Dining in Babylon

When most people arrive at the Kensington Roof Gardens they are whipped straight up to the top floor for an opulent night of champagne and cocktails under the starry (potentially rainy) skies amongst beautifully styled gardens and pagodas. However, hidden on the 7th floor of the very same building is yet another gem.

Babylon is a sleek, sophisticated yet fairly compact little restaurant surrounded by an elegant balcony overlooking Kensington. As you enter there is a teeny little bar area, packed with modern style, where we enjoyed a glass of wine and  the view before being whisked through to the restaurant area. Considering the wow factor of the gardens upstairs, the restaurant is surprisingly sedate in design terms, plumping for contemporary and elegant white table cloths, and olive green leather chairs.

Having found an excellent deal through bookatable.com, we were treated to three sumptuous courses, each one as delicious as the last. Between us, we sampled almost the entire promotional menu (except the sea bream), ranging from juicy scallops, wonderfully fresh courgette soup topped with crispy courgette fritters, and a creamy goats cheese and beetroot salad for starters. Mains consisted of a 5 onion risotto (this was very onion-y) and a succulent chicken breast with two kinds of potato and creamy puree which for me was the best dish of the evening. I rounded off with a delightfully fresh and nutty pistachio and raspberry cake, whilst the creme caramel and the almond cake with banana cake also won themselves some fans that night.

Our waiter was incredibly attentive, and very patient with what was a very loud and shrieky party of 5! It was great to go for a girly dinner somewhere a bit more sophisticated than the local pub and the understated elegance and fine dining at Babylon certainly didn't disappoint our expectations. The a la carte prices were a little steep but the venue and quality of food makes it worthwhile for a special dinner or when you're keen to impress (date-organisers, take note)!

Babylon
7th Floor
99 Kensington High Street
London W8 5SA

We booked the promotional menu via bookatable.com, which came out at £30 per head for three courses and a glass of wine.