Brigade, London Bridge

Brigade

A couple of weeks ago my friend and I took the short trip to Brigade restaurant at London Bridge; housed in one of the former Metropolitan Fire Brigade fire stations, the frosted windows hide what is a really exciting place to eat.

The dining room is full of atmosphere, a lot of this is due to the open kitchen – I love to be able to see what’s going on in the kitchen and to see the chefs doing what they love, we were sat in a table near the kitchen but next time will see me asking for a seat on the bar facing into the kitchen. Strangely the lights dim at about 8 o’clock, perhaps to create an ambience - mainly it just means you’re less able to see the beautiful food.

We were starving so had some of the artisan bread and butter – the distinct differences in each of the breads is amazing, I’m not a bread fan but these were pretty special. To start, I had venison carpaccio and my friend had the goat’s cheese tart from the specials board. The venison was great but the garnish way too overpowering for the venison, which unfortunately faded into the background against the garnish’s strong flavours. My friend’s goats cheese tart on the other hand was perfectly balanced, if not a bit too big for a first course. For a main course I had gnocchi with wild mushroom cream – the flavour of the mushrooms was perfectly intense without taking over the rest of the dish, however, the gnocchi felt just a tiny bit too dense and floury (I’m definitely nitpicking here – the dish was amazing!). My friend had Ravioli of Spinach and Parmesan – the pasta was wonderfully thin and the filling was much better than the usual bland vegetarian fare of a lot of restaurants.

For dessert we had the strawberry shortcake from the special’s board – we’d seen one brought out earlier in the night and decided that we HAD to have one – good decision – it was beautiful. Not only did it look beautiful and wonderfully elegant (it was almost a shame to smash it to pieces – note almost) but it tasted great too. The in season strawberries really sing and the shortbread was soft and rich. The dessert hit exactly the right note to end the meal.

From the outside, Brigade doesn’t look like much; we planned to go there as a convenient location for a last minute meal and didn’t expect a great deal other than proximity. Luckily we enjoyed an unusual surprise. I don’t normally like to go back to the same place twice – but I may have to make an exception for Brigade!  A definite 8/10.

£40 per head for 2 ^1/₂ courses with a cocktail

P.S. A plus for ethical types – eating at Brigade supports the Beyond Food Foundation which gives those affected by homelessness the opportunity to get involved in a cooking apprenticeship programme – see more at www.beyondfoodfoundation.org.uk

What we ate:

To start:

Handmade Breads with Netherend Butter

Wiltshire Venison Carpaccio, Aged Winchester Cheese, Truffle Oil

Goats Cheese Tart

To follow:

Gnocchi with Wild Mushroom Cream, Truffled Quail Eggs, Globe Artichokes

Ravioli of Spinach and Parmesan, Soft Poached Egg, Roast Tomato & Fennel Sauce

To Finish:

Strawberry Shortcake

Address:

Brigade, The Fire Station, 139 Tooley Street, London, SE1 2HZ (nearest station is London Bridge)

Website:

 www.thebrigade.co.uk

Booking number:

0844 3461225

Jamie's Diner, Shaftesbury Avenue

Jamie’s Diner

An impromptu visit to Jamie Oliver’s Diner just off Piccadilly had me feeling quite excited, I’d seen the bright lights when walking past on previous occasions and I’d heard good things. So on a rare free evening my friend and I decided to get around to going.

On arriving we got a great welcome from the bouncer(?!) but then were kept waiting for much longer than necessary at the foot of the stairs by the waiting staff, in a very confusing set up where the host’s podium has no host and there is no indication of what system is in place for seating oneself. After hovering for some time we were noticed and seated. the tables are alarmingly closer together – the better to squeeze more paying customers in – and we, unfortunately were seated next to a very ‘affectionate’ couple.

The servers are friendly but not sycophantic, my kind of service but we had to wait quite a while to give our orders, despite the restaurant not being too busy. To start we shared a deep fried squid with a chilli sour cream sauce, which was tasty but nothing to write home about. As a main course I had the Beef Burger with Skin-on-Fries and Rainbow Slaw, my friend had the vegetarian Happy Cow Burger with Avocado Fries and Rainbow Slaw. I asked for the burger to be cooked medium rare but was informed that due to health legislation they could only cook the burger well-done – I’m not too well read up on these regulations but from the poor explanation I was given I deduced that the quality of the meat would not allow low levels of cooking. I thought that Jamie Oliver was all about the quality. I also asked two different servers for the burger without tomatoes and ended up having it brought to me disappointingly with a tomato. Our sides were also on the wrong plates so my friend had to wait for his sides while they took back my food to prepare for it as I had asked. The burger was mediocre at best, mainly down to the fact that it was over-cooked. My friend’s veggie burger wasn’t anything special either although the avocado fries were an interesting addition and very tasty.

