The Bolingbroke, Battersea

I was really looking forward to date night with R in the Bolingbroke. We were a bit early for our reservation, so we started with a drink in the Draft House just down the road. It was a bit busy in there, and until we managed to nab a barstool was rather uncomfortable, Another minus point as they didn’t have any ginger beer, but I still like what they are doing, so will give them another chance. It was primetime on a Friday night.

So then on to the Bolingbroke. This is the far end of Northcote Road from Clapham Junction, and is a decent sized space, although with quite a short bar. We went straight through to our table, which was at the back. Once we had negotiated ourselves away from the table with the howling draft we settled back to peruse the menu. I had also managed to get a voucher for a free glass of wine with each main course, so that set us off well.

The menu read really well, and I could have chosen pretty much anything. Having had a quick look at the menu online I decided to forgo a starter so that I would have room for pudding. R, being a sucker for anything that involves warm cheese, had a blue cheese and onion tart. This was an individual tart served with a salad, and certainly looked the part. Good reports came from the other side of the table, in particular the pastry was beautifully short and buttery.

Onto the mains. I had gone for the sea bass wrapped in pancetta, with risotto. The sea bass was well cooked, and not too dry, and the pancetta was crispy. However I found it odd that the fish had not been skinned, and so there was some rather flabby and unappetizing skin. The risotto was OK, but didn’t have much flavour to it, and really was just a pile of rice. Nothing seemed to have been seasoned much, and I had no vegetables at all.

R had gone for the guinea fowl. I only tried a little bit, but again it was massively underseasoned. Both dishes looked good, but the taste just did not match up. There wasn’t anything wrong per se, they just were not that good.

The final straw was when the pudding menu arrived and there was nothing on it that didn’t have gluten in it. We decided to cut our losses and get the bill, which luckily was pretty good value given the free wine.

In all this was really disappointing, since the menu looked really good, and it felt like with more care the food could have lived up to its billing. The service was great, and just the right level of attentiveness with out being too intrusive.

Le Pot Lyonnais

This is our local. It’s even closer to our flat than Tom Ilic, also on Queenstown Road, and is the spot we head to when we want a quick drink, or there is nothing inspiring in the fridge and we want a cheap and cheerful meal out.

The manager and an ever-changing retinue of staff are all French, and sometimes their English is pretty shocking. It normally adds to the charm though, and combined with the French menu gives us our own little corner of France in Battersea.

We tend to eat from the bar menu in these circumstances, although we have eaten in the restaurant in the past. Last Thursday the monsoon appeared to have reached London, and so R and I ran from our respective buses and dived in dripping. Comfort food was definitely the order of the day, so after our customary shared charcuterie plate to start I went for the moules frites and R for the burger.

Unfortunately the service was not on song, and the starter arrived with our mains. I therefore can’t tell you what it was like as we decided not to have it. However, it has been good in the past. My moules were perfect. Piping hot, nice fleshy moules that weren’t too big, and a well flavoured sauce. The frites were also hot and crisp, and not too greasy. At £10 I think this is a serious bargain. R was also pleased with his burger. Cooked how he had asked, with a well-flavoured red pepper relish and accompanied with salad and a tiny pot of coleslaw as well as more frites, he went silent for some time!
So, the service may be patchy, but the food is spot on. This set us back £25 including two beers and service, so it is great value, and we will certainly be back.

Tom Ilic, Queenstown Road

Just a quick one this time, as I have written about this restaurant a couple of times before. They are doing an April promotion of £17 for two courses or £21 for three on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, which makes it even better value. Four of us had three courses each, two bottles of wine between us and it cost £35 a head including service. I also had a dessert I hadn’t seen on the menu before, which was poached rhubarb with ginger crème brulee. This was a great combination, and beautifully exercise. So much so that we had it at home over the weekend.