Where to eat when you’re going to Wimbledon Published 02 July 2024
The oldest tennis tournament in the world is underway and with all eyes on this patch of southwest London, we're thinking about where to eat well after a day of strawberries and cream and a Centre Court showdown. Give the high street chains a wide berth and head to one of these Good Food Guide winners.
Brook House may be noisy and lively, but it has kept the warm, welcoming ethos and atmosphere of a pub. It's hugely popular with locals (often with kids and dogs in tow), while close-packed tables mean that you can earwig oth… Read more
Brook House may be noisy and lively, but it has kept the warm, welcoming ethos and atmosphere of a pub. It's hugely popular with locals (often with kids and dogs in tow), while close-packed tables mean that you can earwig other diners' conversations – although the noise levels and music aren't to everyone's taste. The menu is full of promise and the kitchen is able to do it justice, while lovely staff are on hand to guide everyone through the oft-changing repertoire (organised by size rather than course). Oysters are always popular, as is steak tartare, although the chef really gets into his stride when it comes to more elaborate ideas: huge grilled red prawns come with kumquat, chilli and an accompanying dollop of miso mayonnaise, while a chargrilled pork chop (with a crisp, melting crust) is made more luxurious by the addition of morels, Madeira and wild garlic. Sides, especially sprouting broccoli with labneh and salsa verde, are excellent. To conclude, millionaire's tart (with crème fraîche from Neal's Yard) is the best-selling dessert, and there are cheeses from La Fromagerie. The wide-ranging wine list has a decent smattering of magnums for special occasions or long, languorous Sunday lunches, as well as good choice of house pours; cocktails are popular too.
Hyper-seasonal Franco-British food with a classical feel
Fast approaching its 30th anniversary, Chez Bruce still has the Wandsworth wind in its sails. As a neighbourhood grandee, it's true testament to Bruce Poole and Nigel Platts-Martin's conception that a restaurant should be a place … Read more
Fast approaching its 30th anniversary, Chez Bruce still has the Wandsworth wind in its sails. As a neighbourhood grandee, it's true testament to Bruce Poole and Nigel Platts-Martin's conception that a restaurant should be a place of resort for those who love to dine well, rather than an excuse to massage the egos of celebrities – either out front or in the kitchen. With its expansive views over the Common, the cream-toned dining room is light and uplifting, with linened tables and service that is all about courteous professionalism. It is, par excellence, a place for unhurried lunches.
Matt Christmas has been at the stoves for a sizeable chunk of his career, resulting in a formidable level of consistency and a commitment to excelling that doesn't waver. The daily changing menu, viewed through one prism, could be characterised as the best of modern European bistro cooking, with plenty of choice and plenty going on in each dish. A starter of braised and crisped lambs' tongues comes with tomato and pepper couscous, a heap of properly smoky baba ganoush, a little creamy labneh, silky garlic pesto, and a scattering of crunchy shallot – the Levantine world on a plate.
Pasta never subsides into the starchy humdrum, witness duck ragù and morteau sausage with pudgy little cavatelli under a pangrattato top. Fish cooking might take inspiration from India (tandoori sea bream partnered with curried smoked haddock and a potato samosa, dressed in almonds, lemon and coriander, say), while the French country tradition is celebrated in flawless blanquette de veau with a sweetbread raviolo and veal sausage in a satiny sauce sprinkled with chervil. Nor do desserts repine into the standard double-act; instead, there might be poached pear with hazelnut meringue, caramel cream, caramel ice cream and chocolate sauce – a Belle Hélène that's been to finishing school.
The cheese platter is fully worth the supplement for the breadth of choice, the quality crackers and the membrillo. On the drinks front, an expertly curated modern wine selection does an agile job of satisfying novelty-hungry imbibers as well as traditionalists, with a selection of small glasses from £8.50.
