Brat
When I said I was going to London, I asked around for recommendations, and Brat was near the top of every list I received, from foodies and chefs alike. The first solo restaurant from Tomos Parry, Brat received its first Michelin star within six months of opening in 2018, and has held on to the star for the past 5 years.
Parry uses Brat to express his love for open fire grilling and cooks up whatever is in season on a menu that changes daily. A few signature dishes remain on the same, like the whole cooked Turbot from which Brat derives its name, but the menu largely changes based on what is available from its suppliers.
The restaurant is located just past a nondescript black door, above a local Thai restaurant. A small signboard highlights the specials of the day and as we walked past it, we entered a tight hallway, cut a sharp right and stepped up a steep staircase right into the open kitchen.
There’s no hiding anything here. Nothing separates the dining area from the kitchen, and you can see the kitchen staff in action - working the charcoal grill, wood oven and everything in between.
The dining area itself is a bit claustrophobic, as if they tried to cram in as many tables and seats as the fire marshal would allow. When making reservations, they did warn us ahead of time that the tables were “closely spaced”, but they didn’t say that it would be so lacking in space that the serving stations were setup on windowsills and that the serving staff, dressed in dark pants and denim jackets, would be navigating behind, in front and around us to get to the serving station throughout the night.
We got in when the restaurant officially opened at 5, and by 5:30, the room was packed. The large glass windows lining two of the walls let in quite a bit of light, opening the space a little, and the room felt a bit like a local pub, completely unpretentious, homey and focused on the food.
A new menu is printed daily, and we decided to ask our server for her recommendations. She made a few suggestions and after some deliberation, we decided to ignore her completely, and just order what looked interesting.
The first plate that arrived was the soused sardines toast: sardine fillets on flat leafed parsley and pickled onions, all resting on a bed of ricotta cheese on top of a base of fire-grilled toast with a drizzle of olive oil on top. There’s just something about the smokiness added by making toast on top of a real fire that is unbeatable. A bit of acid from the pickled sardines, a bit of sweetness from the pickled onions, rich creaminess from the ricotta and smokiness and crisp from the toast. An amazing start to the meal.
The hits continued with some tiny Pembrokeshire cockles - oven roasted and covered in a garlicky, parsley, fennel, fish stock and French cider sauce. A bit sweet, a bit briny and absolutely delicious. These disappeared within seconds.
Next, some Jersey oysters topped with seaweed, minced apples and olive oil served on a bed of seaweed. The seaweed added a bit of texture, while the apple added some sweetness to the briny, almost metallic oyster.
The hits keep coming, with three smoky langoustines grilled over a wood fire, over a sprig of rosemary and oozing with roe. Not a lot of meat, but packed with flavour. We were left with a plate of roe and oil and we didn’t allow that to go to waste by pouring all that flavour into the next dish.
The absolute highlight of the night, the roast duck rice. Prepared with a short grain rice very similarly to a paella, the perfect seasoned rice was topped with slices perfectly cooked duck breast, duck offal and some dressed greens. We poured the seasoned langoustine oil on top and mixed it all in. The bits of rice touching the pan crisped up while cooking and added a lot of texture. This dish set off an unforgettable bomb of flavours and textures.
On the side we ordered the smoked fingerling potatoes that we heard the internet raving about, as well as the flourish farm salad. The potatoes were a bit underwhelming - done well, but nothing particularly special.
We weren’t expecting much from the salad, and it massively outperformed. Mixed leaves with a lot of mint and chives, all evenly coated with a buttermilk dressing. Fresh, herbal, bitter, peppery, some creaminess from the dressing, I couldn’t take down the salad fast enough and was tempted to order another.
Finally for dessert, we ordered the grilled strawberries and olive oil ice cream off the menu. The menu was a bit misleading. Turns out it was actually vanilla ice cream coated with olive oil. The tender grilled strawberries sat beside the scoop of ice cream in a shallow bed of creme anglaise.
I couldn’t figure it out at first, but the ice cream tasted a bit like maple walnut. It clearly wasn’t, but when I asked about it, it turns out that the ice cream is topped with olive oil and flaky sea salt. The nuttiness of the olive oil and the texture and crunch from the sea salt come together to remind me of the maple walnut ice cream I ate growing up. A satisfying end to the meal.
Whenever we visit a restaurant that has been hyped up by all our friends, the internet, and the media, our expectations grow and we are often left a bit underwhelmed and disappointed. Brat, however, delivered completely and its reputation is completely justified. This was an absolutely amazing meal that exceeded our already elevated expectations, and one of the best restaurants that we’ve been to London this trip. Definitely worth a return visit.
Total damage 150 GBP/2 people