Hedone opened in Chiswick in July 2011. The driving force behind the restaurant is Mikael Jonsson, a former lawyer and blogger who made the admirable jump from talking about food to actually showing others what he was capable of. The raison d’etre of the menu is to showcase the finest ingredients that can be sourced. This can result in some very stark, simple dishes and early reviews were mixed with a split between those who saw the benefit of this philosophy and those left wanting something more. In the last year, however, Hedone has unsurprisingly stuck to its guns and has acquired a growing crowd of enthusiastic fans. It gained its first Michelin star when the awards were announced in September of this year. One year later, his blog at Gastroville gives a good insight into the countdown to restaurant opening and the challenges encountered en route.

The restaurant is an easy stroll from Chiswick Park tube station and occupies a double-front property on Chiswick High Road. The low-key signage outside means it is easy for the first-time visitor to stroll past the restaurant without realising. The large front is quite deceptive because the restaurant space is not actually that large inside. As you step through the curtain screening the front door the first thing you see is the kitchen area ringed by tall chairs for diners who want to get close to the action. The main dining room is off to the left of the entrance. The tall room is decorated minimally in muted colours with the exception of the ceiling that is painted with primitive animals. Each slotted table is laid with a simple linen cloth and a bag of dried lavender together with the regularly changing place settings.

Lunch options include 3 and 4 four course a la carte menus and a tasting menu. The a la carte had a number of things that sounded really good so I chose to go with the 4-course meal. Immediately the food started coming to the table with a crab tart topped with a grapefruit gel disc. The delicious gentle crab flavour played nicely with the cheese in the pie crust.

House baked bread was supplied with unpasteurised butter. It would have been easy and very tempting to fill up on the comforting crusty bread.

The main amuse bouche seemed to be a dish that divided reactions in the room. It was very entertaining to watch other diners react particularly as I loved it. Savoury custard made with dried fish was topped with a seaweed coulis as a wonderful play on Japanese flavours. The custard had a delightful gentle fish taste but the star of the show was the seaweed coulis that was simply superb.

When browsing through a menu, there are a number of foods that it’s almost guaranteed I’ll order if they’re included. Mackerel is one of those items. The Hedone version was billed as flame-grilled Dorset mackerel with smoked tartare and Japanese flavours. A simply presented dish, it provided a stunning combination of flavours. The high point for me was the lightly smoked taste of the tartare. The tender meaty mackerel fillet with its crispy skin paired superbly with the nuttiness of the sesame dressing on the salad. This was a lovely dish.

Next course was listed as broken duck’s egg. The deep yellow slow-cooked yolk was served with girolles, red wine sauce and lardo di Collonata. The whole dish was topped with a clean, fresh-tasting parsley foam that was perfect in this setting. The yolk was firmer than expected but slowly exuded liquid into the sauce when it was pierced. The crisp salty lardo and mushrooms added strong contrasting flavours.  A hidden surprise was that the egg-white had been used in a vinegary mayonnaise under the yolk. This was a stunning way to finish off a superb dish. 

The meat main course was roasted saddle of fallow deer with dauphinois mousseline, caramelised eschalion and carrots. The rare meat was predictably tender and juicy. The purple, yellow and orange carrots provided an earthy contrast to the meat while the onion added sweetness to the dish.  The smooth whipped cheesy potatoes gave a nice rich edge to the dish.

Dessert was a Cox apple millefeuille served with caramel ice cream. Delicate sheets of puff pastry capped a layer of piped apple vanilla cream. Concealed further down was a delicious layer of cooked apple that carried the whole dish. Caramel was an excellent choice of ice cream to pair with the apple. 

The meal was rounded out with petit fours in the shape of a vanilla macaron with mango cream and a canale with rum and vanilla. The standout was the chewy macaron with its refreshing cold mango filling.

Overall verdict.
Hedone completely lived up to the expectation built up from talking to other people. There were no weak points in any of the courses that I ate.

Would I revisit Hedone?
In a heartbeat. I loved the whole experience and can’t wait to visit again. 

Overall Rating - 4.5/5