The King's Road was the private road created in the 1670s to take King Charles II from St James's |Palace to Hampton Court, Kew and west London. Only royalty and a privileged few who carried copper tokens or metal passes with the monarch's initials could get past the gatekeeper. Charles II was called the Merry Monarch, known for the restoration of the monarchy after puritanical Cromwell.
In 1830 the road was opened to everybody in the reigns of King George IV and William IV.
Landmarks include at the Eastern End, the Peter Jones department store, a grade II listed building on Sloane square, and the Saatchi Gallery on the Duke of York Square.
A few steps from Medlar restaurant is 430 King's Road, World's End fashion boutique established by designer Vivienne Westwood. You can see outside the clock with a 13 hour dial (remember the clock which struck 13) and the hands rotate ani-clockwise at disconcerting speed, turning back in time, representing counter-culture.
Medlar Restaurant
A medlar is a fruit used for making jelly. The fruit was popular in medieval times. It has multiple seeds at the centre, like an apple, a feature known as a pome, and like the apple tree has abundant flowers, white flowers.
Why did it fall out of favour? At one time it was uniquely useful in being picked when hard, then ripening to soft eating quality in mid-winter. Now that we have other fruit food available in winter, the medlar has lost its advantage.
Also in its heyday it was ripened at home. It turns to mush when transported, so not suitable to be stocked by supermarkets in modern times.
At the back of the restaurant is a secluded spot attractively arched by white flowers on branches. I admired that at the time, but it wasn't until I got home and researched the medlar tree that I realised that the decor reflected the name.
I had been warned about the stairs, and the toilets are downstairs, whilst we ate in a group together in a private room at the top, three flights up from the ground floor, passing a cute little bar.
Our room had a view down over the busy King's Road, with pedestrians and buses. At the back on this level is a mural of London.
The host of the event, my husband had chosen food to match his wines. Once reason for choosing Medlar is that you can bring your own bottles of booze, paying corkage.
We started with two kinds of bread, white sourdough with a sprinkle of seeds, and a darker bread, plus butter. (A good start. I much prefer butter to oil.) The butter was soft enough to spread. Everything was just perfect.
The other guests had a shellfish starter. From the online menu I had selected an quail's egg tart. The egg was on top, like a fried egg, the size of a normal egg, not the teeny quail's egg I had anticipated.
The main dish was pheasant, a very pleasant variation on chicken, chunky, solid yet soft and not stringy, tasty. I liked the potatoes sliced into thin overlapping strips.
The most memorable dish for me was the dessert, the creme brulee. Crisp burned sugar on top but not so hard as to crack your teeth. The presentation of the dessert was as a large version, nut the usual deep, small muffin size, but a proper dessert plate size. Not a limp one either, but solid and creamy.
A nice touch was the chocolates which came with the coffee which we ordered.
Despite the fact that we were isolated at the top of the building, the service was attentive, neither too fast, nor too slow.
We started at around noon, and finished after their advertised lunch end time of 3 pm, still keen to talk, especially those who had travelled up to London for the day.
Our friends had no trouble finding a local place to continue socialising. We walked past the reversing clock.
But I had a meeting in the evening so we waved goodbye. After agreeing that Medlar would be on our shortlist of places to return with the group, after a year or less.
PS
The Pheasantry
On the bus back to Sloane Square station, we passed the Pheasantry, at 152-154 King's Road, a Grade II listed building, with a memorable arched entrance. The name comes from a business back yonks ago, breeding and selling pheasants.
The visual appeal comes from two caryatids, meaning carvings of stone women, or pillars, holding up the roof. The name caryatid is after a temple of that design in a Greek town of a similar name. You can see one of the original caryatids in the British Museum, as well as many more around the world, as well as the example on The Pheasantry.
In the 1960s and 1970s the basement of The Pheasantry was a well-known club. People who went there included Humphrey Bogart, Germain Greer, and the band Queen. Plus numerous other famous and soon to be famous people.
In August 2026 it was a restaurant with a sign for Pizza Express. The venue still has live music, jazz and cabaret. Another attraction is the bottomless brunch on Saturdays.
Down the road at Medlar, lunches are cheaper than dinners, with options for one, two, or three courses. As well as the private dining room upstairs.
My lunch at Medlar was an entertaining time with friends, with fabulous food. As a result of my visit I also learned about the medlar fruit, the King's Road, a reversing clock, and famous people visiting The Pheasantry. Food for the body, and food for the soul.
Useful Websites With Information on Medlar Restaurant and Places In The King's Road
Information from Ask Gemini, Wikipedia
https://www.medlarrestaurant.co.uk/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King's_Road
www.londonmuseum.org.uk
https://www.davidconnordesign.co.uk/worlds-end
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pheasantry
https://www.pizzaexpresslive.com/the-pheasantry-chelsea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caryatid
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