Welcome to my roast dinner review of Hereford Road in Notting Hill Gate.
And welcome to the future:

Yes, assuming that he actually lives up to his word for one of the first times of his life, I’ll be needing someone new to take centre stage for the bits of the roast dinner review process that are vaguely less repetitive than describing the same food items every week.
Somehow I have readers. Some are even regular readers – though almost certainly are also in loathing of Johnson and Brexit, for there is no way that most of them would survive my sanctimonious barbs on a regular basis.
Fuck knows what will happen to my readership if Labour actually manage to win a general election and I then have a left-wing government to take the piss out of. Left-wing and last Sunday’s left-over roast potatoes. I cannot wait. No, darling, I’m not a leftie, I’m a LIBERAL. Liberal like the gravy amounts in London.
Anyway, we need a new Prime Minister. Well, we have done for nearly 3 years, but we properly, constitutionally need a new Prime Minister now.
Embed from Getty ImagesAnd I need a good roast dinner after last week’s abomination. Well, I needed a good roast dinner before I started writing this. And as you’ll see, I still need a good roast dinner…or at least some more food.
Here Me Now.
Hereford Road…or Hereford Road Restaurant, I’m not really sure, had been on the to-do list since the beginning of time. I think it might have been one of those I added from some scummy Time Out list of 20 best roast dinners in London half of which nobody writing for them had eaten.
Because now I’m London’s King of roast dinners, appointed by God in the same way that the only reason Nadine Dorries is an MP is that God appointed her and I HAVE MY OWN LIST.
You know, she’s not only thick, but she’s anti-abortion and (was) anti gay marriage. Don’t let that folksy, drunk, lustful, dumbass-ness get in the way of seeing how vile some of her opinions are. And she didn’t like David Cameron or George Osborne.
And…I HAVE MY OWN LIST. Did I mention that? Of the best roast dinners in London. All 10 of them. Maybe you could print it out and tick them off…wait…maybe I should do a little printable wall chart and some stickers, and you can tick off the best roasts when you’ve eaten them. Would anyone actually buy it? Maybe I need some merchandise. Maybe I could do a “I want my gravy as thick as Nadine Dorries” t-shirt? “I want my roast potatoes like Jeremy Corbyn – soft on the inside, but crispy on the outside and definitely no jus”.
Hereford Roast…lol…caught that one on the final proof read. Hereford Road describe themselves as a neighbourhood restaurant – they certainly aren’t a place that I’ve heard of outside of my to-do list, I don’t see them on socials, I don’t see them on lists, I don’t see them on the 1,452 Instagram roast dinner reviewing please give me freebies accounts…oh wait…there’s only about 12 of them still active because for some reason, some weirdos (southerners) think that roast dinners have a season.
Inside is a pretty unfussy restaurant – a kind of bar area where you walk in with the open kitchen and a few chairs, then deeper and lower you get a more traditional restaurant room – a suitably unfussy room for a restaurant that isn’t making a fuss. And they had air conditioning – which instantly guarantees a minimum score of 5 out of 10, I reckon.
Here, There And Everywhere.

3 options for a roast this time, though I’d had chicken the week before, so it was between pork belly and beef. I’m not quite sure why I didn’t go for my gluttonous preference which is pork belly – perhaps because I was solo dining again…sigh. Or perhaps because I’m booked somewhere that could…could be a top 10 roast next Sunday (also…probably the hottest day of the year and possibly the hottest day ever…lol). Did I mention that…I HAVE MY OWN LIST.
The roast took around 10 minutes to arrive, and yes, the plate is small.

Starting with the spring greens, which were a little buttery, had a little crunch and had a fair amount of coarse-tasting pepper. I do enjoy pepper but it took a couple of bites to get used to it. A respectable start.
Then the parsnips, which were somewhat tough and over-cooked – perhaps too thinly sliced, however they had enough flavour for my contentedness. Yeah, I’ve not had one mention ever by Time Out. Not one of their journalists has ever followed me. All this work I put in and they just ignore me.
And that is it for the vegetables.
Here, There…Yeah Just Here And There.
For the second week in a row, apparently 3 roast potatoes is now too many for us Londoners, so we are now only allowed 2. Ahhh good old Brexit.

