The Capability is situated in London Syon Park just past the Peacock martini bar; the restaurant has a wine room, smoking terrace with beautiful lights and herb garden in view from your table, lots of the ingredients in the dishes and cocktails come from this garden. On our visit we were looked after by Oskers, who was very knowledgeable about the products and the grounds of London Syon Park, he was willing to show us the herb and vegetable garden where ingredients come from like fennel and edible flowers.
We started our meal with a selection of breads and gazpacho which was a nice start to the palette and got the taste buds working ready for the starters we had ordered; these were West London smoked salmon with caper berries and Dorset snails with black pudding. The West London Salmon was beautifully presented on the plate, which had butterflies on the design (in keeping with the London Syon Park theme). A fresh tasting dish with ingredients from the herb and vegetable garden including edible flowers and fennel.
The wine chosen by our sommelier Cosimo was Cote A Cote Vin De France which worked well with the freshness of the dish, a bright, fresh and fruity with peach, pear and passion fruit flavours, as well as delicate vanilla hints on the thirst-quenching palate, this wine matches beautifully with the light dish of salmon. The Dorset snails with black pudding, wild boar bacon and garlic butter were meaty, served in very traditional French style. The snails went well with the black pudding resulting in a savoury and meaty dish. The wine chosen was Huia Marlborough Pinot Noir; this wine complimented the savoury taste of the snails as it was a bold full bodied wine.
For the main course I went for was the Aberdeenshire Sirloin, a juicy steak served on a wooden board and every time you cut into the meat you could see the juices running across the wooden board, it was cooked to perfection. The steak had great accompanying details of a Béarnaise sauce and watercress, added to this were chunky chips which were perfect for dipping in the sauce! The wine pairing for this dish was a Bordeaux red which echoed dense, spicy and earthy notes with hints of farmyard and meat. Charlotte went for Kingairloch Red Deer under fillet with fondant potato, spiced pear puree and juniper berry jus. The venison was well seasoned with rosemary (from the herb garden) and the pear puree complimented the taste of the deer.
Served with creamed mash rather than the fondant would have been slightly better but the deer was cooked to perfection and enjoyable on the taste buds. Cosimo suggested the same Bordeaux red wine for the deer and once again it was a perfect choice for the meaty flavour of the deer. We then had a rest bite and enjoyed our wine looking at the view of the terrace from our table, in the restaurant it was mostly couples enjoying a romantic dinner and The Capability allows comfort and secrecy with the ingenious way the restaurant has designed, the ambiance was very relaxed.
After looking at the dessert menu we came to a mutual decision to have a cheeseboard of South East cheese with grape chutney, also accompanied with crackers but we were given additional breads as well. The cheddar was salty and worked well with the bread, the goat’s cheese was light and creamy and a blue cheese was not too overpowering and a great match with the bread, crackers, celery and chutney. We followed the cheese course with honey mousse with pear and ginger for me: refreshingly light and delicate on the palette. This would be a perfect dessert for sitting on The Capability terrace on a summers evening. Charlotte went for the glazed chocolate cake with caramel and honeycomb, under the recommendation of Oskers. It was a great recommendation, a light chocolate dish and the homemade honeycomb was fantastic, not synthetic, very authentic and truly tasty: an indulgent perfect way to treat yourself!
The Capability gave great portion sizes and the staff are first class as to their service and knowledge of the dishes. Oskars was a great waiter who was noticeably proud of his work and Cosimo made thoughtful and knowledgeable suggestions for the wine choices. I liked how ingredients from the hotel vegetable and herb gardens were used as it is always refreshing to know where ones food has come from! The menu has plenty of choice and any change you desire to a dish is no problem for the capable kitchen, we thoroughly enjoyed our time at The Capability Restaurant and cannot think of a better way to spend an evening while staying at London Syon Park. A great venue if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the Big Smoke but not compromise on good food and excellent service.
The Capability
Hilton London Syon Park
Middlesex TW7 6AZ
United Kingdom
