Jamie Oliver seems to have a restaurant in every borough of London, affirming his position as the city’s favourite chef, so it seems only sensible that he brings his appealing grub and lovable character to West London, after all we have waited long enough. Chiswick High Road houses a plethora of restaurants and cuisines – so many eateries come and go, it is easy to be unaware of the streets latest offerings. Jamie Oliver’s new Union Jacks casual cool diner suits Chiswick.
Keen to cover all Chiswick’s highlights, it was essential that I checked Union Jacks out… with, of course my favourite Chiswick girl guest. The venue is quirky and fun, and already feels firmly established despite only being a mere few weeks old. Upstairs we had great window seats overlooking the High Road, ideal for voyeuristic diners. The staff are young and hip and seem trained to speak in Jamie’s trendy lingo, which we found quite hilarious. The drinks are simple but innovative, I particularly enjoyed the Roobarb & Custard drink made with Chase Hereford Rhubarb Liqueur, apple and cinnamon… served with an awesome stripy straw!
This chain was set up by Jamie with American chef Chris Bianco whose small restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona apparently serves the very best pizzas around. The menu focuses on ‘flats’ – wood fired pizzas adorned with big British flavours. There are a few other options available but they pale in comparison to the bread based recipes. First we had a few little plates: smoky and delicious Sausage and Bacon with strong ale & sage mustard and Smoked Trout with fresh horseradish & baby yorkies… this was an unusual combination and apparently tasted extraordinary.
The flats flavours are bizarre, my friend was brave and tried the Fish Pie variation which actually looked beautiful and had a lovely flavour. With Smoked Pollock, heritage potatoes, sweet leeks & delicate little Welsh cockles, it was a work of art. I chose the Juliette: a take on the Margarita, which I then jazzed up with shoulder of pork, one of the wonderful extra choices. The pizza/ flat was highly flavoured, with the base cooked to perfection, but I would have liked perhaps a little more topping to prevent it from being too dry. We also tried the intriguing purple sprouting broccoli with crushed hazelnuts, bacon bits and roasted garlic, it was a very inventive side.
Overcome with joy about the exciting homemade ice-cream, we ordered a small scoop of each of the numerous flavours. I thought the Eton Mess and Bramble Ripple were best though my guest loved the indulgent Snickers bar flavour which was chocolatey and nutty in equal measure.
Jamie Oliver is unstoppable, Union Jacks in Chiswick is further proof of his unbelievable energy.
Visit the website here to book.
