05 Feb The Melody Restaurant – A fine tune in London
My fourth visit in London was a business visit. I was there for a workshop so during lunch time I had to restrict myself to an area close to the office.
On the last day of the workshop I chose to skip lunch at the office and headed to a place close, a place which I found lovely before going inside to eat.
On that hot summer day I sat outside, on the terrace, and enjoyed the sun while watching people sitting and eating their lunch on the grass outside this place.
The Melody, situated at 153 Hammersmith Rd, is a lovely traditional construction, its design and interior attracting me from the start.
Stepping inside I studied the rooms a bit before moving out on the terrace and ordering the lunch fixed menu.
Since I was in a bit of hurry I opted for the set menu and from the start I must tell you that what I had was really great.
I didn’t have much expectations from a fixed menu but here at the Melody I got a pleasant surprise.
Even the restaurant’s website states “Fine Dining in Hammersmith” and after my meal there I believe it to be true.
Bellow I will review this place as I usually do so let us dive right in:
Location: Hammersmith area. Business area. I set a set point as center at Marble Arch. From there to the restaurant there are 6.2 kilometers so even though the food is good it is hard for me to tell you this place deserves a detour from your time spent visiting London.
But if you are in the area with business, since a lot of companies have offices there, you should visit this place. It is in walking distance from many offices and hotels so that is a bonus if you opt in, like me, for a quick lunch or for a meal after your work hours.
Staff: Very good impression. After all since this place prides in fine dining it goes without saying that the staff should be top also. Helpful, providing me answers on the menu, time needed to cook a la carte the overall experience was very pleasant.
Food: Frankly I did not expected that a fixed menu tasted this good. Everything from the soup, to the second course and the sweets tasted really great. An extra bonus for the sweets which were really, really good.
I have eaten in many places both in my country and abroad testing different lunch menus across the places I visited and I can tell you one thing for sure. This is by far the best set lunch I ever tried.
I will not take into consideration a la carte, special requests and traditional dishes from the various regions I visited. Only fixed menus and here this place has no competition until now.
Prices: I don’t remember exactly the price but I think it is somewhere between 29-35 pounds per lunch and while this might seem expensive you need to take into consideration a few things. First this is London so everything is expensive. Second the area is business and caters to people inclined towards a higher price for a meal. Third the quality of the food.
What really gave an extra boost to the meal was that day’s vibe. The terrace is surrounded by a tall wall, keeping the sounds from Hammersmith Rd to a minimum and I sat at the first table overlooking the patch of green outside where young people brought their lunches and they were laughing, joking and sharing a meal together.
With such an atmosphere that hour flew by and besides the good meal I was able to sit outside, in the sun, and feel better for the rest of the day.
That feeling of freedom, of watching trees and the green grass, of hearing birds not only cars and horns made me relax and unwind.
All in all a very good option for a meal if you are close to the place. Since I will travel again during the next year with work I’m pretty sure I will eat here again.