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:
Booking number:
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