Padella, London Bridge - lunch with Fergus Henderson (well almost)

Pappardelle  with 8-hour Dexter beef shin ragu &
Tagliatelle with new season asparagus

Becks and I have both recently read reviews of a new Italian restaurant in London Bridge called Padella. Described as good value and, more importantly, tasty, we both put it into the memory banks. When we found ourselves in London Bridge on Saturday lunchtime it was the obvious place to visit.

From outside Padella looks like a pretty small spot. There is a counter wrapped round the kitchen and another bench facing out towards the street. (I discovered later they have more seating downstairs.) Luckily they could fit us in with two seats at the kitchen counter, directly in front of the head chef and a man grating vast quantities of parmesan. He grated so much that I suspect there might soon be a shortage in Parma, so get yourselves to the supermarket quickly if you need any more.

Pici cacio e pepe

Sitting at the counter was a great way to experience the restaurant. Beside parmesan grating man, there were four other guys working the kitchen. The first chef blanched the fresh pasta before passing it onto the second chef - with pleasing splashes all over his whites - who finished off the pasta with the sauce. Finally we had the head chef checking all of the dishes and the quietly efficient pot wash keeping everything in order. They looked every bit a well oiled machine.

One theme from the reviews was that the dishes were quite small so we decided to order three pastas. Just after we'd ordered Fergus Henderson walked in and sat down just behind us. I thought this was some top celebrity spotting, but most people I've spoken to since haven't known who Fergus is. Nose to tail eating anyone?

If you are only going to serve one thing it better be good and Padella pretty much nails it with their pasta. The signature pici cacio e pepe (pici pasta with pecorina, salt and pepper) had a slight bounce still left in the pasta. A couple of mouthfuls had possibly a bit too much pepper for me, but that's kinda the point for this dish. The pappardelle with 8-hour Dexter beef shin ragu was also a highlight. I wish they sold the ragu in jars to take away.

Almond tart

About midway through our main courses Fergus' starters were served (not that I was looking you understand). When their table was cleared, the plate of salami was only half eaten. The look on the head chef's face when the plate was shown to him was a picture. The man was mortified.

There was a tiny bit of room left after our mains so we ordered an almond tart. The coarsely ground almonds made it another winner.

Padella
6 Southwark Street

London Bridge

SE1 1TQ

Restaurant Review: The Garrison, Southwark

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