The 7th choice by Ingrid was The Dysart Petersham with 1 Michelin star. The restaurant got its first Michelin star recently and for once we were outside London, which was nice for a change.
The restaurant is an old gastro pub and in beautiful country surroundings just outside Richmond. It was also fairly easy to get to for all of us and for the first time I could just take a direct bus whereas the 3 others arrived by taxi. Ended up we all turned up really early but it was not an issue for the restaurant as our table was ready and we got a nice welcome by the door. The restaurant still insisted that we had to wear masks while walking around the place (although that was not required by the government anymore) but clearly they wanted to look well after their guests.
The restaurant is really spacious and we got a nice big table by the window. Also we got plenty of time to enjoy a few cocktails before looking at the menu – so was never rushed by the staff, which was really nice. The whole place just had a really great atmosphere.
The Tasting menu was 9 courses, where we of course also added the additional cheese course and for the 2nd time we had the choice of doing a beer pairing. As we were basically in an old pub and it was 4 years since our last beer pairing we decided to go for it. The food in general really exceeded our expectations. The 2 dishes that really stood out for me was the bream with ginger and champagne sauce for one of the starters, which was just amazing and then the main Chicken dish, which was so tender and delicious.
The beer tasting was on the other hand slightly disappointing. When you first beer is a Camden Hells lager, which you can basically get in every 2nd pub in the UK – you do feel they could have done a bigger effort. Also I got slightly put off by that half of the beers were in cans. Yes some of them where nice – but still a can just feel so much cheaper than a proper bottle – so not sure I will do the beer tasting again.
Beside the atmosphere and the food the other highlight of the night was really the staff. They were very attentive to the table and didn’t mind having a nice chat with us – so had this homely feeling where you are surrounded by friends. Overall a really good night out in December, which did feel more relaxed that some of the restaurants in central London but where we didn’t feel we had to compromise on food or service.