Brett Graham (The Ledbury) and Mike Robinson (game specialist) opened the Harwood Arms on a quiet residential street near Fulham Broadway in 2009, and the kitchen shows a long-running commitment to prime British produce, deliverin… Read more
Brett Graham (The Ledbury) and Mike Robinson (game specialist) opened the Harwood Arms on a quiet residential street near Fulham Broadway in 2009, and the kitchen shows a long-running commitment to prime British produce, delivering a concise seasonal menu of four choices at each course – an extremely likeable line-up of reinvented classics we would be happy to eat on a regular basis. It seemed only fitting to kick off with the dish most associated with this pub – a punchy, golden-brown venison Scotch egg accompanied by Oxford sauce, much copied but rarely bettered. This was followed by a superb warm pumpkin tart topped with Quicke’s goat’s cheese, which worked well with a mushroom purée. Complete technique was on show in a dish of excellent Berkshire fallow deer served with a faggot, red leaves and cranberries, as well as in Cornish monkfish (on the bone) topped with brown shrimps and accompanied by roasted cauliflower, tenderstem broccoli and brown crab butter. The accompanying deep-fried new potatoes with garlic butter had us nodding with pleasure. Desserts are convincingly puddingy and feel absolutely right for the setting – from a perfect custard flan with caramel and spiced plum ice cream to a pineapple upside-down cake with malted treacle and crème-fraîche ice cream. The dining area is a low-key space decked out with dark green wood panelling, a proudly displayed stag's head and generously spaced tables (with cutlery kept in a brown-leather gamekeeper's holster). The vibe is relaxed and service is friendly without being overly chatty. To drink, there is quality across the price-spectrum, from a selection of 21 wines by the glass (from £7) to high-calibre representation from Burgundy (including top producer, Domaine Ramonet) as well as Bordeaux's Left Bank.
With its buzz, bonhomie and fairly priced food, Rebecca Mascarenhas and Craig Gordon's hugely popular all-day diner is ‘the epitome of a good local restaurant’. During the pandemic, local support raised £40,000, which was piv… Read more
With its buzz, bonhomie and fairly priced food, Rebecca Mascarenhas and Craig Gordon's hugely popular all-day diner is ‘the epitome of a good local restaurant’. During the pandemic, local support raised £40,000, which was pivotal to the venue's survival, and the team continue to repay their supporters in spades: ‘hardworking, friendly, kind, positive and inspiring’ staff go out of their way to meet and greet everyone who comes through the door. As for the decor, chesterfield banquettes, bentwood chairs, a long bar, covered terrace and a conservatory to the rear all help to create a fresh, modern look.
What dazzles is the simple, well-prepared comfort food with its penchant for flavour – seen in dishes such as beetroot-cured salmon with dill or bavette steak with a bourbon and peppercorn sauce. Brunch and lunch menus lure in the locals, although we dropped by for an early-summer dinner. A cauliflower cheese croquette with aïoli, followed by end-of-season Norfolk asparagus served with a crispy poached egg and hazelnut vinaigrette set the tone. Moving on, sea bass was deliciously paired with creamed leeks and king oyster mushrooms, while a dessert of caramelised pineapple with (vegan) vanilla ice cream was winning in its simplicity.
The well-considered list of predominantly European wines is arranged by style, with a focus on mid-priced options; otherwise, check out the list of creative cocktails. 'The name says it all – this place really is Home,' concluded one regular.
