Restaurant Review: Le Querce, Brockley Rise

Carasau, Prosciutto e Formaggio

On Saturday we headed down to Honor Oak Park to check out the newly opened Sodo Pizzeria for a late lunch. It wasn't looking too full as we approached and I was hopeful that we could be squeezed in. Unfortunately we were turned away as they only had limited dough in their first week and were having to hold it back for all of the reserved tables they had booked it. The waiter we spoke to was incredibly polite and apologetic, but it was a slightly odd reason for a small chain opening their third shop.

With pizza on our mind we decided to head to Le Querce in nearby Brockley Rise. We were seated, handed menus and a quick inspection showed no pizzas! I had a vague memory that they weren't served every day, and a quick check of the website reveals they are only served Tuesday to Wednesday nights and all day Sunday.

Tagliolini al Ragú

We were both drawn to the Carasau, Prosciutto e Formaggio (£9.80) so ordered it to share as a starter. My eyes lit up when the generous board of Parma ham, grilled cheese and Sardinian flatbread arrived. I feared the delicate parma ham would be over powered by the melting pecorino pientino cheese, but it worked really well. The dish could only have been improved if the rocket was dressed.

Pasta alle melanzane

As a main course I opted for the Tagliolini al Ragú (£8.20). You could taste the quality of the homemade pasta which was cooked to retain a little bit of bite. The ragu sauce was tasty without rocking my world.

I had a taste of the Pasta alle melanzane (£8.20). The aubergine pasta had a kick of chilli that built at the end of the mouthful. A lovely tang for a taste, but a bit too much for a whole bowl?

Torta di ricotta

The dessert menu had so many tempting options it made choosing difficult. The list of over twenty five ice creams and sorbets was an obvious draw, but something was drawing me towards the torta di ricotta (£4.60). I wanted to know if it was as good as the two excellent specimens from the Habberfield taste of. Not quite is the answer, but lemon flavoured cheesecake was still pretty good.

Pear and Pernod, rhubarb and white chocolate ice cream

Becks definitely had the dish of the day in the pear and Pernod, rhubarb and white chocolate ice creams (£4.60). Each of them were awesome and it took all of my self restraint not to steal them off the plate. The Pernod had an almost ripple effect with some mouthfuls dominated by the booze and others a delicate pear flavour. The rhubarb was subtle and the white chocolate provided a sweet counter balance.

Heading out for a quick pizza turned into a three course lunch, but being book ended by the Parma ham and amazing gelati definitely made it worthwhile.

I've added Le Querce to my London reviews map.

Le Querce66 Brockley Rise
SE23 1LN