When the Walpole Cafe does dinner!

It was valentines evening in Ealing. So a new local restaurant to try was in order.

We had heard all the rumours from online reviews; from our friends; and even from Marco Pierre White that The Walpole Cafe was the place to try. It was said to transform from the specialist provider of the full English breakfast into Friday and Saturday nights 'best restaurant in Ealing'. I called ahead to book a spot for Alex and I to sample their famous dinner. Two sittings were available  - 6pm and 9pm, so we went for the earlier option; as it seemed most others also had (we watched them re-lay tables when we left at 8:30pm).

Having walked past many times, I had always been intrigued by the greasy-spoon-looking façade, with its interior hidden behind the red and white checked curtains hanging in the lower half of the window. When we arrived for dinner, I was pleasantly surprised by the warm décor, nicely laid tables with candles and retro tin-plated adverts hung on the walls. We were greeted at our table by the chef's lovely wife - certainly proving a welcoming family feel to the night.

 

I had heard that the menu was small, but there seemed to be more than enough for us to choose from. We also realised that we have never noticed a menu to be too small in any restaurant, and perhaps it this was an indication of our non-fussy/greedy eating habits. It was hard to choose. 

As usual we made sure we ordered different dishes and ate off of one another's plates (or did a few plate-swaps across the table) for the rest of the evening. The evening offer included two-courses for £19.95 or three for £24.95 (we didn't decide in advance - but headed straight for the starters).

Starters were ginormous! between us we had the treacle-cured-salmon on a bed of beetroot, ginger and apple relish and the spicy soup complete with the largest sausage-roll slice we've ever seen. The soup and sausage-roll won on deliciousness here, and the chunky salmon was unfortunately overpowered in flavour from its punchy relish - which would have been better served in about 1/20th of the quantity (the table beside us also had to leave some of their relish untouched).

There was a good selection of wine, and we had a nice bottle of red to join our meal - since we both ordered meaty mains. And meat we did get! We certainly had eyes larger than our stomachs, or at least we had plate-fulls of food five times the size of our stomachs. Alex could sadly only make it through about half of his steak, even with a little help from me. My duck leg complete with sausage and red cabbage did a little better, though also not completable.

We ate far too much and conceded our predictability to the research experiment which proves that you eat 36% more if you can see a bottomless source of food in front of you compared to when you are blindfolded! 

A steak measuring one-hand please! And 2 inches thick!

Of course there is always room for a little sweet thing...and hot tea, after a big meal. We shared the sienna cake and truffles which were yum (and half came home for Sunday afternoon tea the next day). From the friendly waiter we learned that sienna cake is an Itallian, dense, spicy and nutty cake that sets quickly in the cold of winter. Italy's answer to nougat we decided.

Overall it was a great experience to dine at the Walpole, not the cheapest of eats, but very friendly, fun, and tasty. We will go again but make sure that we go prepared for the portions of a lifetime!

Summary score table /5
Food Deliciousness:	3.5
Drinks Tastiness:	4
Service Skills:	5
Atmospheric Vibes:	4
Recommendation Score for a Casual Eve:	3.5
Recommendation Score for Showing off Ealing:	4
Total average score:	4