef with shallot fondue and a herb galette was pricey (£21.50) but very flavoursome (much more so than the beef I last had at Arbutus). My partner's Aylesbury duck breast (£17) was tender, although a bit heavy with the seasoning. The staff were charming. However we were puzzled not to be provided with bread.
The main failing of the restaurant was the slow service. Every dish took an age to arrive. For pudding I ordered a chocolate fondant which the menu warns takes 20 minutes to prepare. It turned up 34 minutes later. It was yummy when it came, if slightly burnt around the edges, but given that there were only two other covers it seemed unforgivably slow. One of the covers was a fellow restaurant critic so they were probably shredding their nerves in the kitchen.
One wishes Crescent House well but its location works against it. Or perhaps that should be slowcation, slowcation, slowcation. They really need to speed up in the kitchen - or hire Lady Olga Maitland to crack the whip.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
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I've been there for lunch and the food was superb, I think you can tell a lot about the place by its tuna nicoise salad - the tuna was cooked to perfection. Service was eager but bungled although I put that down to it being early days. I've also been for supper on a Friday night when it was a lot busier and had crayfish with pasta and tarragon sauce. Delicious. I have to agree with the Standard's reveiwer that I'm not convinced about the location (even though I work locally) but we'll see if the quality of the food which is excellent can make it last longer than any of the previous incarnations on this spot.
- Sarah, London
