Located at the White City end of the expanded Westfield mall, Maple matches seamlessly with the mid-market shopping chains surrounding it. This sleek copper and spice-tone, all-day bar-restaurant is the latest venture from ETM, whose portfolio includes Aviary and The Botanist.
From a fair selection of cocktails, lemony Hepple gin Martini made a decent start to a patchy lunch that wasn’t improved by cramped booth seating. Food is of the modern European brasserie ilk. To start, flavoursome homemade salami with pert piccalilli easily eclipsed a trio of soft-shell crab and avocado sliders. Main courses were also hit-and-miss: perfectly gauged medium-rare bavette with fluffy fat chips but a tame peppercorn sauce; and moist, tender roast chicken breast with summer squash purée but chewy gnocchi pellets. Nevertheless, well-priced, fruity Languedoc rosé (from a list high on more expensive interest) and a light pistachio cake with dark chocolate fudge ensured we left smiling.