I was looking for somewhere to celebrate my daughter in laws 50th birthday and came across a review for Babylon in Kensington High Street. Set 7 floors up it gives great views of London and has three amazing roof gardens that can (if they are not being used for private functions) be viewed when you visit the restaurant. There is the Spanish Garden (based on The Alhambra in Grenada), the English Woodland and The Tudor Garden. When you think “roof gardens” you may envisage a lot of colourful pots but these are nothing like that. These gardens have been established for years, in fact, in the English Woodland there are trees that are 75 years old! It is quite unbelievable that these gardens thrive just a few storeys up from one of London’s busiest thoroughfares! There are even flamingos! (Although I did think maybe the restaurant should be feeding them a few more prawns – they were decidly a rather pale pink!)
Anyway back to the restaurant. We were a large group including an 11 year old and two vegetarians but the children’s menu was excellent (no fish fingers or chicken nuggets served there!). My grandson had a macaroni cheese which he pronounced was the best he had ever eaten (high praise indeed from a child who eats this dish almost constantly!). My veggie main course of Deep Fried Courgette Flower was suprisingly delicious and not something I had ever tasted before. The main a la carte menu in the restaurant is a bit pricey but they do a set lunch menu of 2 courses for £24 or 3 courses for £28. The set menu was chosen by all and there were enough options to keep meat lovers and vegetarians all happy. Now, the one down side of the restaurant is that the drinks are fairly pricey, cocktails from £11 upwards, the cheapest bottle of Prosecco was £46 (I can get 6 bottles from Tesco for that price!) and we chose the cheapest white wine on the menu (a nice Le Cote Trebbiano for £26 per bottle). You could end up spending a fortune if you wanted to drink a lot but luckily our party were happy with just a glass each at lunchtime. The staff are lovely and there is a nice terrace where you can look down at the gardens below and view great panoramas of London.
Babylon is a great restaurant to visit and can be (if you can curb your alcohol craving) quite a reasonable place to eat. So enjoy your visit and don’t forget to visit the toilets to see the aquarium!
