Megan's Deli and Restaurant (Bar, Restaurant)

Top 10 things you need to know about Megan’s Café & Grill:

1) First impressions can be make-or-break, particularly when reviewing a restaurant. But if my trip to Megan’s Café & Grill taught me one thing, it’s that they can be deceptive as well.

2) Things certainly got off on the wrong foot. To get to the Fulham-based establishment I had to pass Chelsea’s stadium – football’s answer to purgatory, as far as I’m concerned - and a particularly desolate stretch of the Kings Road that held no less than three bathroom supply shops.

3) The restaurant itself was unassuming, with scattered wooden tables and a small deli counter seemingly comprising the sum total of the venue’s attractions.

4) Down the candle-strewn staircase, however, it was an entirely different story. We were led into a beautiful covered terrace that immediately summoned up images of a secluded taverna by the Mediterranean, despite the chilly conditions outside.

5) The proprietors have done a great job transforming what is essentially a residential garden patio; although they could have sprung for sturdier tables – ours proved tragically, and messily, unable to support the weight of a glass of prosecco.

6) Even having been seated, watered and suitably impressed by the setting, my preconceptions remained in overdrive, zoning in on the clientele - huge parties of chattering socialites that resembled a particularly obnoxious casting call for Made in Chelsea.

7) However, when ironing-board-size platters of meats and cheeses were hauled out by the effortlessly friendly staff, the atmosphere turned to one of unabashed merriment devoid of Chelsea’s usual pretensions, and we were able to enjoy our meal.

8) And what a meal it was: baked Camembert cheese for two to kick things off, a bumper rib-eye steak and chips from the house grill, and a sumptuous blueberry cheesecake rounded off by a fruity Malbec wine.

9) Over the course of a thoroughly enjoyable evening, I learnt that Megan’s can’t be held accountable for the faults of its neighbourhood, and indeed does its best to transcend them - at no point did anyone try to sell me a bathtub or convince me of John Terry’s moral fortitude.

10) So by all means, stop by Megan’s for brunch or dinner if you’re on the Kings Road, and remember that it’s never too late to make a good first impression....read more