British and European Continental Dining
Hounslow, United Kingdom
Cuisine Style: Contemporary British
Average Price: £
Overall Rating: 3/5
Dined: October 2019
By Sean Overpeck (CFE)
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Walking into Huxley's with hardwood floors and leather banquettes puts you in a different world from the outside with hustle and bustle of thousands of people traveling through Heathrow Airport. With the many restaurants the airport has to offer from quick fast food grab and go to sit down eateries, Huxley’s offers traditional yet contemporary British cuisine from slow-cooked pork belly, old English pork sausages, and 21-day aged steak. Pie and mash, all-day breakfasts, beer-battered fish and chips, and sticky toffee pudding continue the British theme with some American and European Continental thrown into the mix. Huxley’s is a single restaurant though they are owned by the larger Casual Dining Group Ltd., that employees over 8,000 people, and serves more than 20 million meals at 280+ locations. The other restaurants in the group include:
Huxley's Menu:
- All Day Breakfast
- Starters and Sharers
- Salads
- Burgers and Dogs
- Sandwiches
- Sides
- Mains
- Kids menu
- Desserts
I stopped in with a few hours to kill waiting to connect to my next flight. The dining room was standing room only as there was a cricket match on the television that everyone was glued to. It took nearly 15-minutes to get a table, but that was to be expected with the crowd. I started with a London Pride Beer from Fuller’s Brewery and according to the brew-makers’ notes the beer is brewed to 4.1%, this tawny-colored premium ale borrows sweet raisin, biscuit and dried-fruit notes from the Crystal malt, while fresh, piney herbs emanate from the hops. Rich, smooth and elegant on the palate, it draws to a clean, satisfying finish with a beautifully balanced bitterness. London Pride is unmistakably London's beer, with its well-rounded flavor and rich history, everything about this authentic, characterful beer binds it to our capital city and the people who love it.
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| Huxleys / Bar and Dining Room |
I started the meal with a non-traditional British dish aiming more for the European Continental with a pâté of duck liver presented on the plate with a nine-grain bread, fruit jam, and butter. To me, the best part about pâté is that it has a smooth, complex flavor that makes it extremely versatile. You can enjoy it by spreading on bread as I did here or with simple cheese pairing and many other combinations. I could pick uplight hints of herbs and spice, plus the cognac. The texture was very smooth and creamy almost like that of a mousse, with some firmer points hinting to the country-style recipe as well. It melted in my mouth with every bite, plus the sugar hints from the fruit jam added to the great complexity of the dish.
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| Huxleys / Pâté |
Being an airport restaurant the kitchen does not mess around and wants to get the food out as quickly as they can, and I did not take that into account and was entirely my fault for not saying to the server to take their time. Before I was finished with the pâté, my main course came out. I had a steak sandwich prepared with 21-day aged Black Angus, topped with smoked tomato & onion chutney and a mustard mayonnaise all stuffed into a sourdough baguette. The dish was also presented with some fried chips (French Fries). The meat was cooked to a perfect medium-rare temperature, though to me lacked any good spice or seasoning. The chutney made up for some of that profile but not enough for it to go completely unnoticed. Unfortunately, the steak was more on a blander side in taste and missed the complexity and variety of flavor you would get with a seasoned cut of meat. It also seemed that the ratio of bread to meat was not equal, and you had much more bread, with little mayo-mustard sauce to soak up all the dryer bits. Lesson learned, and next time the steak entree may be more up my alley as I saw a nearby table order it, and presentation looked divine.
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| Huxleys / Steak Sandwich |
Dessert:
I did not have dessert during this visit, but some items of interest on the menu include the sticky toffee pudding and the arctic roll.
But check out some of these wonderful selections from Wine Dine and Play:
Please see these guidelines for Tipping in Restaurants and on following proper etiquette, customs, cultures, and avoiding assumptions when you dine out.
Other noteworthy British cuisine articles and restaurants similar to Huxley's:
English cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions, and recipes with wider British cuisine, partly through the importation of ingredients and ideas from North America, China, and India. British cuisine is the specific set of cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom. British cuisine has been described as “unfussy" dishes made with quality local ingredients, matched with simple sauces to accentuate flavor, rather than disguise it.
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See the whole list by visiting “The Wine Dine and Play Article Glossary”
Other Hounslow / Colnbrook restaurants, and articles on Wine Dine and Play:
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Vibrant Pan-Indian Cuisine
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The last outpost for British cuisine in Terminal 3 Heathrow
Hounslow, England, UK
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A few UK restaurant favorites:
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See the whole list by visiting “The Wine Dine and Play Article Glossary by country”
Final notes, review basics, observations, and more pictures:
Most reviews are subjective, depending on the writer; but they should also be responsible, and respectfully written, upholding the truth, and accurately conveying the experience to the best of the writer's knowledge, even if it includes metaphors the restaurant may not like to read about. My ratings are by the stars I award (from 0 to 5). The rating is calculated on a point accumulation of six separate factors based on individual experience. They include wine and other beverage selections, plate presentation, customer service, restaurant or café ambience, food quality, and wow factor.
