The sweet taste of Nectar

This review was first published in October 2001

The Tabernacle in Powis Square has a touch of the multiple personalities: part ethnic community centre, part hang-out for middle-class luvvies. Part religious meeting place, part deeply secular spot to read the Sunday papers.

It's the latter of these personas that was in evidence at Nectar, the restaurant which used to be Allegra McAvedy's The Good Cook: in fact, it was minor Channel 4 celebrity a go-go. Still, as Trinidadian Maggie Mitchell, Nectar's welcoming hostess puts it: 'It's a lot less posh these days.' Maybe, maybe not; it has, however, got a distinctly Caribbean flavour. Sadly, the space itself doesn't provide as much of a welcome as Maggie; despite attempts at disguise through foliage, it still looks very much like the foyer it is.

Fried plantain, marvellously non-greasy, and saltfish fritters were good starters, apart from the eldritch 'mango chutney' accompanying the fritters: strange, impenetrable, fibrous something-or-other apparently doused in embalming fluid. Mains of eggs Creole - Caribbean 'bun' or flatbread with two spiced eggs and a searingly hot sausage, pepper, onion and tomato confection - and a classic breakfast fry-up with sauteed new potatoes were both useful Sunday morning fodder.

Nectar's heart is in the right place - a refreshing contrast to the up-themselves attitude of many of its Notting Hill neighbours. And, with drinks, we paid a staggering £24 for two. Sweet.

Nectar
The Tabernacle Centre, Powys Square, W11 2AY