* Anton Vasyliev (ex-Sugaar in Paris) has been appointed exec chef. *
There is no backstory in London hospitality more aligned to a major news item on the world stage. Chef Yurii Kovryzhenko and partner Olga Tsybytovska were here… Read more
* Anton Vasyliev (ex-Sugaar in Paris) has been appointed exec chef. *
There is no backstory in London hospitality more aligned to a major news item on the world stage. Chef Yurii Kovryzhenko and partner Olga Tsybytovska were here on vacation when Russia invaded their homeland and they were forced to stay put. With help from chefs such as Jason Atherton and Tom Sellers they were able to raise funds for humanitarian aid as well as launching their own restaurant, which opened in Earl's Court in September 2022. Mriya, which translates as 'dream', is an Ukrainian neo-bistro, housed in a cosy space with an open-plan kitchen, white-clothed tables, white bench seats strewn with rugs and a partially covered outdoor space. It's a relaxed place, manned by cheery and helpful staff who are themselves refugees. But what to eat here? There is considerable skill in the kitchen and the menu showcases well-known Ukrainian dishes – familiar classics such as a comforting borscht with diced potato accompanied by homemade pampushky bread drizzled with olive oil and parsley or chicken Kyiv served with mash and peas. Highlights at inspection were tasty varenyky dumplings filled with minced chicken, topped with sour cream, crisp deep-fried onions and a splash of smoked oil, as well as two large 'Golubtsi'-style courgette flowers stuffed with minced beef, buckwheat and raisins, served with a tangy and creamy tomato sauce, again lifted by a little smoked oil. Another highlight was tender beef rolled with prunes offset by buckwheat grains and a creamy mushroom sauce. Finish in patriotic style with Kyiv cake (a national favourite) made with meringue, hazelnut and white chocolate. To drink, Ukrainian cocktails and vodkas supplement a predominately Ukrainian wine list, with almost everything available by the glass.
On paper, this rustic restaurant starts at a disadvantage. Located at the back of an old greenhouse in a plant nursery, with dirt floors and wobbly old tables and chairs, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. Add to that, t… Read more
On paper, this rustic restaurant starts at a disadvantage. Located at the back of an old greenhouse in a plant nursery, with dirt floors and wobbly old tables and chairs, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. Add to that, the difficulty of getting there: it's a decent half-hour walk from Richmond station or a tidy step from the closest bus stop; arriving by car is actively discouraged. But everyone is beguiled by the sheer style and beauty of a place that is brilliantly and artlessly filled with rustic antiques, flowers and foliage. Sit among the urns and furniture in winter; on warm summer days, the whole restaurant is transported outside, where guests dine in a vine- and wisteria-covered courtyard redolent of a Tuscan garden. The Italian-led kitchen, which trumpets sustainability and its affiliation to the Slow Food Movement, uses the nursery as a source of herbs and lettuces, but has access to produce from an related farm in Sussex, while fish is from Cornwall and Italian specialities come direct. Expect clean, fresh flavours and beautiful presentation: carpaccio of monkfish dressed with crème fraîche and chilli has wild fennel and borage petals scattered across it; slivers of artichoke are first chargrilled before the addition of capers, parsley and great chunks of crumbled Parmesan. A sirloin of organic beef from Haye Farm in Devon will be simply grilled and served with a spiky rocket salad; salmon might be salt-baked and accompanied by samphire and spinach. Portions are generous, which makes puddings a little superfluous – although the likes of peach trifle and panna cotta are not the kitchen’s strongest point anyway. Really hungry visitors will do better with the succulent, crunchy garden fritti as an accompaniment to their bellini aperitif rather than saving themselves for the last course. The stiffly marked-up wine list is Italian by inclination – though with a touch of English or French where appropriate.
