Odette’s is in the middle of a row of genteel shops and other businesses on Regent’s Park Road in Primrose Hill. A canopied frontage conceals a long narrow series of dining rooms. The interior decor is fussy with the main wall dominated by flowery wallpaper that does not scream modern. The mood is lightened by exposed white-painted brick walls but a deep green carpet and other heavy dark wood trim make it a fairly sombre dining space. The kitchen is downstairs together with a casual bar area and toilets. This means that food is shuttled upstairs on a narrow staircase from the subterranean level on trays before it is then distributed to the waiting tables.

Bryn Williams was hired as the head chef at Odette’s in 2006 and he became owner/chef in 2008. He grew up in Denbighshire and Welsh produce is a strong feature of his cooking. Emphasis of his Welshness means that the restaurant has a fiercely loyal Welsh following. On the day I ate there English speakers were very much in the minority.

My introduction to Bryn's cooking, as with many other chefs, was on Great British Menu where his braised oxtail, turbot and cockle dish was selected as the fish course in 2006. I had eaten that dish on a visit to his restaurant last year but it has now moved off the menu. For Sunday lunch the menu choices are between a three-course set menu with an additional roast option, the a la carte menu or the lunch tasting menu. Having enjoyed my previous visit, it seemed like a good idea to go for the tasting menu.

A small bowl of marinated green olives was followed by a basket of bread containing hot white rolls and oaty brown bread that was the more satisfying of the two options.

The heritage beetroot, smoked eel and horseradish salad provided a light, refreshing start to the meal based on a classic combination of ingredients. The strips of smoked eel were melt in your mouth tender with a lovely depth of flavour. The beetroot retained a good crunch and the horseradish cream provided a gentle warmth in each mouthful.

The roast wood pigeon was a lovely dish although it seemed to have changed from its menu listing. What was billed as roast wood pigeon, foie gras, pickled cherries and chocolate replaced the cherries with fig and I suspect that the acidic kick from the cherries would have been more to my taste. Putting that minor niggle aside the overall dish was very good. The roast breast meat was tender and delicious but it was eclipsed by the rich shredded leg meat in the filo wrap. The fig combined very nicely with the breaded foie gras where the fresh fruit cut through the rich liver.

The fish course was based round bream that has become one of my favourite fish to eat. This was served with glazed endive, cauliflower, capers and a pine nut and raisin dressing. The crispy-skinned fish fully justified its star billing with its wonderful flavour. The endive really worked here as its bitterness was tempered by the sweet juicy raisins and the fish. Cauliflower provided a nice crunch and a smooth purée provided an alternative means of combining cauliflower with the fish. This was probably the standout dish on the day.

The main savoury course was roast venison and sausage with pickled cabbage and quince. The portion of pickled red cabbage came in a small cast iron pot separate from the meat. As with the other courses, the venison was seasoned properly and cooked to give a wonderful tender piece of meat. The sausage was rich and left you wanting more. The vinegary cabbage cut through the richness of the meat and the quince had a pleasant spicy edge to it.

When first looking at the menu, I’d wondered about passing on the cheese course but later decided it was worth going for. A selection of three Welsh farmhouse cheeses was paired with apple and pear chutney. Bara brith, a Welsh fruit bread and caraway and poppyseed lavosh were provided as accompaniments. The cheese selection included perlas blue cheese, perl wen that was described as a brie type cheese and Caerphilly. The strong, punchy Caerphilly was the standout for me.

The dessert was a great way to end the meal. Pistachio cake was served with caramelised apples and caramel cream.  The combination of pistachio cake and baked apple was wonderful and the whole thing was topped with a cinnamon caramel crisp. Ice cream might have worked better than the cream but that is a minor complaint. 

Overall verdict.
The dishes in the tasting menu were good and cooking was of a high standard but it’s difficult to really say anything was truly outstanding. But there was nothing bad either.                                                          

Would I revisit Odettes?
I will definitely go back but visiting other places in London are likely to be a higher priority.


Overall Rating - 3.5/5