Flat Three restaurant review: thought-provoking food
Holland Park restaurant specialises in ‘ferments and flavours’, but what does that really mean?
Inconspicuously nestled in a downstairs room on Holland Park’s high street is Flat Three - a restaurant that wants, intriguingly, to tell a story with its food. The restaurant's team of chefs works with ingredients that are sourced both locally and from around the world and ‘reshapes’ them into surprising and quite often spectacular dishes.
Menu items that could sound slightly mundane anywhere else (sand carrot, jus and pickled wild carrot) are transformed into dishes that really pack a punch. And at Flat Three, vegetables aren’t just a side dish they are the star of the show. The roasted celery, walnut and meju starter somehow creates a blue cheese flavour, but without a crumb of cheese in sight.
There is magic in this cookery. Black garlic is left to slow cook and self caramelise for two to three weeks until it becomes a delicious creamy treat that will have you licking the plate.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But the star of the show is the restaurant’s cabbage, deonjang and mussels dish. The sauce might not sound like much - ‘mussel and smoked fish bone stock emulsified with lacto-fermented butter from recycled whey’ - but given the opportunity, this reviewer would happily drink a vat of it with a straw.
One dish left me stumped however: the dandelion, porcini and buckwheat dessert. The pudding is almost like a plant-based creme brulee and as impressive as it is in concept and execution, it is not delicious. Perhaps it would be tastier if you didn’t know the ingredients as you ate it; my brain was telling my tongue that a porcini jelly was not meant for dessert.
Matched wines and sake have been carefully selected here, so it is worth going for the pairing menu. Every choice is surprising and genuinely adds to the dishes.
Flat Three offers thoughtful food, but it is all approachable. It isn’t often that you go to a restaurant that is difficult to categorise, but that is Flat Three’s strength. Is it Korean? Is it Scandinavian? The fact that it doesn’t fit into a single box makes it all the more intriguing.
Flat Three, 120-122 Holland Park Ave, W11 4UA; flatthree.london
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Antony Gormley's Time Horizon – a 'judgmental army' of 100 cast-iron men
The Week Recommends Sculptures are 'everymen questioning the privilege of their surroundings' at the Norfolk stately home
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
'King's horses take free rein through London'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Is pop music now too reliant on gossip?
Talking Point Taylor Swift's new album has prompted a flurry of speculation over who she is referring to in her songs
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Three Chimneys restaurant and The House Over-By review: Skye's sumptuous rural hideaway
The Week Recommends The award-winning restaurant with rooms is well worth battling the elements to reach
By Jamie Timson, The Week UK Published
-
The Westbury Hotel review: stunning suites in charming Dublin
The Week Recommends This hotel is the perfect spot to while away a weekend in Ireland's capital
By Kaye O'Doherty Published
-
Drama movies 2024: new films out this year
In Depth Latest reviews include The Boys in the Boat, One Life and Tchaikovsky's Wife
By The Week UK Last updated
-
Best new hotels and places to stay in 2024
The Week Recommends Featuring stylish island resorts, historical properties and wilderness retreats
By The Week UK Last updated
-
Albums of the year: best music of 2023
The Week Recommends A look back at the best pop, rap, jazz, dance, classical and rock releases
By The Week UK Published
-
Savoy Grill by Gordon Ramsay review: an institution reinvented
The Week Recommends Traditions are maintained and the tweaks are clever and modern
By Neil Davey Published
-
Tulum: a Mexican beach town of 'two halves'
The Week Recommends With the 'pueblo' and 'Zona Hotelera', Tulum is home to great hotels, restaurants and beach clubs
By William Leigh Published
-
La Zebra review: beach chic, perfect tacos and secret cenotes
The Week Recommends Enjoy a stylish stay in Mexico at this family-friendly beach hotel and restaurant
By William Leigh Published