There is, obviously, hype around Willy’s. A big birthday dinner was happening in one corner of the dining room; what felt like a second or third date was unfolding next to us as we took our seats at the counter. My favourite thing about being able to see the kitchen is being able to make an informed decision on what to order, but each dish being finished at the pass looked more mouth-watering than the last. We started with silky beef rump tartare, piled with crisps and drizzled in tart caper dressing with dripping toast on the side for scooping and crunching; and a simple (vegan!) roast courgette salad with hazelnut and basil that was so fresh and delicious that I forgot to take a photo until I’d snaffled the lot. My date’s chicken leg with mushroom and tarragon was perfectly soft, earthy, and brothy with a herby finish. The showstopper, though, was my seemingly simple sausage and mash: three fat bangers perched on a mountain of creamy mash and swimming in gravy. It was the dish I saw being whisked around the dining room the most by the staff that evening, and O’Brien confirmed it is their biggest crowd-pleaser.
_pr_global.jpg)
O’Brien’s menu is about comfort food done well, leaning into a reassuring nostalgia without ever becoming fuddy-duddy or boring. “We alter the dishes to reflect what’s in season,” he told me as he cleared our plates. “We’re not rewriting the menu every day, but you’ll see little seasonal touches if you come back in summer versus now, in winter.” If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, I suppose.
It’s an ethos that rings true throughout this year’s Top New Restaurant Awards: that simple cooking done well is taking precedent over fussy, fancy menus; that nostalgia and comfort food is drawing us in rather than complicated recipes; and that the best restaurants are often found in our neighbourhoods and suburbs rather than our city centres. Willy’s feels less like a discovery and more like somewhere you’ve always loved.