Sam Harrison’s ‘wow factor’ brasserie has quickly become a local institution, where friends are cherished and first timers are welcomed with arms open wide. It's joyous, buzzy, unpretentious and a godsend fo… Read more
Sam Harrison’s ‘wow factor’ brasserie has quickly become a local institution, where friends are cherished and first timers are welcomed with arms open wide. It's joyous, buzzy, unpretentious and a godsend for the neighbourhood – especially as the man himself and his wonderfully accommodating staff help to create that special frisson of ‘show and anticipation’. The glorious setting by the river ‘feels a million miles from central London’, while the airy, clean-lined dining room (lots of light and glass) emanates an invitingly civilised glow. There’s also a much-in-demand outdoor terrace and a ‘spectacular’ bar – don’t miss the ‘oyster happy hour’. As for the cooking, seasonality rules and the kitchen is big on provenance, supporting local suppliers and the community (‘they even use ingredients from a farm on a nearby inner-city school,’ observed one fan). The result is a rolling roster of refreshingly straightforward but creative dishes noted for their bold, up-front flavours. Seafood platters go down a storm, but also expect anything from mussels with ‘nduja, spring onion and samphire to lamb rump accompanied by potato terrine, purple sprouting broccoli and wild garlic. Devotees of cheeseburgers, spatchcock poussin and lobster rolls won’t be disappointed, while those who are sweet of tooth can delight in desserts such as buttermilk panna cotta or rhubarb pavlova with lemon curd. Sam’s set menu is one of the capital’s bargains and locals descend in their droves for the terrific Sunday lunch blowout. There are also ‘special wines to discover’ from a well-chosen list offering affordable access and a decent selection by the glass.
Born and raised in one of POP Brixton’s shipping containers, Smoke & Salt now has a permanent home on the streets of Tooting – thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign (the donors’ names are inscribed on … Read more
Born and raised in one of POP Brixton’s shipping containers, Smoke & Salt now has a permanent home on the streets of Tooting – thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign (the donors’ names are inscribed on fermentation jars along one side of the restaurant). Stripped-back slate walls and exposed brickwork are standard-issue for an on-trend neighbourhood eatery, but all eyes are on the open kitchen – a ‘constant rush of energy, heat, flames and smoke’. Snacks set the tone for a menu that takes its cue from the restaurant’s name: sweetcorn is grilled ‘to within an inch of its life’ and served with salty miso dip, while just-cooked cauliflower nuggets come smothered in smoked chilli salt and aïoli. Bigger dishes show the kitchen’s flair with seasonal ingredients – perhaps English heirloom tomatoes (seemingly picked ‘at their perfect ripeness’) intertwined with smoked egg yolk, plus a sharp elderflower vinaigrette and a few smoked almonds tossed in for good measure. Or how about a flavour-packed, 12-hour smoked pork chop topped with an utterly mouthwatering apple, sweetcorn and seaweed jam – ‘the best savoury condiment I have possibly ever experienced’. If you’re sweet of tooth, don’t miss the English plums with hazelnut frangipane to finish. The wine list is short and accessible, but don’t ignore the bespoke classic cocktails ‘touched by smoke and salt’.
As a sensitive and family-friendly re-imagining of an old pub, it seems that owner Christian Arden has got this place finely tuned to the local neighbourhood – with excellent service to boot. The spacious bar/dining roo… Read more
As a sensitive and family-friendly re-imagining of an old pub, it seems that owner Christian Arden has got this place finely tuned to the local neighbourhood – with excellent service to boot. The spacious bar/dining room is understated, filled with light from huge windows, backed up by a few pavement tables to the front and a large, walled sun-trap garden to the rear. It’s just the sort of place where folk feel comfortable dropping in for a pint, a cocktail or something from the decent selection of wines by the glass, before deciding to make an evening of it with dishes from the appealingly short menu. A springtime visit yielded satisfying pub staples ranging from reassuringly cheesy cauliflower croquettes to an old-fashioned chicken forrestière with hispi cabbage and new potatoes, alongside specialities with a Mediterranean slant. A bowl of pea soup with mint, lemon and 'nduja oil was a generous portion, as was sea bream (crispy on top, meltingly flaky underneath), served with cauliflower purée, pickled apples, kale and brown shrimps. To conclude, a classic tiramisu was everything it should be. The garden comes into its own in summer, when the pizza oven is turned on.