To see more details of this rating list, read this article:
Overall from this experience and the score factors outlined in the ‘about page’ section, based on my individual experience and rating, I give Huxley’s a 3 out of 5 stars, meaning that they exceeded my expectations and were far above the average dining experience of most restaurants.
Scores are detailed in the factor chart below:
Formula Factor Conclusions and Overall Ratings for Huxley's
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Max Points Possible:
|
Total Points Awarded:
|
Total Points deducted:
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Ambience
|
8
|
7
|
1
|
Food quality
|
10
|
7
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3
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Plate presentation
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10
|
9
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1
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Customer service
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9
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6
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3
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Alcohol and other beverages
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8
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6
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2
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Total regular points awarded
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45
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35
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10
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Total percentage — less the Bonus
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0.777777777777778
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“Wow” factor BONUS
|
5
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0
|
0
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Total bonus percentage
|
0
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Total percentage and bonus for a final star rating
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0.777777777777778
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Stars Awarded (see chart below)
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- 0 - 5
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3
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**A full break down and explanation of the observations and point disbursement is available in the linked article above. To receive a detailed copy of your score, feel free to contact me at any time and I will provide it to you.**
***
Overall Star Rating:
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3 of 5 Stars:
78% Rating with a 0 point “wow” bonus
Exceeded My Expectations in a Dining Experience
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Huxley's Wine rating:
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3 of 10
Old World selections:
France, Italy, Spain
New World selections:
Chile, New Zealand
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Corkage fees:
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Huxley's does not list any corkage fee’s however, most American restaurants charge $25.00 per bottle
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Restaurant-style:
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Casual dining
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Cuisine Style at Huxley’s:
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British
Allergen or dietary accommodations:
Gluten-free choices, Low Carb Choices, Pescatarian, Vegetarian Options
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Reservations:
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Not Required
Walk-Ins:
Accepted
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Dress code:
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Casual attire
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Child policy:
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The Restaurants reviewed on this site may have a kids menu or cater to them; however, for full enjoyment of food and wine, it is recommended that kids not to be in attendance, unless they have been trained in proper etiquette.
If not then:
Hire a Babysitter!
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Huxley Experiences:
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Modern, Trendy, Lounge, and Great bar
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Payments:
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Cash, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express
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Parking:
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Huxley's / Heathrow Airport has a public garage
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Wifi
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The restaurants reviewed on this site may have Wi-Fi, but do not require you to go online, because the excitement of the food and wine alone will keep you too entertained instead of checking your social media and emails.
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Noise level:
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Loud
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Smoking:
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Huxley's is a non-smoking restaurant
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Patio or terrace:
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No
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Food Prices
(excludes, alcohol, taxes & 20% gratuity’s)
$£€¥ - Under 50.00 (inexpensive)
$£€¥ x 2 - 51.00- 99.00 (moderate)
$£€¥ x 3 - Over 100.00 (pricey)
$£€¥ x 4 - Over 200.00 (expensive)
$£€¥ x 5 - Over 400.00 (very expensive)
**Currencies reflect the world’s major travelers, restaurant, or wine connoisseur’s**
Currency:
|
Price
|
Great Britain Pound Sterling (GBP)
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£
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United States Dollar (USD)
|
$
|
Canadian Dollar (CAN)
|
$
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Chinese Yuan (CNY)
|
¥¥¥
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European Union (EUR)
|
€
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Huxley's:
Unit 9 Departures Level, Terminal 5
Heathrow Airport, Hounslow
TW6 2GA, United Kingdom
Contact Information:
Restaurant website:
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Maître d or host:
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+44 20 8283 6191
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Website Contact:
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Serving hours:
Greenwich Mean Time or
British Summer Time BST
(GMT, Zulu, or UTC - BST Offset + 1:00)
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Mon-Sun
5:30 am - 10:00 pm
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Social Media
And
Accolades for Huxley's:
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****
The world’s best restaurants is a subjective list of who is writing it and changes on a regular basis. The Wine Dine and Play best experiences are based on my highest rated stared restaurants, meaning that the visit was an outstanding or extraordinary experience. From cafés, chains, mom + pops, hole in the walls, to fine dining including a few Michelin spots. Visit the Top 100 page to see the entire list.
A few to tease you with…
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Quintessential Modern Australian Cuisine
Sydney, Australia
|
Old School Rustic Tuscan
Gulfport, Florida, USA
|
Eclectic global plates and sushi
Austin, Texas, USA
|
“Culinary perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things,
But in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”
-Angelique Arnauld (1591-1661)
Who is John Galt?
TTFN
