Food & Drink

The Hamlet, Streatham High Road

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A one minute walk from Streatham Hill station, we learnt a few facts upon entering The Hamlet; Streatham means the hamlet on the street, or ‘street ham’, hence the namesake of the town and bar. We visited over the Jubilee weekend and it was deserted. Yes, we chose bar dwelling over standing on Southbank in the drizzle to greet our Queen.

We stayed for lunch. A few thoughts on our experience:

*The service was wonderful. We were greeted by the owner, Elsa, who recognised us as new to the area (was it that obvious?). She asked our names and remembered them throughout our visit. Service may well be different when the place is packed to the rafters but we felt welcome and appreciated.

*The decor is quaint. Printed wallpaper on the ceiling, antique lampshades, squashy leather sofas. A very cosy setting for a leisurely drink – we felt right at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*The drink selection is very spirits-based. If you like your cocktails you’re in for a treat. Ditto wine. The prices are competitive, but of course you can always take advantage of happy hour. Our daytime visit meant we stuck to draft beer, of which the range was limited. But it’s a bar, and the drinks selection reflects that.

*We ordered roast beef, plus sausages and mash. The roast came with courgettes as a side veg – a very odd addition (we’re a big carrot/pea/parsnip with our roast, though). The meat was thinly sliced and the meal was ‘ok’, but like beer, certainly not their strength. The sausages were plump and tasty (gristle-free) but the mash was a little salty. For the price we paid (around £10 per meal) it was a little disappointing. We haven’t tried their dinner menu, so we can’t comment on that – it could arguably be a lot tastier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We won’t be put off, though. We can tell The Hamlet has its strengths – it prides itself on its DJ and other social entertainment, so we’ll be back soon for a stiff cocktail and a mixed sharing platter to feast over.

Reviewed: Sunday lunch at The Clarence

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Sunday lunch at The Clarence is all we know – we’ve visited in the evenings occasionally, but not since their revamp last year. We always thought it looked good but each patch of wall is covered in some artwork, or even the weather forecast. (Did we take pics? No, that would have been far too organised. In our defence it was the final day of the Premier League so our attention was elsewhere). They’ve also added a pizza oven and menu to boot (yet to try – let us know what you think if you have). They’ve banished the small outdoors space and replaced it with glass roofing, which brightens up the corner but can be a little stuffy in the sunshine.

They have table service which is both convenient and lethal. You barely need to move except for toilet breaks, so standing up after copious amounts of alcohol is lethal. Their Sunday roast menu is short but we always think that’s a good sign – an overloaded menu means less attention is spent on the dishes, yes?

We had beef brisket and pork belly. One consistency is their portion sizes – you will NOT go hungry (unless you’re Adam Richman of Man v Food fame, of course). The plates are piled high, as demonstrated here. They serve their condiments and gravy separately too, which gets massive bonus points (we’ve not met anyone who doesn’t get grumpy over allocated gravy portions).

The meat was excellent quality – no mean slices of what you’d otherwise find in the school canteen or a shop sandwich. Heck, with the creamed leeks they made greens interesting! They’ve got a good selection of beers and their wine glasses are a good, big size (this is important). The downside? Table service can sometimes be harder to navigate than simply queuing up at the bar – we had to fight for attention a couple of times, and we never got the dessert we ordered (we never paid for it either, at least). As mentioned before it was a particularly busy day so we’ll cut some slack but it’s worth noting.

The roasts cost around £12 each max, and so far this is the best value roast we’ve experienced.

Enq. The Clarence, 90-92 Balham High Road, SW12 9AG.

Reviewed: Earl Grey & Rose, Streatham Hill

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On our first ever walk up Leigham Court Road towards our new flat, we passed this quaint little cafe-cum-jewellery shop. The bottom of this road is a random combo of the usual shops – newsagents, barbers, charity shop and a restaurant called the Dorchester that looks like it’s in a time warp (we’re SO visiting there soon).

Earl Grey & Rose sticks out – the pale blue shop sign, windows stuffed with looks-good-enough-to-eat cakes and bakes (just as well, of course). We’ve lived in Streatham for a month and this was our first opportunity to visit.

No detail has been spared – you’ve got bunting, jam jars, rows of teapots and homemade chutney (more on that later), and a miss mash of shabby-chic tables and chairs, not to mention Radio 2 in the background (pleasingly it was Tony Blackburn’s show, which fitted the vintage feel rather nicely).

So, food. We had:

*Brie, bacon and avocado sandwich (£4.50). You could choose between white, granary and rosemary/olive oil bread, and toasted or not. We went for rosemary/olive oil, plus toasted (who can resist the melty texture of brie?).

*Ploughman’s (£7.50)  – choose between a huge variety of cheeses, then whether you want it as it is or half and half (that’d be with a helping of ham).

*Strawberry cupcake. Choose between various basic but delicious flavours, all made that day – lemon, blueberry, chocolate etc. All delicately decorated, as you’d expect…

*We washed it down with Victorian Lemonade and elderflower cordial – hardly their fault, but I always think these bottles are way too tiny for the price sold and the amount you really want. I’d finished mine before our food even arrived.

We only waited around ten mins for our orders. Everything was in huge servings, garnished with soft lettuce leaves (none of the leftover stalky stuff you’re reluctant to gnaw on), and a syrupy honey/mustard/balsamic style dressing. When we say huge, we mean it. Check out the HUGE chunks of ham!

