Penks

I had a very good dinner on Friday evening here with my wife.

We've lived in the area for 8 years and never tried this place before. A mortal fear of the potential for suburban chinz unfairly biased me against it. I say unfairly, because there's actually no chinz at all. Don't know why I'd thought that - perhaps a previous incarnation?

The food was good/very good. The wine list is ACE - worth a visit for this alone. The service was eccentric but got the job done.

The long, well-lit room is actually rather nice. More could be made of it. There's a pretty pointless shelved area with bar stools along one wall - this reduces the space for tables by almost a third to no obvious point or advantage. It's decorated quite well - modernish. A couple of grand could sensibly be spent sleeking it up a bit - removing the last traces of woodchip wall paper and boxing in electrical fittings etc.

The entire restaurant is served by one waitress, assisted by a waiter who fetches and carries but doesn't take orders. She manages very well, but for a restaurant of this size (maybe 40 odd covers) surely two fully-fledged waiting staff are needed for a Friday evening. She was charming and when a mistake was made with the starters it was corrected very willingly and without demur.

The seafood gratin starter was excellent (maybe a bit heavy on the salt). My slow cooked duck, with orange, was well cooked - still lovely and moist - but rather overpowered by the orange. The pricing is very reasonable - a couple of quid cheaper than I'd expect to pay for this quality.

The wine list is just brilliant. Obviously chosen with great care by someone with imagination, style and an eye for good value. This is an enthusiasts choice, not the that of a tight-fisted businessman. Each wine is vividly described and winningly priced. Fantastic champagne from a small producer made successfully in the Bollinger house style: £38.You can't say fairer than that. He has avoided dull, predictable and overpriced. Great variety throughout the list, showing considerable imagination and nous. A surprising number of wines by the carafe/half bottle or glass. The owner/chef clearly wants people to enjoy the wine. Good man.

Overall a really good evening. I will definitely go back. This place has been a stalwart of Queens Park for years - there is now finally enough money in the area to deserve it. A bit of a switch around in the layout could open the place out as a restaurant wine-bar - playing to the strength of the wine list, and increasing the throughput of custom (they seemed to only do one - busy - service on a Friday evening . The place was all but empty by 10.15pm). I hope this place continues to thrive - it deserves to.
Comment on this reader review

Kwev
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Sunday, October 24, 2010

Had an excellent meal at Penks a couple of weeks ago, lovely food, great wine- the only thing that let it down was the service. The two waitresses on duty simply weren't able to cope with a busy Friday evening, we waited ages to order, had to ask for the pudding menu twice and repeat our order for more wine twice. Neither waitress apologised ta any point but the real frustration lay in the inconsistency- the table next to us arrived later and left earlier having had a three-course meal and lingered over their wine at the end. Both waitresses were very friendly and this was only one visit so I would like to return but teh service let down an otherwise excellent esatblishment.
Comment on this reader review

H
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Had my first visit two nights ago and will come back for sure. The food was excellent ,

My wife and I shared the seafood plater as a starter and for main I took the steak and my wife took the cod, both were beautifully cooked .

Although the restaurant was very busy the service was friendly & attentive .

Highly recommended .
Comment on this reader review

Sean
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Saturday, July 17, 2010

We went last night, and in short it was rather disappointing and lacklustre. At first sight it looks great, but the waiting staff, one lady, the manageress I presume by her attire left you feeling that every or any request is too much trouble the other could not follow the simplest instruction. These two ladies were the only staff on the floor in a busy restaurant.

The menu was limited, three starters and three mains, but aside from the limited choice the quality and presentation was really good. I’d give the mixed meat platter a miss, only because there was nothing special about it. It came without bread, and we had to keep asking the waitress for bread, which she brought in a presentation basket, but as you had no side plate it was difficult to take more than one or two little bits. We did ask for side plates, but she never did understand what we wanted.

The mains were better, excellent in fact. I have the cod, which was really well done very tasty. The other half had ribeye, which was also excellent.

Half way through the main, we ran out of wine and asked the waitress for another bottle it never came of course. I left thinking what a shame, all the potential but in the end it was rather dull, excellent food left down by over worked and but ultimately poor service.
Comment on this reader review

Joe - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 9
Friday, July 02, 2010

Penk's expanded recently and used the opportunity to upgrade the dining room, and it's even better. The quiet ambience is helped by attentive staff, who are just plain old "professional" - not overly matey, not aloof, just really good at what they do. Now after expansion this restaurant has a proper, pukka dining room, there's no reason it can't move into the big league. I've been several times - 5, maybe 6? - and the food has been uniformly excellent, with their steaks and fishcakes warranting extra mention. I've not had a better hung. better cooked sirloin and the fishcakes were crammed with flavour. Never tasted better, even in Sydney, where everyone seems to specialise in fishcakes (inevitably of the Thai variety).

