The Shed, 122 Palace Gardens Terrace, London

Richard used to work at Brawn and Bunga Bunga; Oliver used to cook at the Oxo Tower, Launceston Place, Just St James and River Cottage; and Greg farms at Nutbourne in West Sussex, supplying a chunky bit of the menu through his labour there. They have built an ultra-rustic, slightly anarchical shed-cum-kindergarten, with split-level seats, barrels for some tables and a hugely inviting, playful atmosphere. 

The only scary thing about it, in fact, is not the fault of the Gladwin brothers at all: I am here with the editor of this magazine; a man who has the power to sack me in an instant if I don't regularly summon the correct adjective to described the foodstuff before me. So what follows will have an extra effort at precision.

There are four mouthfuls at £1.50 each, of which the potted beef on crisp toast is the succulent best, along with a clever beetroot crisp with a chalky and pungent goat's-cheese-and-sweet-pear jam. The venison sausage roll is excellent but tiny. Nutbourne Cured Meats include a fennel-seed salami which isn't good enough for £6; the salami has too many fatty globules, and the fennel seed is bitter rather than full of pleasant, liquorice-like flavour.

Then come dishes from the "Slow Cooking" and "Fast Cooking" sections of the menu. From the former, there is a fantastic lamb chip – that's a chip made of steaming, stringy lamb rather than soft, fluffy potato – with parsley, lemon and harissa (£7.50); pigeon with mixed bitterleaf, Shed bacon, hazelnut and port dressing (£8) and mushroom ravioli with rocket (£8.50), both of which are excellent. The beef shin with chewy rosemary dumplings and black cabbage (£9) is exquisite, as the dumplings are so receptive to the hot salty juices emanating from the beef.

The fast stuff – seven minutes or so, as opposed to 15-20 for the above – is mostly terrific. The venison carpaccio and salad burnet with golden beetroot dressing is superb, though too pricey at £9. The lamb sweetbreads, with more salty, sizzling Shed bacon, Jerusalem artichoke and kale (£8.50) is irresistible. The crispy sprouting broccoli with a sweet dip is – again – a beautiful little dish but no way worth £9; while the Sussex steak, at the same price, is worth it because it comes with a lovely, strong, wild-garlic butter that tastes like England in spring.

Two other dishes stand out in this second, speedier batch. One is a rainbow trout with smoked new potatoes, watercress and horseradish (£8.50). Trout is a robust little beast and here stands up to the horseradish well, though I wish the latter had been stronger to make it a more even contest. But the watercress, crunchy and radiant green, holds it all together marvellously.

And best of all is the vegetarian option, a pan-fried goat's cheese which has browned to just the right degree, and comes with hazelnut, honey and thyme: a melt-in-your-mouth medley of herbal and dairy flavours.

You'll have got the impression by now that this a place for sharing things – and therefore, I hope, a good place to break bread with your boss. Or dessert, for that matter. There is a Shed Magnum vienetta parfait (£6), a modern take on an old family classic, and a panna-cotta-and-pear sponge cake. There are good white and red wines for under £20, too, and a cheeseboard with three different cheeses for £4 each.

The Shed is a great addition to the Notting Hill scene, and its atmosphere compensates for occasionally overpriced food. I thoroughly enjoyed our evening here, and given I've been granted the chance to write this, I suspect my editor did, too. What he makes of my adjectives is another matter, however; so if you never see me again, it's been a blast.

8/10

The Shed, 122 Palace Gardens Terrace, London W8, Tel: 020 7229 4024. £120 for two, including one bottle of wine

Three more scenes of sibling revelry

Fino

The Hart brothers' perfectly cooked tapas and characterful staff create a real clubby buzz in Fitzrovia.

33 Charlotte St, London W1, tel: 020 7813 8010

Galvin Bistro de Luxe

Superb bistro-style cuisine has won the Galvin brothers renown for their modern interpretation of a Parisian brasserie.

66 Baker St, London W1, tel: 020 7935 4007

Tanners Restaurant

Outstanding cooking courtesy of the Tanner brothers in a city otherwise barren of haute cuisine.

Prysten House, Finewell St, Plymouth, tel: 01752 252 001

Reviews extracted from 'Harden's London and UK Restaurant Guides 2013', www.hardens.com