Paradise By Way Of Kensal Green

A mixed bag: flashes of excellence diluted by lack of charm.

I have eaten here many times, but not for a while. Called in for a grabbed dinner with my wife (she drove AND paid - how good is that for a Wednesday night? Or indeed any night?).

Pleasantly busy in the restaurant - why so quiet on the bar side?

The serving staff were efficient to the point of too much - great warm bread (butter really good), great instant order taking...but pressure to get the f' on...

Good looking menu, perfectly pitched to late Autumn. I could have happily ordered 2/3 of the menu.

Champagne and G + T to set us going. Both fair, but the champagne list is so thin (Mumm Cordon Rouge, Veuve, and Dom - with a Laurent Perrier rose - really? That's all? These days? So much good 'Pagne out there...where's the care in the buying there?)

I ordered roast pheasant; my hot bird with the car keys, credit card and success ordered hake with shellfish broth. They arrived within 5 minutes. That is not, and cannot be, right. And it wasn't. My bird (the pheasant was not hot. It was tepid. It was freakin luke warm. It tasted GREAT. But it was not hot. Nor was the lonely, solitary roast potato. Such a shame because the produce was first rate and had been brilliantly well cooked - but a flash fry, skin-side down, of a par-cooked breast joint, served on a cold plate, isn't up to snuff at £15+. A great shame. Could have been ace.

Hake: very good. Broth: really decent. Both cool in the bad way though.

(Send it back you say? My personal view is that when this happens you have to be a Kamakazi lunatic to send it back and ask for a hot one. I know kitchens have two ways of warming food: the microwave, and chef's special internal warming device...).

Wine list: thoughtful and reasonably priced. A slight lack of medium hitting (£35-45) excellence, but thoughtfully bought and presented. However. I was really surprised that this most self-conscious of restaurants has not caught on to the admirable trend for carafes and by-the-glass. My wife, as I mentioned was driving (hurray!). And when doing a single course, Wednesday evening, cheeky dinner I am reluctant to order a whole bottle (at once).. I was, therefore, stranded in the hinterland of the tiny single glass list of reds: hardly any (6? 7?), and nearly all unappealing new world gluggers (God save us from Chile, before it's too late).

A real shame.

I was made a fair Negroni to fill the savoury gap at the end of the meal.

The service was efficient to the point of bruising. Really good staff, who just need to be encouraged to cosset customers not just turn them. We could have been out of there in 35 minutes flat - wasn't what we wanted, and not what you pay £90 for a mid-week dinner for.

Paradise: all the necessary elements are there for excellence. The kitchen really knows what it's doing with cooking and flavour; delivery needs some work. Service: effort, talent, pleasantries are all there, but it requires some charm (in fairness they have traded in the used-to-be too-cool-for-school West London gap year types for some tidy Euro gals, but dial down the efficiency a little, do, please).

The room itself remains the most charming in NW London (not much competition I know, but Paradise wins it by a mile nevertheless).

Paradise: I like you. Plenty. I want to love you, and I know I could. If only you would do what I want you to.
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Kwev Pagne
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Does what it says on the tin, Paradise is a gorgeous venue, great for mid-week drinks (love the comedy night on a Wednesday, good value too), Friday night night dinner and dancing and I've tucked into many a hearty roast there on a Sunday.

Tried the sea bream last week, delicious with samphire on the side (my new fave veg), cheese board was nice to finish with, good selection.

I keep coming back to Paradise for a reason, lovely staff who are the right side of cool yet not pretentious, delicious food and a nice crowd. Haven't tried the karaoke room yet but that's next on my list.

To all of those who haven't been I'd highly recommend it as a gem in Kensal Rise, it's got something for everyone.

Long live the Paradise!
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La la Lucia
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Friday, July 29, 2011

This Restaurant rates itself highly and may count on the positive online reviews of friends or fellow stake-holders in the enterprise, in order to advertise the merits of the chef and keep up the facade, however, in reality it doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

The bar and karaoke room, I would imagine lend themselves well in this establishment, but the restaurant is run by people with little eye for hospitality.