Is Penk's in the Michelin Guide? If it is, I'd hope to see at least 4 crosses. And given the prices, ambience (a notable feat considering the bustling location - Salusbury Road is busy and best described as shabbily chic) and consistency of quality, even a Star. This place - quite beyond expectations - is what the star system is for. Really, absolutely top notch, and thoroughly recommended.
Comment on this reader review

A J Thomas
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Thursday, March 04, 2010

5 of my friends and i went for dinner at Penks last weekend, and travelled into london especially, after this restaurant being recommended to us.

i have to say, this was one of the most amazing meals i have ever eaten, and i eat out quite often! i started with the scallops, and as the previous review said, i could easily recommend these and would definately go back just for this dish! the scallops were cooked perfectly; nice and soft, and the tepenyaki vegetables were a perfect accompaniment. the sauce (im not sure what it was) was absolutely gorgeous - sweet, and very tasty with the scallops. my friend almost licked the plate clean as she had this dish too!

for my main i had a chicken dish with mushrooms and sautéed potatoes, and carrots on the side. again, a lovely dish and really filling.

for desserts we all shared the fondant and a vanilla pod pancotta dish- both were melt-in-the-mouth! the fondant were really well with the pistachio ice cream and the pancotta was really light, with a nice sweet coulis and berries.

overall i would recommend this restaurant to anybody - the portions were a really good size and the food was really filling. my friends and i all agreed that we preferred the food here to that at Jamie Oliver's restaurant! we are all going back for christmas, and personally, i can't wait. Great atmosphere and amazing food. It was more than i would normally spend on a meal out, but it was worth every penny. the waiting staff were really friendly and couldn't have been more helpful...and i really hope it is the same staff when we visit next time. we stayed here for hours as we had such an enjoyable evening, and every one of us really enjoyed our food.
Comment on this reader review

Hayli
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, October 07, 2009

I have been meaning to write on here since my visit at the end of August - I don't know where to start - I have recently moved here from West Hampstead and I was concerned that I wouldn't find similar places to eat out with friends and family. My boyfriend and I had dinner at Penks on a Friday evening and if I had the money I would be there every Friday! I started off with the Scallops - as this tends to be a favourite of mine. I didn't want these scallops to end - they melt in your mouth and the dressing had a lasting flavour - you just want to order ten more!!!

I had the Mushroom Risotto with peas and other ingredients - [Apologies I can't remember exactly] again I am a big fan of risotto - this was just perfect - not to heavy but lovely flavours running through. My boyfriend went for the Foie gras- which he's only ever tried once when we went skiing in France- but now it seems like he wants it for breakfast - he loved the pear puree - something we wouldn't think to go with it- but it did! For main he went for the pork belly and apple sauce to keep that fruit flavour going- and again - extremley pleased! Due to the success of our meal at Penks we ordered a dessert to share- it was a warm chocolate Fondant - I can't put this into words- it was the best pudding thats ever passed my mouth. I can't thank the staff enough- they made our evening just perfect. I would personally pay the chef to make me the fondant every day! Thank you and we look forward to our next visit soon.
Comment on this reader review

- View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Having just moved to the area we tried Penks for the first time on a saturday night. The restaurant had a very relaxed inviting atmosphere and the waiting staff were quick to bring us our drinks and complementary bread. I had the scallops and Jen had the duck which were both very tasty and well presented.

We struggled to choose our mains as there were severel dishes we would have like to have tried but Jen settled with the halibut and i went for the lamb, both again presented nicely and full of flavour, although could have had some more sauce with the lamb.

A couple of glasses of wine later we accidentally ordered the cheesecake which was served with a date sauce, what a way to finish the meal.

Thanks Penks, will be back for sure!
Comment on this reader review

Andy
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, September 11, 2009

Having been here a couple of times we knew that the food and service would not let is down. We had the complimentary bread and olives which were lovely. The house wine was, expensive but full bodied and good. I ordered the roast chicken with veg and a white wine sauce. My chicken was the dark meat, very tough and over cooked and not particularly tasty. The veg was peas resembling tinned ones and over cooked carrots with a brown (white wine no where to be seen) sauce! My other half had a steak, supposed to be medium rare but quite gristly and pretty under cooked!

The service was faultless but we were pretty disapointed by the food having really enjoyed it in the past. Perhaps the usual chef was on holiday. We refuse to be put off by a resturant previously with food to rave about.
Comment on this reader review

4 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Saturday, September 05, 2009

Dinner Tuesday 25th August, 4 people. Very disappointing. Having been a loyal customer for many years, I sensed the restaurant was starting to push itself out as being a good local place to eat - increasing prices and reduction in portions not being matched by increased food quality. To charge £6-£8 for starters and £13-£17 for mains, you would expect decent and consistent food. Of the 3 fish soup starters ordered, each varied in size considerably. The soup itself was overpoweringly tomato based with very small flakes of fish. 2 main courses of roasted lamb again varied in quality. One portion had decent portions of lamb, while the other contained extremely fatty and uneatable pieces. The chocolate fondants, however, were the saving grace - absolutely wonderful. At the end, 4 people, 3 courses, 2 bottles of wine, a bottle of still water and discretionary service charge = £184. I believe diners are paying for the cost of recent refurbishments, not for better food. £46 per head for very average food in a local restaurant. That's wrong.
Comment on this reader review

Anthony - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 3
Friday, August 28, 2009