The Park Terrace restaurant at the Royal Garden Hotel has had a facelift, with new decor and a seasonal, local menu.

The Venue
Park Terrace is located in the five star Royal Garden Hotel, home to Min Jiang, the 10th floor restaurant famed for its views and Beijing duck. A recent refurb of Park Terrace has made way for more modern decor, with basic, minimalist furniture and clean lines as opposed to the grandeur of the previous version, which featured massive David-esque statues that made the place look dated. Although the look is on the safe side, it’s pleasant enough and about what you’d expect from a hotel restaurant, though the view of the nearby Kensington Gardens is quite beautiful and nicely relaxing, especially in the summer when the trees are vividly green.

The Atmosphere
Taking the hotel’s five star rating into consideration, you can expect the restaurant’s guests to be an upmarket lot, whether they’re staying at the hotel or they just live nearby. The restaurant also runs a set course lunch option, which would make it popular for business lunches. Staff are very pleasant, chatty and give enthusiastic recommendations about their favourite dishes – the most common refrain being that they’re all very good.

The Food
And staff are spot on as the food at Park Terrace is really impressive, both in presentation and in flavour. The dinner menu offers two courses for £26.50 and three for £31.50 and features a note from the chef at the front that enthuses about locally raised meat, forest-picked mushrooms and small boat fishing – which is always admirable. True to its word, the menu features British dishes made with British produce, with an occasional international influence.

A starter of Ticklemore goat’s cheese and ratatouille is presented beautifully, wrapped up like a gift with thin slivers of courgettes. It’s delicious, with the creamy cheese contrasting with the slightly crunchy vegetables and the delicately tart tomato dressing. Cromer crab ravioli with samphire and shellfish bisque also looks lovely, with a large, plump, golden ravioli prettily presented next to a tangle of bright green samphire. The flavour of the crab is delicate and sweet and works well with the crisp, salty samphire, making the unwelcome surprise of a bit of shell in the crab easily forgiven.

For mains, organic Anglesey sea bass is beautifully cooked, laid on a buttery bed of spinach, and the accompanying smooth sweet potato mash is covered with small slices of sweet razor clam and roughly chopped hazelnuts. Grilled free range Blythburgh pork cutlet is unfortunately tough and hard to cut but the meat itself has a delicious taste that’s worth persevering for, especially when combined with the honey and sherry vinegar and sharply sweet caramelised plum. The bubble and squeak and kale are both lovely and add up to a satisfying, filling dish.

If you do decide to go for dessert, the white Mozzo coffee tart is recommended, light and sweet with a hint of bitter coffee flavour, served with a generous topping of rich marscapone cream and thin crispy leaves of coffee crisp. Hot milk chocolate tart is, thankfully, not quite as sugary as you’d expect, with a soft, rich flavour and a souffle-like consistency. On the side is a kind of deconstructed Bakewell tart, with separate stripes of almond pastry, a deep red cherry sauce and boozy-flavoured cherries.

The Drink
Park Terrace’s wine list is just the right size, offering a good international selection without being too intimidating. Bottles start at about £20 and reach about £160, whilst glasses range from £5.25 to £11. An Alamos Ridge chardonnay from Argentina (£32) is a delicate, clean tasting wine with hints of floral flavours. There are also dessert wines and about eight Champagnes, two of which are available as magnums.

The cocktail list is also worth a look, with classic and bespoke cocktails priced from £8.50 to £11.50. Most cocktails are, rather sweetly, named after various things having to do with the hotel and the adjacent Kensington Gardens. Some choices include Betwixt & Between (in honour of J.M. Barrie) and Round Pond, Elfin Oak and Green Woodpecker, the latter a striking emerald colour and a refreshing blend of sauvignon blanc, Amaretto, blue curacao and pineapple juice. The Kensington Court Special, created in 1932 for politician Sir David Davies, is a cheerful orange colour with a tart mix of vodka, apricot brandy, passion fruit puree and lime juice, topped with a slice of apricot.

The Last Word
With its interesting, well constructed dishes, Park Terrace is a perfect for a treat.

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