Swordfish special
Last Wednesday was an epic day of eating. After lunch at Barbecoa with my aunt, I ventured to The Garrison in Southwark for dinner. I was planning a restrained evening, but two courses and half a bottle of wine later it didn't quite work out that way!
While I was in Oz I read a few reviews of places on Southwark St and I was expecting quite a vibrant strip of restaurants and bars. It turned out to be more of a cross roads, rather than a whole street, of exciting places. However, the venues that I did spy all seemed to be full to the brim.
The Garrison has retained it's original pub exterior and layout but is now firmly a restaurant. The still have a bar, but it definitely isn't the sort of place that you'd pop in for a pint. I was pleased I'd booked a table as otherwise I don't think we would have had a chance of getting in.
Side order of chips
With lunch having been a meat fest I decided to order the swordfish special. A generous piece of swordfish was set on top of a roasted vegetables and finished with a fresh tomato relish.
I enjoyed the hit of garlic in the chopped fresh tomato, but was hoping for a bit more zing from the rest of the dish. I felt that the swordfish could have used some extra seasoning or a sauce to bring it to life.
The side order of hand cut chips (£3) were crispy to the extreme. It was almost like the kitchen were so obsessed with making the chips crispy (and not just wanting a thin crispy outer shell) that there was no middle left to the chip. It was only something I noticed for the first couple of chips and then I sat back and enjoyed them.
Cheese board
Continuing my contrarian evening, rather than ordering a dessert I opted for the artisan cheese, house chutney and biscuits (£7.70). A piece of jarlsburg (?), brie and a blue came served with an sweet, marmalade like chutney and oatcakes.
All of the cheeses were tasty and went well with the salty oatcakes, but I found that only the blue cheese could stand up to the marmalade cum chutney.
The Garrison was a fun evening. A welcoming and lively atmosphere, down to earth service and decent food. I'll happily visit Southwark St again.
99 Bermondsey St
Bermondsey
SE1 3XB
Knowing where all the good restaurants are around Bermondsey street is a bit tricky, but trust me there are plenty (Zucca, Magdalen, 40 Maltby street, Elliot's cafe, Pizarro, Jose, Village East, Constancia, Champor Champor...and I can go on). Happy culinary hunting :)
ReplyDeleteI'm confused. Southwark Street and Bermondsey Street aren't that close together and I wouldn't say that Bermondsey Street was in Southwark except in the sense of it being the local borough.
ReplyDelete#nitpicking