Delicate enough to tear apart easily with a fork, there was actually another layer of the stuff underneath the lettuce, pictured. The gherkins and pickled onions were a fab traditional touch, and the homemade chutney was sweet with a pleasingly sharp aftertaste. You can buy the stuff to take home, too.

The sandwich didn’t lack any ingredient, and the bacon was also substantial and fat-free. Quite frankly, we were too full for the cupcake but we did our duty and gobbled it up. See, strawberries all the way inside too…

Our lunch came to just under £20 – we won’t need to eat until dinner now. It wasn’t as busy as the likes of Lavish Habit, which surprised us. Perhaps because it’s not quite in the hub of Streatham, we don’t know. Do make a visit though. The relaxing environment let us take a step out of our hectic lives, if only for an hour…

Enq: Earl Grey & Rose, 1 Streatleigh Parade, SW16 1EQ.

Lamberts Restaurant, Balham High Road

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Not our first visit, Lamberts is a bit of a bi-annual treat. A tad too expensive to make it really regular and like all good things, you don’t want to overexpose yourself and tire of it (though we doubt that’ll happen).

The excuse of a 6-month wedding anniversary and a new food season was enough to lure us back into the small, comfy confines of Lamberts. A couple in front of us hadn’t booked and we’re trying their luck at getting a table. Fat chance; Lamberts is consistently busy, especially at the weekend. It doesn’t require a long pre booking period like Chez Bruce, but calling a few days ahead is recommended.

We love a few consistent aspects about this place. One is the bottle of filtered (and free, might we add – none of that tap water snobbery here) water plonked on your table upon arrival and continually filled throughout your meal. Two is the friendly staff on hand to help you through the wine and food menus. A fondness for red wine had stalled when headaches began to occur only after a glass. After explaining this the waiter recommended a Pinot Noir – Les Templiers – one of their cheaper bottles. Still a smooth, light taste but without the acidity that seems to leave a furry taste in the mouth (oh hello morning after…).

Onto the food. We excelled ourselves with 3 courses PLUS cheese. The starters we sampled were Langoustine from the specials and Selsey Crab, Potato Pancake and Dill Picked Quail’s Egg. The langoustine was all in its unshelled glory, claws and everything. If you’re not into getting your hands a little dirty and working for your dinner then don’t go for it. (Apologies for the out of focus starter pics!)

The main course had that great combination of gorgeous presentation but impressive portion sizes – we defy you to feel hungry after finishing your plate. The side dishes are, at first impression, on the small side but as ever, our eyes were bigger than our stomachs.

Most visits here involve the consumption of red meat – the quality is some of the best in south west London for the price you pay. Our choices tonight were rump beef (32 day aged, no less – although we can’t pretend we know what this means) served with  bone marrow, Dauphinoise, glazed carrot and heaps of horseradish – homemade, we’re guessing, as it was quite creamy and not too eye-watering. The venison haunch (sorry Bambi), potato rosti and beetroot fondant felt more autumnal but still delicious – kudos to getting fresh beetroot that soft!

Dessert: the sorbet was fresh and zingy (a great excuse for dessert when you’re not really that hungry) and if you fancy a mixture of sweet and sharp, go for the doughnuts with forced rhubarb (forced? why? were they picked/cooked against their will?) is a good option.

All in all, if you have a spare £100 (ahem) then you could do worse than treat you and your fave person to a dinner here. Their lunches are often good value too, if you’re sensible with the add ons; we once took advantage of the ‘3 courses for £20’ but we forgot to budget for booze. £80 each later… ahem again.

Lamberts Restaurant, 2 Station Parade, Balham High Road, SW12 9AZ. Enq: 020 8675 2233.

Milk, Hildreth Street

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Formally Le Petit Bistro (which admittedly we never visited), we tried to get into Milk during Saturday lunchtime to no avail. We ended up at The Fat Deli (which will be posted in the near future) but Sunday brunch was a success. And then cake…

Hildreth Street is a little hit and miss if we’re being honest. There are a couple of great spots – Fara, The Wine Tasting Shop, Bunka Boutique – but there are far too many closed-down shops on that route, which is a shame because as a pedestrianised spot it could make a really great shopping spot. Hopefully the recent addition of the weekly Hildreth Street market will encourage this.

Anyway, back onto Milk. It’s a small setting but they’ve made the most of it – cramming tables in but you don’t ever feel like you’re on top of each other. The kitchen area is impressively small; they obviously have a bit of a slick operation going on to produce and serve cooked food to hungry punters. The brickwork and wallpaper are very shabby chic indeed; like a big family kitchen in the country. There’s some space outdoors without having passers by squeeze past – it will make an ideal people-watching spot come the warmer months.

Their menu is modest, offering mostly egg-based brekkies. A lot of their menu seems to offer classics with a twist; omelette with feta cheese nestled between the spinach and mushrooms, and banana bread with passionfruit.

Their breakfasts feature sourdough bread; light and spongey and great for mopping up the orangey yolk. The presentation of all the cooked food is beautiful – try and spy the English breakfast on the serving spot by the kitchen in the picture above. Nice garnishes like rocket and vine tomatoes that compliment the food rather than overwhelm it (hello corriander/parsley etc).

Eggs Benedict, omellete, a pot of tea, cappuccino and a slice of banana bread came to £22; pretty similar to other Balham coffee spots. We like. Just go before 1pm to grab a table or be disappointed.

PS: they seem to have an occurring theme of dolls heads dotted around the place, and on the menu. When asked why, the answer was “because it’s fun”. OK.

Enq. Milk, 20 Bedford Hill (Hildreth Street).