La Trompette

La Trompette has been running since 2001, and was the first restaurant in the area to gain a Michelin star. Owner Nigel Platts Martin also runs The Glasshouse in Kew and Chez Bruce in Wandsworth. Head chef Rob Weston was formerly head chef of The Square for 15 years after training at Guy Savoy and with Marco Pierre White. The La Trompette dining room is split into two sections, and there is additionally a covered terrace available in good weather.  Three courses tonight were priced at £65.

The wine list is one of the better ones in the capital. It had 529 labels ranging in price from £28 to £760, with a median price of £86 and an average markup to retail price of 2.7 times, which is well below the norm in London. Sample references were Juhfark Kreinbacher 2015 at £48 for a bottle that you can find in the high street for £16, Garnacha ‘Demotre’ La Gutina 2017 at £52 compared to its retail price of £20, and the lovely Egon Muller Scharzhof Riesling 2014 at £86 for a wine that will set you back £37 in the high street. For those with the means there was the superb Saumur-Champigny ‘Les Poyeux’, Clos Rougeard 2011 at £300 compared to its retail price of £271, and Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 2005 at £500 for a wine whose current market value is £252.

Sourdough bread was made from scratch in the kitchen and had good texture. Dish of the night was veal sweetbread with toasted grains, broad beans and garden cos lettuce, resting in a sauce of the cooking juices. The sweetbread had silky texture, its natural richness nicely balanced by the tender babu beans and the braised lettuce; this was a lovely dish (easily 16/20).

My main course was Somerset Saxon chicken with spaetzle (little egg dumplings) with peas, broad beans, mousseron mushrooms and a sauce of the cooking juices enriched with a touch of Parmesan. Again, the vegetables were nicely cooked and balanced the richness of the sauce, though the chicken had somewhat limited flavour (just about 15/20). I also tasted another dish of nicely cooked wild sea bass with borlotti beans, aubergine, courgette and gremolata.

For dessert I enjoyed rhubarb crumble soufflé with rhubarb ripple ice cream, the sharpness of the rhubarb a nice contrast to the light souffle (15/20). Coffee was from Union Coffee. Service was friendly and efficient. I didn’t see a bill this evening as we were being treated by friends, but a typical cost per person assuming a modest wine bottle between two might be £95 or so. La Trompette offers a very appealing menu, enjoyable dishes and an unusually well thought out wine list, which along with the nice staff is why people keep coming back here.

Further reviews: 25th Feb 2023 | 20th Sep 2022 | 24th Nov 2019 | 15th Oct 2018 | 08th Sep 2017 | 05th Jan 2017 | 11th Jul 2013 | 13th Dec 2012