MATER1A Notting Hill Review: Inside London’s Intimate 16-Seat Tasting Menu

Looking for an honest MATER1A Notting Hill review? Here’s what to expect from the intimate tasting menu restaurant—from a Londoner.

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When you think of a £214 tasting menu in Notting Hill, relaxed probably isn’t the first word that comes to mind.

Yet tucked along Westbourne Grove is MATER1A, a tiny restaurant that manages to be remarkably unserious about some of the things fine dining can take very seriously—and extremely serious about the thing that actually matters: the food.

There’s no feeling that you need to dress to impress, no huge dining room and, for me, that was exactly the appeal.

Instead, the focus here is almost entirely on the ingredients: where they came from, why they’re on the menu and why they’re worth serving in the first place.

Shall we?

We started with a glass of Highweald English sparkling wine before the first plate arrived: late-season tomato with buttermilk and miso.

It was simple, fresh and probably the first clue that the ingredients here were going to do most of the talking.

We then moved to “September…in 3 bites,” where, true to its name, three tiny bites took us between New Zealand, Spain and France in the space of a few mouthfuls.

During the meal, the chef came out and introduced the courses himself, often telling us where an ingredient came from and the story of how it ended up on the menu.

One of the places he talked about was Rungis Market outside Paris, where MATER1A sources some of its produce.

And when you start hearing just how far they’ll go for a particular ingredient (at one point, Cacklebean eggs that apparently had a waiting list), their philosophy becomes very clear.

Although they’re not winning any sustainability awards anytime soon, they will absolutely have the best version of an ingredient, wherever that happens to be.

From there came Balfegó tuna with toasted leek, avocado and kinako, followed by Andignac duck liver with “A la Española”, Kampot pepper and milk bread, with some very unexpected coffee notes.

Then Norwegian langoustine with ginger, shiso and cep, with miso prepared right in front of us.

From there we moved onto Cornish turbot with saffron, mussels and lemon verbena, followed by suckling pork belly with green apple, Pommery mustard and oyster.

The pork was braised for 48 hours and is one I’ll be thinking about on the Tube, especially for the hits of apple.

We finished with Solliès figs with miso, blackcurrant and roasted sesame and called it an evening!

Overall, for somewhere serving a tasting menu at this level, there’s remarkably little stiffness.

Plus the team comes from around the world too, which somehow feels fitting for a menu that spends the evening bouncing between France, Spain, Norway, New Zealand and beyond.

And I think that’s probably what I liked most about it. MATER1A is relaxed about almost everything except the quality of the food.

It’s serious about sourcing. Serious about seasonality. Serious about knowing exactly where something came from and why it deserves a place on the menu.

At £214, this is obviously firmly in special-occasion territory. But if part of what you enjoy about a tasting menu is actually learning about what you’re eating, MATER1A gives you plenty to sink your teeth into.

Quite literally.

Practical Bits:

Location: Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill

Price when I visited: £214 tasting menu / £145 wine pairing

Perfect for: Special occasions, serious food lovers and anyone who likes their fine dining without too much stiffness (note that menus change extremely regularly based on the season).

Happy Londoning,

Candace x