I’ve wanted to visit The Palomar ever since it opened back in April 2014. But just like another one of my recent discoveries, I’d been discouraged by the queues and hadn’t managed to get a table.

But apparently, the gods of restaurants and good food have been rather kind to me lately and as we passed by on Wednesday night and took a peek through the window, we spotted a couple of free seats.  We jumped on it and started perusing the powder pink menu… Making a choice wasn’t easy as everything looked so incredible, so it took us a while… or maybe it’s because I couldn’t take my eyes off the cooks workings their magic in the kitchen! God, I love those counter-tables restaurants!
One thing I knew I absolutely wanted to order was the Kubaneh, which is a traditional Yemenite Jewish pull-apart yeast bread. It basically the perfect cross between a brioche and a croissant and absolutely delightful. Looking back at it, I wish we had ordered more of it so we could use it to mop up all the sauces from the other dishes we got!My favourite dish that night was the Beef Tartare. Served with burnt aubergine cream, toasted almonds, pickled garlic and a tomato dressing, it wasn’t quite the traditional version I’m used too, but delicious all the same. The Aubergine & Feta Bourekas divided opinion around the table. I wasn’t so keen on them but it was my BF’s favourite, so it might just not be one for me. But you cheese-lovers around there are probably going to love it! It was totally fine though, as not being fighting for the last bits of that dish (for a change) did give me the opportunity to take a peek at that glorious cauliflower steak roasting away in the Josper Oven…… and generally enjoying the buzzy atmosphere. Everybody’s jocking around in the kitchen, signing, waving, and generally having a great time cooking, which made The Palomar the most fun restaurant I’ve ever had dinner at.I was back to business as soon as this dish was put in front of me though! It was the most delicate Seared scallops with lemon beurre blanc, swiss chard, Jerusalem artichoke and hazelnut tuile. Apparently, it’s the head chef’s favourite dish, so I knew it’d be a cracker!Another must-order is the Shakshukit, which is basically a deconstruted kebab. But this refined version has very little in common with your usual, middle-of-the-night kebab… It must be eaten to be believed!  I’m still not entirely sure what to think of the Jerusalem-style polenta. I loved the texture of the polenta, which was perfectly soft, almost like a corn-based risotto. But I wasn’t quite as excited as I thought I would be by that dish. Maybe I’m just not that much into truffle… 
We were about to implode getting quite full but the dessert menu was so perfectly named that it finished convincing us that no meal’s complite without pudding.
I’ve only heard good thing from everyone who’s had dinner at The Palomar and I’m going to join in with the fans and urge you to get in line for a table! I can garantee it’ll be worth the wait

Plus if you try the Pork tagine, please let me know how it is… I might be using that information as my excuse to go back!

The Palomar, 34 Rupert St, London W1D 6DN