Brawn — Restaurant in London

I don't come out this way often, and as a boring and very unhip middle aged man I felt slightly out of place, but have to admit this is a restaurant which is really sure of itself. The food is all very well executed down to the last detail - even the simple green salad - in fact even the butter - all really full of flavour. I resented sharing the tagliatelle with chanterelles and black trumpet mushrooms: it had great texture and was full of flavour. The mushrooms had been sensitively handled - I know from experience it's harder than you might think to sautée some types of wild mushrooms to just the right point.

The wine list leans a lot towards the hip side of things - natural wines (a label they didn't seem to like me applying, preferring "made with ambient yeast" - in fairness I suppose natural is a bit vague) and a lot of skin contact whites (as opposed to referring to them as orange wines). Plus a pet nat or two, the one instance in which they seemed prepared to use the common name. I was almost disappointed they hadn't gone with a more niche synonym like "ancestral method". Whether these kinds of wine are your thing or not, the staff really knew what they were talking about, and we leaned heavily on them for guidance as these are slightly uncharted waters for me. We ended up with a slightly funky (in a good way) Cabernet Franc from the Loire which was biodynamic and spontaneously fermented. Some rustic farmyard character (which may not be everyone's thing, but as a cider fan I quite like) on the nose, but still fresh, fruity and with good acidity. Very drinkable, and went well with the food - especially the mushrooms.

Oh and it seems to be a bit of a celebrity haunt as well, one very well know actress was at the table next to ours, and a guy at the bar told us another celeb had been turned away earlier for not having a reservation. So you probably do need to reserve here, even if...

Such a cozy place. We enjoyed it very much.

Charcuterie £20 - you can see how fatty those slices in the picture. I've seen pictures that looks like it's pure fat. It's rich and melt in your mouth. Pair great with our red wine that's slightly sweet but I would dare to get a second slice. Lucky 4 of us shared

Oyster £4 each - small but very refreshing. Doesn't wow us but it's was good

Baccala £12 - fish in a paste form with cheese cracker/cake on the side. It sounded weird but think of it like tuna salad on a salty cracker but a more sophisticated taste. A bit too salty tho

Mozzarella £17 - the leafy greens on the sound was very interesting and gave the fish a new dimension. Very refreshing.

Crab £18 - such a small portion. The crab has very mild taste so amongst all the salty dishes, this doesn't stand out that much. But you can taste the quality of the ingredients.

Clams £17 - yummy. Cooked in a tomato-y sauce with some barley type of grains. Still on the more salty side but still manageable

Angolotti £15 - small ravioli with meat stuff in the inside. Feels like a wonton soup to me but really really really salty. If it's not that salty, I think we would have loved it.

Pappardelle £22 - typical ragu pasta dish. Tasty.

Black pudding with squid £29 - star of the show. Absolutely delicious. Bit pricey for the portion tho.

Lamb neck £32 - yummy yummy. Slightly pink on the inside.

Our waitstaff was great but the wine guy was not...

Would be five stars for the food, but I deducted one third of a star for each of three failings: first, the nibble we ordered, some anchovies in olive oil, should have come quickly, rather than with the starters. Second, and partly as a result of the above, I was left without any food at all for half an hour. My wife was given bread but, despite the fact that I had said I was allergic to gluten, no effort was made to bring me anything, which is not acceptable in a restaurant of this calibre. Third, knowing that I could not have the bread, the staff should have steered me away from the anchovies and the mussel starter, which both required bread to mop up the juices.

In fact, I would normally knock half a point of for not taking Amex, but 3.5 stars would be too low for this restaurant.

Having said all that, every dish was excellent in its own way - original, fantastic taste and texture and (with the minor exception of the parsnips under the smoke eel and bacon) each ingredient really added to the whole.

The value of the food was excellent. The wine list was long but it did seem that it was slightly overpriced - but, overall, the meal itself was excellent value for its quality. I'll just have to remember to bring my own bread...