La Palombe is a beautiful, authentic French Restaurant on Kensington High Street. The restaurant draws inspiration from the south west of France, and the bistro is a celebration of the cuisine of the Pyrenees and Basque Country. Inside, you'll find a large wood burning grill and rotisserie, which is where most of the dishes are cooked, over glowing live embers. The menu is small, but changes daily to concentrate on seasonal produce and is based on dishes that have a sense of history and provenance, including the restaurant's speciality of wild and foraged foods. When it comes to wine, La Palombe knows what they're talking about. Sourced entirely from independent producers, the wine list is regularly updated with a specialised focus on low intervention, natural and biodynamic wines.
Although we can't be sure what you'll find on the menu the day that you visit, there is a good idea of the kinds of dishes you can expect to see. At the bar, enjoy snacks of chargrilled sourdough with whipped demi sel butter, and duck croquetas. petites assiettes include a dish of slow roasted squash with puy lentils and recuite cheese, along with heritage beetroot, salted and candied walnuts and blu di Nicoletta mousse, and a plate of charred leeks with almond, pepper romesco sauce and sourdough chapelure. When it comes to mains, or grandes assiettes, enjoy dishes of smoked celeriac with pied de mouton mushrooms and butter bean puree, or a roasted Sladesdown duck a 'l'orange. There are also dishes of bavette steak with caramelised roscoff onion and jus, and a roasted whole Cornish plaice with caper and butter meuniere. For dessert, enjoy dishes of chocolate orange profiteroles or a peach and red berry clafoutis with creme fraiche.