The smaller of the two wasn’t exactly great, kind of tough on the outside, kind of not yet that soft on the inside – but it tasted really well of potato. You know sometimes potatoes really have their flavour brought out? Well this was one of those.
You’ll be relieved to know that the larger one, was pretty crud – undercooked par excellence.

But there was a moment of actual excellence. The Yorkshire pudding was superb – matching the soft crispy sides with a proper soft and soggy bottom, that tasted of the best kind of pancakes that you’ve ever had – that freshly-cooked, soft, squidgy, eggy lushness. I’d almost forgotten that Yorkshire puddings could actually be gorgeous.

The theme throughout the roast dinner was a slight lack of portion, and the beef, though tender and somewhat flavoursome, was lacking in portion size. I’m not quite sure they got the most out of what seemed to be a tender cut of forerib, if lacking a bit of marbling.
Finally, the gravy. It was so damn watery that I didn’t even order any more. On the bright side, it was inoffensive – which is a true blessing after recent jus’. But it was just lightly browned water – possibly on the peppery side, but maybe that was just from the spring greens.
I did actually run out of browned water – but there was enough juiciness from the beef and yorkie to keep me contented.
Here, There, Hereford Road Roast.
A bit of a mixed experience but after last week’s roast dinner being such an embarrassment to British society that it caused the Prime Minister to kind of resign without saying that he was resigning, it was a relief. And hell – I actually had an excellent Yorkshire pudding.

Perhaps the main complaint is that the meal felt a tad limited. Just two types of vegetable, a fairly small piece of beef, just two roast potatoes – though that was a blessing.
The larger roast potato was undercooked, the gravy was just inoffensive browned water and the parsnips were somewhat tough. None of them ruined the roast, but there is plenty of room for improvement.
I guess I’m only really singing the praises of the excellently eggy Yorkshire pudding – though the beef was juicy and tender, even if they haven’t made the best out of it.
Apparently I Need Another Sub-Heading.
Hereford Road as a restaurant is almost certainly one of those places that is better at its main menu than roast dinners – it reads as a neighbourhood restaurant with a focus on seasonality. A relatively affordable meal out in a very unaffordable neighbourhood. So I doubt I’ve seen their best work.
As I mentioned earlier, plus points for air conditioning – minus points for a lack of IPA/Pale Ale on the menu, service was decent – unfussy like the restaurant, but respectable, like the roast.
I’m struggling to score this one. I don’t really want to give a sub-7 score to a decent neighbourhood, independent restaurant that has served a respectable roast – yet I’m only really raving about the superb Yorkshire pudding.
Despite moderate misgivings elsewhere – I’m scoring it a 7.09 out of 10. I’ll be interested to see if anyone else has eaten at Hereford Road – as it might be a hidden gem on other days?
So as long as the Metropolitan line doesn’t melt in the heat next Sunday, then I’ll be back with a review on what could be the hottest day ever in the UK, or maybe just the hottest day of the year. And I’ve got somewhere rather good booked. They better have air conditioning.
Embed from Getty ImagesGuess you could say the prick has been pricked.
Hartlepool…R U OK, hun?
Summary:
Hereford Road, Notting Hill Gate
Station: Westbourne Park
Tube Lines: Circle, Hammersmith & City
Fare Zone: Zone 2
Price: £19.50
Rating: 7.09
Closed Down
Loved & Loathed
Loved: Only the Yorkshire pudding, but gosh it was gloriously fluffy and eggy. A real wow.
Loathed: Portion size a bit small, one roastie was crud, browned water for gravy.
Where now, sailor?
Random roast review: The Chelsea Pig, Chelsea

Must say that huge Boris is sinister and terrifying jump scare or what!!
No in all seriousness I’ve been a fan since your roasts around redding I look forward to reading these they are a highlight of my day I’ve gone from crying from sadness to crying with happiness bless you it’s near impossible for me to smile yet you do with each article you have a way with words and a skill for writing please never leave a lot of people love you 😊☺️❤️
Whoa someone other than my mother loves me! Thank you very much for the kind words…but I wouldn’t be writing if my readers didn’t exist 🙂