Food: French cuisine
Address: 301 Chiswick High Road, London, W4 4HH, United Kingdom
Phone Number: +44 (0)208 747 0377
Website: www.hedonerestaurant.com
Guide Michelin: 1 star
What I paid: £250 (carte blanche menu per person including wine and water)
Visited: November 14, 2015

The Swede Michael Jonsson is the chef that switched career to become a lawyer and then switched back to become a chef again. However, Michael has always had an interest in food and even when he was a lawyer he ran the instrumental Gastroville food blog.

Michael is both the head chef and the owner of Hedone. Michael’s hallmark as a chef is to always look for the very best ingredients available. For the bread, Michael spent training with one of the best bread baker there is (Alex Croquet in France) so that guests can enjoy bread of the utmost quality.

Restaurant Hedone is housed in a former Lebanese nightclub at the somewhat defunct end of Chiswick High Road.

Just prior to our visit, Hedone was closed for about 10 days having a makeover. The number of seats is now down to 18 in the main room and up to four on stools overlooking the open kitchen (from previously 40). Dinner is now offered from Tuesday to Saturday and lunch on Saturdays only. Hedone is now having two different tasting menus that will change constantly.

Hardly surprising is this remodeling also vitiated with an increase of the menu prices. The “ordinary” tasting menu is now £85 and the Carte Blanche is offered for £125 (previously £95), so especially in regards to the latter menu, this could hardly anymore be considered as a “bargain” eatery (which I previously have seen Hedone referenced as).

We opted for the Carte Blanche alternative. I did personally go with the wine pairing package while my friends bought a couple of bottles from the wine list.

Mushrooms

Bread

One of the best breads I ever had!

Sea Bass

Halibut

Very good!

Scallops

Those Scottish scallops were of superior quality, but not the very best I have had (those were from Hitra in Norway and served at restaurant Frantzén).

Foie gras

Best foie gras ever! Also the accompanying salad was really good.

Pork

Yet another tasty dish of uttermost quality!

Delicious!

Dessert

Very tasty!

Petits fours

To summarize:

Just about everything served at Hedone is of the very best quality possible. The bread, for example, is simply world-class and it’s rare (unfortunately) that I am this satisfied with a dinner. But not just the quality of the food itself is impressive; also the flavour combinations in the dishes are top notch.

In comparison to the meals I had at the both 3-stars Guide Michelin restaurants Gordon Ramsey and Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, Hedone is simple in another league. Hedone outclass those two restaurants and it’s simple just an abuse on the Guide Michelin rating system that Hedone just have one star (and they have three each).

I was really pleased with the dinner we had the previous evening/night at the re-opened Fat Duck (in Bray). Even though it is hard to compare (and maybe not necessary to do…) those two restaurants, due to their dissimilarities, one thing is sure: The Fat Duck is a restaurant you visit very seldom (as the menu rarely change and the theme/”journey” thing, probably is something you only enjoy the first time). Hedone, on the other hand, is a restaurant you could visit very frequently, then the menu changes on a daily basis. That being said, Hedone is the best restaurant I have visited in London. Highly recommended!