Unless I’m heading to the glorious Harwood Arms I usually try and avoid Fulham at all costs. If you’re not tripping over buggies and mums you’re bumping into some roaring chin from school you’ve done your best to avoid ever since.

So it is with slight hesitation that I venture out to My Dining Room formerly known as the Farm. I can’t help but think the new name is a bit naff – what was wrong with The Farm? They are based on Farm Lane after all. It’s clearly supposed to reflect the new mood of the place – head chef Julian Marshall is still at the helm, but the menu is geared more towards home cooking, with sharing dishes of shepherd’s pie on offer next to the a la carte.

The room has had a  makeover although I struggle to notice exactly what’s changed – it’s the same layout, the same sparsely decorated modern interior with muted wallpaper and dark wood. It’s not quite as cosy as my living room but it’s certainly comfortable.

I start off with braised oxtail and parsnip rosti. The sweet crunchiness of the rosti is the perfect compliment to oxtail. Melt-in-the-mouth tender, I could have finished off several tails like this, nevermind one. A had seared tuna with pickled cucumber and tomato dressing which I felt duty-bound to sample. Fresh and clean, it’s the perfect palate cleanser to rich meat.

The main courses throw out a few queries. I order the steak tartare burger, interested to see if it works – and am asked how I’d like it cooked: “Well although it says steak tartare our customers can order it blue, rare or medium rare.” Confused with all this choice, I opt for rare and it comes out well, like a burger really, fancy that. A delicious one nonetheless with a fried egg, homemade ketchup and capers on top. A has the ribeye steak “with English mustard please”. “I’m afraid we have no English mustard.” “No English mustard – that’s insane!” Condiment quibbles aside, the steak is perfectly cooked and packed with flavour. No wonder – all the meat is sourced from H.G Walter’s in Baron’s Court, one of the best butcher’s in London.

Pudding should really be out of the question – I’m taking the word ’sated’ to a whole new level. But ginger bread and butter pudding sounds too good to miss. One of their sharing dishes, it arrives on a wooden board and is enormous – eek! Amazingly, it’s fluffy rather than stodgy and we manage to wolf down half before admitting defeat.

Washed down with a smooth Rioja, the bill comes to just over £50 a head; not cheap but fairly typical for London. I think I prefer this new incarnation of The Farm.  While there are one or two pretensions that could be dispensed with; it’s simple, satisfying comfort food with well-sourced ingredients.  And there wasn’t a mum or a chin in sight.

A three course meal, with wine and water, came to £102.

www.mydiningroom.net