Having never been to a Thanksgiving celebration before, it seemed like a good idea to go along to Babylon to experience theirs, which we had heralded here on site a few weeks ago. Apart from Babylon’s normal menu, Head Chef Ian Howard had added an American themed special for each course in honour of the occasion. This stylish restaurant with its great views from the top floor of this Kensington High Street building, next to the old Barkers building, was buzzing with customers enjoying the atmosphere and great food, whilst being entertained with live jazz courtesy of The Ben Matthews Trio.
The Thanksgiving starter special was butternut squash soup with pumpkin seeds. This was a lovely voluptuously thick soup the sweetness of the squash having been nicely textured by the seeds. From the main menu, the air dried Herdwick mutton, chose itself for me. This was a first, as I have not previously eaten cured mutton but this dish, which was served with a celeriac and apple remoulade a drizzle of oil, and crushed toasted hazelnuts was seriously tasty, with a similar texture to Serrano and other cured hams, this had a really intensely strong lamb like flavour that I loved.
The mains special was bacon wrapped turkey with fondant potato and trimmings, the turkey was a good inch thick slab of meat edged with the bacon and caramelised on top, it was both juicy and tender with great flavour. From the main menu again, the roast beef was served in a similar fashion to the turkey, this hunk of meat served medium rare had a good pink/redness and great flavour; served with an excellent jus, some roast garlic cloves, fondant potato and other trimmings, it was another winning combination. We had a side of brussel sprouts with our mains which were cooked perfectly, having been left with some bite.
We departed from the special menu for dessert, as the ‘Babylon dessert selection for two’ was rather too difficult to resist. Our tasting plate containing dark chocolate marquise, vanilla panna cotta apple tart tatin and mango mousse, was divinely decadent and a perfect end to a great meal.
Babylon has won awards for its front of house team and it is easy to see why, the service was second to none, very polite, helpful and attentive. We had a great evening, excellent food, surroundings and service, what more could you expect, or want?
We understand that for December, Babylon are transforming the restaurant into a snowy Narnia style wonderland, so if you are interested in seeing what they have to offer guests, you can check out their menu on the website, the details of which are set out below. If you haven’t decided on where you might celebrate with friends or colleagues on the run up to Christmas, have a peek.