The food can vary from dismal to excellent on the same plate, and the dingy lighting hinders one from identifying one lump from another.

'Paradise' enamors itself with pseudo-celebrity patronage, but it is dubious as to whether any self respecting, well-mannered fellow would be prepared to unreservedly pay full price after such disappointment, whether they be of notoriety or not.

In short: Unforgivable discourteousness and incongruent prices.
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Kim
1 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, July 29, 2011

What a great place!

I spent my birthday here and it was brilliant! They accommodated 16 of us for dinner and then for karaoke in theri private room as well. What fun! The place itself is a bit off the beaten path but is classy and cool as soon as you walk in.

The food was delicious. The salmon and steak were both divine and I have it on good authortiy that the scallops were too. The staff were freindly and keen to help. Nothing was too much trouble.

The karaoke room was great fun! So much room for dancing and relatively sound-proof so you can sing as loudly and badly as you like.

PLEASE have your next event here. you will not regret it.
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Lee M
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, July 11, 2011

We had a great dinner at Paradise last night. We have been on a number of occasions before but think the food last night was probably the best we'd had there.

Before going through to the restaurant we decided to have drinks in the bar, my boyfriend ordered a Bloody Mary which was taking ages to make (only one of the barmen could make up the special mix), but as it was taking so long they offered him another drink on the house while he waited, which was great.

Dinner was lovely... smoked chicken terrine for me followed by lamb and for my boyfriend oysters, then steak. The oysters were the biggest hit! For the first time at Paradise the main meals were substantial meaning that we didn't have to order extra sides, which was great. The only problem being... too full for dessert but would have loved to try the gooseberry eton mess with elderflower ice-cream. Next time!
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9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, July 08, 2011

I live close by and though I have eaten here a handful of times over the years I remember not being blown away by the food, I just liked the atmosphere. However we went back last night and I have to say the food was so so good, everything was melt in the mouth delicious. We were recommended to try the English sparkling wine which was also fantastic. Great service, a lovely atmosphere and now the food is top notch too. Heartily recommend.
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Ceris
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, June 24, 2011

The Paradise has a focus on quality cooking and a warm friendly inviting atmosphere which has stayed true to its roots and has not changed since my first visit a few years ago.

I felt compelled to write a review after my recent re-visit...awesome cote de beof... tender, tasty and succulent and a tasty set of scallops to start off a very pleasant meal.

The wine list also being substantial and full of quality reds..

I will be making my visits to the Paradise more frequent.
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Jem Rayfield
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, June 21, 2011

We had a fantastic night at Paradise by way of Kensal Green. Myself and 14 friends hired the karaoke booth for three hours on a Saturday evening. The staff were friendly and very accomodating. The booth itself was really private so no one was too embarrassed when singing and it was decorated really beautifully. A few of my friends had food and couldn't recommend it highly enough.
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Morgan - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, June 20, 2011

We went to Paradise in May and had a disappointing experience which I reviewed on this site. Paradise management came quickly back and offered us some compensation which I felt was very generous. We went back to this restaurant on June 11th and the staff made an excellent effort to make us feel welcome and special. The food is good to average, I wouldn't really come back to Paradise for the food. As one reviewer said the scallops were on the small side in view of the price of the dish. But overall I'd recommend Paradise for it's busy atmosphere and stylish venue. You can have a good night out here, but they should review the quality of their dishes and their prices.
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- View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, June 14, 2011

We had an absolute ball at the Paradise last Friday night. We booked a private dining room for 13 of us and it was exactly as it looked on the website. There were a couple of issues early on regarding the menu choices and the price but these were very quickly rectified. The food was amazing and the whole party thoroughly enjoyed their choices. Personally the crab starter was divine and the steak cooked to perfection so well done to the chef and staff. We didn't get the name of the young gentleman who looked after us on the evening but he was brilliant. He never imposed but always recognised when someone wanted something. We only travel to London a couple of times a year but have vowed to dine there again whether that be individually or as a large group again. Go, have fun and enjoy!!
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Sam Mead
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, May 19, 2011