By Robb Wirt

Today is Friday, and I think my travel companion and I got lost. It’s so warm in the tube that we must have dozed off and once we realized we were off course, we just decided to explore our destiny. We got off the tube at Shepherds Bush central line and wandered about a seemingly older, less touristy, part of London. More like a rundown part if you ask me. Regardless of our first impression, we were hopeful about finding a quasi trendy place to have lunch. Well, low and behold, smack dab in the middle of this drab neighborhood was the K West Hotel and Spa. The intriguing modern structure caught our attention and pulled us in, as it was a little out of place given its mundane surroundings. We decided to give its restaurant, Kanteen, a go. Well, there was no one else dining, which made me a little uncomfortable at first, but then I just figured we were there off hours. I never seem to hit the restaurants during “normal” eating hours, even back home, so I got over the fact that we were the only diners and actually got a little excited because I was feeling a little needy today, and I thought if we were the only diners, we would for sure be waited on like royalty.

Not so fast cowboy! Our waiter was timid and nervous, thus I had to forgive my all about me attitude. Kanteen has an amazing menu concept called Saints and Sinners. This offers a choice of either indulgent or healthier options. Well, I am on vacation and I wanna be bad! I guess that made me a sinner! We started with Asian-style fried chicken dumplings with a rich teriyaki dipping sauce. I’ve had better from the frozen food aisle at Albertson’s. Next I had the K West triple decker club sandwich made with free range chicken breast, crispy smoked bacon, egg mayonnaise, avocado, beef tomato, and crisp lettuce held in toasted white bread with chunky chipped potatoes. It was a hearty portion and tasted as I suspected it should. Nothing special. John had the traditional fish and chips which was a battered catch of the day, chunky chipped potatoes, steamed peas, and tartar sauce. The malt vinegar was seemingly missing from the premises. Oh, and I almost forgot the wine. We had wine didn’t we? The small glass was nothing special either. Over all, the dining experience was adequate at best. The rooms at K West are fun and bright though. So if I’m ever in this area again on purpose, I’ll stay here. The spa looked so inviting I should have skipped lunch and just had a me day. Other points to consider is that K West is near the Westfield Shopping plaza. This is Europe's largest inner-city shopping mall. No seriously, it is. There are recording studios and venues in the area as well, so you’re likely to run into people in the music industry, as many of them stay at the K West because of its cool vibe.K West Hotel and SpaRichmond Way, London W14 0AX +44 (0) 20 8008 6600http://www.k-west.co.uk/kanteen.htm