King William IV - Chigwell
5:50pm Wednesday 27th February 2008
HAVING a brother who is a chef I like to pretend I know a bit about food and whenever I visit a new restaurant I always seem to unfairly compare the menu to his.
So when I went to the King William IV, in Chigwell, I decided to approach the task of reviewing it with an open mind.
My first impressions were positive. The decor was warm and inviting with black and white images on the walls and a spacious layout.
It offers food from all over the world in a relaxed environment with an area at the front for people to use the bar.
A selection of sharing platters was available for starters including a Messe with humus, flatbread and stuffed vine leaves along with more traditional individual options.
Having always had a sweet tooth I chose to opt for a main course and dessert, never being able to squeeze in three courses.
I chose cod and prawn fishcakes with wilted spinach, hollandaise sauce and poached egg from the Stove' section.
The menu includes three other main course sections with salads confusingly titled Leaves' and the other two Grills' and Fired Pizzas'.
However my vegetarian companion noticed an extreme lack of food available for him to eat with a choice of only two dishes, a salad or pizza.
This was disappointing considering the variety of food available for everyone else, but the lack of choice was compensated when we were given complimentary warm, crusty bread with oil and balsamic vinegar.
I have always been unable to leave anything on my plate, a value I have held onto since childhood so when my main course arrived I was pleased to see the portion size was not enormous.
The food was above average and I was impressed with its professional look and quality, although the fish cakes would have been better if they had more prawns.
My other dining companion was less than impressed with his duck pizza which was far too sweet and a bit confused about its identity - it had a whole salad dumped on the top making it difficult to even locate the pizza underneath.
The sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream I had for dessert certainly raised the standard.
With whole crunchy nuts providing a contrast to the warm, soft sponge and sickly, but delicious, toffee sauce, I was left feeling indulgent but satisfied.
The service was prompt and the staff polite but the venue seemed to lack individuality with a combination of food from too many places yet somehow still not enough to choose from.
However, considering the price and relaxed atmosphere I would probably go back again, if only for the sticky toffee pudding!
The King William IV
High Road,
Chigwell,
Essex
IG7 6PJ
Tel: 0208 500 4122