The Silver Birch | A Smart Modern British Restaurant in Chiswick
There’s apparently over 500,000 silver birches in London.
But only one will serve you Shetland cod with Swiss chard and chicken butter sauce…
You’ll find it on Chiswick High Street – a central stretch in Chiswick that’s not shy of foot traffic considering you’ve got cafés, pubs, second-hand book shops, the Chiswick Flower Market and the Chiswick Cheese Market on there. Like High Road Brasserie a stone’s throw away, The Silver Birch is where one retreats to after exhausting the shops and markets.
Harriet Langford
As a restaurant it carries a warm neighbourhood-y vibe. On a clear day you’ll want to be making the most of the occasion on the terrace that guards the entrance, and for regular London forecasts, the inside has a proper smart designer feel to it where shades of greens and brown dominate among visually appealing pale wood and leather furniture, a bar (with four counter seats), and a chef’s table area where sketch work from a London artist, Jesse Brown, decorates the walls.
New head chef (since April 2023), Nathan Cornwell, may be new in the kitchen but he’s seasoned vet otherwise, having worked at a wealth of Michelin star restaurants like Geranium in Copenhagen, the now-closed Oaxen Krog in Stockholm, Cheltenham’s two-starrer, Le Champignon Sauvage, and more. It’s a strong CV. Full of stars. Full of pedigree. His menu at The Silver Birch then, works around the seasons and makes use of all the substantially good produce found up and down the country. You’ll start with a few amuse bouches (like balls of fried pigs head) and then move onto the actual starters; maybe smoked eel from Devon with asparagus tips, or a roasted Isle of Mull scallop; before shifting your attention to mains like Cornish Texel lamb with pickled cockles; and then capping it off grandly with a poached Wye Valley rhubarb meringue or a board of British cheeses.
Harriet Langford
If you wish to drink, everyone is covered – the beer drinkers, the wine drinkers, the classic cocktail drinkers, the cocktails with a twist drinkers (there’s a martini where Cornish rosemary & bay vodka is used and the margarita flavour veers from strawberry & basil in summer to jalapeño in winter)… even the non-alcoholic drinkers, as there’s a dedicated mocktail section featuring a booze-less espresso martini (with seedlip spice) and Negroni, made with non-alcoholic aperitifs from Aecorn.
Don’t mock them till you’ve tried them…
NOTE: The Silver Birch is open Wed-Sun, with dinner service only on Weds and lunch only on Sun. You can find out more and book a table on their website, here.
The Silver Birch | 142 Chiswick High Road, London W4 1PU
This is by no means it for the neighbourhood… Kindly see our guide to the best restaurants in Chiswick