My favourite thing about the meal were the drinks – we had a great rib-sticking chocolate milkshake which was perfectly sweet without being too sickly and also notable was the pink cola – definitely worth a try.

In the end we mentioned the problem with the order to the manager and he gave us 10% off the bill, which was a nice gesture, but didn’t make the evening any less disappointing.

 The theming in the dining hall is great and does make dining here an experience, but it really feels like they have made more effort on the props and waiting staff’s uniforms than on the food – unfortunately the restaurant is trading on Jamie’s name but ultimately delivers something less than ‘pucker’. 5 out of 10.

£20 a head for 2 courses without alcohol.

What we ate:

To start:

Deep fried calamari with chilli sour cream dip

To follow:

Beef Burger with Skin on Fries and Rainbow Slaw

Happy Cow Burger with Avocado Fries and Rainbow Slaw

To Drink:

Chocolate Milkshake

Pink Cola

Address:

23A Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W10 7EF (nearest station is Piccadilly Circus)

Website: 

http://www.jamieoliversdiner.com/

Booking number:

O2O3 6974 117

La Cave, London Bridge

La Cave

It feels like the team at La Cave are doing everything they can to convince you that this is a French Restaurant – all French waiting staff, stereotypically French dishes, and a startlingly French ambience considering that the place is located under London Bridge – all of this could come across as tacky or trite – but delightfully, it is neither of these and serves as a great summer night a la Françoise.

The outdoor terrace is beautiful underneath a very French looking building facade, the tables are far enough apart that you can have a real conversation without feeling like you are interrupting anyone else. The service is friendly and helpful, if not a little... relaxed; continuing the French theme I suppose, the waiting staff are a little slow and sometimes forgetful, but fortunately charming enough to make up for the delays.

The restaurant describes its culinary style as Modern French, we had deep fried frogs legs and scallops to start. The frogs legs were a first for me – no they don’t taste like chicken, scampi actually. The garnish didn’t overpower the meat as the star of the show and the saffron mayonnaise was delicious, although I’m not sure the saffron added much value to what was already wonderful homemade mayonnaise.

For the main course we had rabbit casserole and saffron risotto. The rabbit was well cooked and the meat tender but the bone to meat ratio was a little skewed, the chips were delicious and I love that the dish was served on a slate, the tomato sauce in the casserole sadly was not particularly remarkable, in desperate need of a little je na sais qua. Unfortunately the risotto was also a little bland and underseasoned.

We finished off the meal with tarte tatin with vanilla ice cream and crème brulee – both of which we were unable to fault.

To drink we both enjoyed a couple of cocktails – but a word of warning.... the daiquiris are lethal. Despite asking for my drink to be diluted (lightweight, I know) it was just too strong to get down – if you’re not used to spirits, don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Overall the meal was enjoyable with an ambience worth recommending, although I doubt that this would have the same effect on a cooler evening, the indoor tables were nothing special. The food was tasty and it was nice to try some new things, but we felt that we had paid less for meals just as good. A bit more seasoning and a bit faster service would make this a definite visit again, as it is I would give it a 6 out of 10.

£50 per head for 3 courses with 2 cocktails

What we ate: 

To Start: 

Scallops marinated in garlic and parsley butter wrapped in feuille de brick 

Deep fried frog legs served with black truffle potato pelote and a saffron mayonnaise

Followed by: 

Saffron creamy Risotto with fraiche peas and mint

Slow cooked rabbit casserole served with button mushroom and chickpeas and marjoram chips

Mash potatoes

To Finish: 

Vanilla Crème Brulée

Tatin tart with Vanilla Ice Cream 

Address:

6-10 Borough High Street, London SE1 9QQ (nearest tube station is London Bridge) 

Opening times and days: 

Monday - Sunday; Lunch 12pm-3pm and 6pm-11pm 

Website: 

http://www.lacaverestaurant.co.uk/

Booking number:

02073780788