A sexy Scandinavian

Money and good food don't always go together, but it can help. This seems to be so in the case of South Kensington, a wealthy corner of London which is home to a few great foodie destinations - Oddono's gelateria, the Hummingbird bakery, La Cave au Fromage. I ate lunch in Madsen while watching passersby gaze longingly into the Lamborghini showroom opposite. Personally, I was happier where I was.

There aren't many Scandinavian restaurants in London, which is starting to be surprising since it seems to be at the cutting edge of world cuisine at the moment. Madsen, to be fair, is not cutting edge, but more importantly it is tasty verging on delicious. There are the obvious dishes like meatballs (Danish or Norwegian, but not Swedish) and gravadlax, but with thoughtful touches, like a mini Jarlsberg cheese quiche served with the gravadlax. And there are other things, which often tend towards the slow-cooked, sticky and deeply savoury: coq au vin, slow-cooked pork belly, topside of beef served on baked onions.

At weekends you can choose from a brunch menu with pancakes, scrambled eggs and Eggs Benedict, or the normal lunch menu. The brunch platter, which features a bit of everything, looked tempting, but I went for the pearl barley and wild mushroom risotto. It was garnished with whole almonds and pickled beetroot. This was without a doubt the first time I have had pickled beetroot on a risotto. It wasn't actively unpleasant, but it did feel a bit like the beetroot had died in vain. The risotto itself was creamy and light, a savoury ambrosia. Västerbotten cheese is one of very few cheeses I am not familiar with, but it was marvellous in the risotto, not unlike Parmesan in fact.

I finished with a small, dense piece of sticky Swedish chocolate cake. It came with some home-made lingonberry ice-cream, which didn't have any striking flavour. Next time I might try the rhubarb trifle, which looked beautiful.

I drank Nils Oscar IPA, a Swedish bottled beer which was pretty good (they do a lager too). There's also a fair-sized wine list. But I was more impressed by the organic teas from Solaris Botanicals. My chocolate chai rooibos tea makes me sound like a parody of the kind of person who has brunch in South Kensington, but was actually remarkably delicious, as well as the first chocolate-flavoured tea I have ever had.

Service was laid-back, perhaps a little too much so after our main courses had been brought and cleared away. I'm sometimes surprised by how little inclination waiters have to sell you dessert, and it wasn't as if they were about to close. On the plus side, it meant we could linger slowly over our coffees without feeling we were being rushed out: on the negative side, it might have been nice to be offered a dessert menu (or more drinks) without having to ask.

The two-course set menu is £13.95  at lunchtime, £24.95 in the evening. The a la carte costs a bit more but you can get a discount with a Tastecard. At full price it's not cheap but hey, this is South Kensington

Madsen
20 Old Brompton Road London
SW7 3DL
020 7225 2772
www.madsenrestaurant.com