A restaurant that can tempt people out in the grim chill of February ('we have been coming here for 20 years, and it's always amazing') certainly has something going for it, and our wires are reliably abuzz with the French Table's… Read more
A restaurant that can tempt people out in the grim chill of February ('we have been coming here for 20 years, and it's always amazing') certainly has something going for it, and our wires are reliably abuzz with the French Table's satisfied customers. Nor is this simply heritage bistro cooking; it also has a vigorous contemporary style that people find convincing. Having sampled charred Cornish mackerel with salt-baked beetroot, beef fillet with glazed ox cheek, and a dessert of dark chocolate fondant, one reader reckoned that the kitchen never missed a beat. Eric Guignard remains in pole position but with Richard Giles now installed as head chef – a promotion from within the team to ensure continuity as well as the expected flair. In the evenings especially, the menus get eye-catchingly creative. Begin with a mi-cuit of chalk stream trout with avocado crème fraîche gâteau and seaweed jelly, prior to an assiette of Cornish lamb with minted courgette purée, Caesar-dressed braised baby gem and Parmesan polenta. Dazzling flavour arrays ensure the desserts don't just slip into cliché: vanilla cheesecake comes with pear compôte, green apple gel, almond crémeux, and a green apple and star-anise sorbet. Inventive cocktails and mocktails kick things off with a bang, while wines fan out from the French regions, confidently hurtling off to Crete, Catalonia and deepest Kent. Small glasses start at £5.50.
An upmarket pub with rooms that’s also a true local hangout. Here you’ll find folk having business meetings alongside yoga mums and smart families (drawn by the pretty playground out back). There's something for everyo… Read more
An upmarket pub with rooms that’s also a true local hangout. Here you’ll find folk having business meetings alongside yoga mums and smart families (drawn by the pretty playground out back). There's something for everyone, from pints and bar snacks in the old-fashioned bar (complete with sport on TV) to proper food from the restaurant menu (also available at the bar if you ask). With really good meat for the local rugby types and Asian chopped salad for their trendily vegan partners, it’s all very relaxed.
There is a palpable sense of burnished tradition to Trinity, which already has nearly 20 years of mileage on the clock in service to Clapham's Old Town, a half-secluded precinct at the eastern end of the Common. And yet, the place… Read more
There is a palpable sense of burnished tradition to Trinity, which already has nearly 20 years of mileage on the clock in service to Clapham's Old Town, a half-secluded precinct at the eastern end of the Common. And yet, the place has transmogrified into all the possible permutations of the restaurant format: the expansive ground floor, as buzzing as a West End brasserie most sessions; the informal first-floor room among the treetops; Tableside, a chef's ringside experience with bespoke artworks; and, most recently, Outside – an alfresco space with a mobile kitchen out back. Presiding over it all is Adam Byatt, whose food has developed at an oblique angle to the overtly assertive performances elsewhere. There is great subtlety here, the kind of technique that is often happy enough to render itself all but invisible, witness an appetiser of raw, lightly salted prawns with blood-orange segments supported by an immaculate bouillabaisse jelly of potent concentration. A moment's searing is enough to give point to slender slices of yellowfin tuna on avocado purée and cold XO consommé, garnished with kohlrabi. Occasionally, the sense of balance isn't quite right, as in a piece of Limousin veal sweetbread served with a possessively strong reduction sauce loaded with black olives; just a tad more of the promised asparagus would have streamlined it to perfection. Again, the counterposing of elements in a principal dish of superb, well-marbled chateaubriand with a tart of primavera veg, watercress purée and a beef jus (each impeccable in itself) needed another ting on the tuning-fork. Desserts are about bringing gastronomic refinement to simple classics, so that they shine lustrously: Clapham honey soufflé with a quenelle of beeswax ice cream dropped in, or a luscious gariguette strawberry and mascarpone savarin. It is all served forth with rapturous professionalism. Wines have grown to a stable of around 450 bins, with mature clarets and Burgundies for the cognoscenti, but an excellent slate by the glass from £11. A Domaine Aléofane white Crozes-Hermitage, a sturdy Greek Xinomavro, and a bunch of siren-like Coravins are among the allurements.
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