I have been rather busy since my holiday and so this is a week old, luckily it was a pretty memorable experience. I had been prompted to try it by a friend who knew the owners, but more importantly it is round the corner so there was no excuse. I was tempted to try this place for dinner with a few friends, but this can always be risky so took the less perilous option and went for brunch. All the more exciting as it had only just opened for brunch.
As I approached the trendy force surrounding the restaurant was strong, very strong; from the lack of signage and exposed girders to the retro styled staff. Not that I am complaining about trendy places it is all helping my property go up in value and if they serve good food means fewer taxi trips. The décor was clean and minimal, it oozed calm. They had little touches like a lambswool rug on benches and also royal embossed mugs, which were tongue in cheek.
We ordered two bloody mary’s straight away, both of us quite hungry. After 10/15 minutes started to get a bit itchy as it wasn’t that busy in there and I started to wander if this was a good idea. I chased the order and asked to order our food as I was starting to get concerned that was going to take a long time too. She assured me the barman was on the case and it was just being ‘lovingly made’. When it arrived and order taken we could start to relax.
Smoked Trout with Scrambled EggThe cocktail was good, interesting addition of red wine, which made it less rich could have had a hint more horseradish in for me. Food arrive quite quickly after ordering. My first reaction was wow that is small. I am not sure whether that was due to my hunger or recent experiences in NY, but portions were a little on the tiny side. However they tasted good; smoked trout with scrambled egg was a nice change from the regular Smoked Salmon egg combo. The scrambled eggs were very tasty but could have been a tiny bit wetter.
The atmosphere was great, no music just relaxed chatter. Unlike Cookshop it was somewhere you could imagine lounging around reading papers. The service I am sure will pick up and feel more polished as time goes on, would recommend checking it out.
Talk Rating: 5/5
