Brunswick House

Well well have you missed me and more importantly my reviews???
I know it’s not a Sunday when I usually wake you all up with my reviews and tips but I have some time in between work, poorly family being a dad and well you know just Life gets in the way (ha get over yourself Adele)
So I’m back and better than before. For those critics I say sit back, relax and get ready for a Facebook full of Unilocal reviews. And if you don’t like the Unilocal in me then 2 words I say to you! DELETE ME!
Right down to business.
This place is a stones throw from the RVT which i will review next. It’s a weird and wonderful little place. It’s an old building that’s a bar and restaurant. It has very few neighbours and it’s an eclectic mix of a whole range of trinkets and most are for sale from glasses to pictures to chandeliers.
The menu changes and is a real diverse selection of unique and interesting dishes. It tries to be bit ‘fat duckish’ and ‘Nomaesque’ but it’s not so don’t worry. It’s also not as expensive but it does try to create dishes that you won’t get it the normal and routine restaurants around town. I don’t want t give too much away as I think you should pay it a visit.
The staff are lovely although not very knowledgeable and the waitress had to go and actually get the bar man to come to our table as i ordered Kir Royal. Crazy I know. It was like we spoke an alien language.
It was also rather bright and we got stuck in a corner actually with 2 other gay couples which was quite amusing. Smiles and smirks at 20 paces. Everyone checking each other’s lip gloss technique and distinct lack of wrinkles.
The side orders didn’t come with main to the point where we had to cancel them to which they kindly to refund them lol. Anyway if you fancy something different and not too expensive then give this place a try.

Popped in for lunch when we came to check out the venue for an event. Amazing décor and very open. Unusual to find such a place near Vauxhall. Go for the New York Sour, Golden Manhattan, Onglet and Chocolate Sauce. (Visit — 15/​05/​2014 Lunch)

It’s worth stepping into Brunswick House Café at least for the sake of checking out the interior: you might as well end up buying an antique lamp or a statue of Aphrodite for your house decoration.
We stepped in on a weekend for a late brunch, a pity they don’t really do brunch. Nethertheless, they seem to have an updated menu every day and that Saturday poached eggs served with zucchini were on specials. It was nice and worth a try, but the most delicious thing I got to try was Toasted Ham Hock & Cheese Muffin which makes me want to go back to Brunswick House. It is seriously good!

The location itself is perfect, just 3 minutes walk from Vauxhall station. The service is nice, they will look after you and make sure you are a happy guest ;)

Always drive by this cute, old house in Vauxhall, right next to the station and surrounded by new high-​rise flats. My friend and I were happy to find not only did it do food, but it did cocktails! Very pricey, buuuut it’s got such a fun décor and they are all original. Plus they even do table service and the man who was front of house was so friendly. Definitely a fun little spot to get a cocktail and chats, it wasn’t heaving, but we had a lot to catch up on and weren’t drowned out by loud music — very sophisticated!

I finally made a visit to Brunswick House in Vauxhall, a place that I have been meaning to go to in a long time.
I had a good feeling about the place the moment I stepped through the doors. Home to the architectural salvage company Lassco, the room was filled with all sorts of furniture and gaudy chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings. A random mix of quirky items and décor that gave it a bit of a Bohemian feel.
There is a bar at the front by the entrance with a more casual café seating area where you can have a coffee, whilst the restaurant area is towards the back of the room, past the elephants…
After some drinks at the bar, we proceeded to our table, hungry and ready to devour the feast that was to be laid before us.
A couple of jugs of Bloody Marys were brought to the table to start us off, with some warm sourdough bread and butter.
The ogleshield churros were really moreish, and way tastier then regular churros. Served with gremolata that had fresh, zesty flavours. Both the duck rillettes and brawn were also very good, served on toasted sourdough bread and some mustard on the side which gave a nice hint of spiciness.
I was initially unsure about how the horseradish with oat and dandelion would come out as, but it was much better than what I had visualized. It had a soft and smooth panna cotta /​pudding-​like texture, and I really liked the oat biscuits.
The onion dish also really did it for me.
A good Sunday roast is always accompanied by equally amazing sides. I helped myself to a good portion of the cauliflower dish, not giving a care about how much butter that went into the making of it — so good.
I don’t usually eat much potatoes, but I just couldn’t resist those new potatoes which were coated in delicious anchovy paste.
The roast lamb leg was really huge and was shared amongst the 7 of us. Delicious pink and succulent meat, there was so much that we struggled to finish it…
We finished off with a trio of sweet desserts. The bourbon biscuit with custard was probably my favourite amongst them.
Brunswick House is in a bit of an odd location, but it sure is a a delightful place to be in once you step inside this Georgian mansion. Lovely ambience, great food and efficient service — I would definitely recommend a visit.
(Click on blog link for full post with photos)

Coffee was fine. Put off by a menu that was trying to be haute cuisine. Starter contained frozen beans. Chocolate mousse looked like someone had poured out of a pot, presentation resembling something a dog would do, no cinnamon as the menu said and weighed in at £5.50. Service was patchy, a waitress who mumbled unhelpfully and a kitchen staff member who who was clearly hungover and crashed into our table, lots of staff hovering around with not much to do. Arrived at 12.15 on a Sunday and asked if I had booked and was told one one one table was available at a push. Left at 1330 to a practically empty restaurant. Pricey and poor quality. I’d go elsewhere for food and service. It’s a shame as the venue has great ambience.

I’ve only had coffee here, but every time it has been wonderfully prepared, served in a fantastically individual surrounding. Beforehand, of a weekend, it’s lovely to walk around the rooms and take in the cornucopia of housewares from seemingly every era.
The latte is well executed, and my friends speak highly of the other coffees. The cucumber water is also very nice.
Vauxhall has a few coffee gems, and if you need the double caffeine hit then drop into nearby Italo beforehand.

Delicious little spot. The restaurant itself is very unique with all sorts of eclectic furnishings (think lots of different light fixtures for instance).
I came here with a friend for dinner and was quite impressed. We went on a Tuesday night so the place wasn’t overly busy (probably no need to book ahead on quiet weekday nights) or too loud. My friend had the onglet (truly delicious if you’re into steak) and I had the pork belly topped with superb pork crackling. Quite a treat.
The service was excellent as well.
After dinner, we visited the bar and I was pleasantly surprised by their cocktail selection. I tried their version of a Manhattan which is an interesting twist and my friend thoroughly enjoyed his campari and soda apéritif.

I really wanted to like this place. It is quirky, unique and fun with tons of interesting vintage furniture and art work on display, but all that was not enough to get me to overlook the moldy smell, the slow service, and the limited menu.
I was there for lunch a few days ago, and for the 2 courses combo, there were only 3 mains and 2 desserts to choose from. It was a rather hard decision process since I could hardly pick one that I am interested in! In the end, I went with the mackerel for the main, and cake+custard for dessert. Both courses were fine and acceptable, but they were rather simple and the portion was on the small side, and it just wasn’t worth paying almost 15 quids for them.

Brunswick House Café, situated on the main road (Wandsworth Road), jut a stone throw away from Vauxhall Underground Station is a unique little venue. If you don’t know where you are going, then you could quite easily pass it by, mistaking it for a garden centre or something similar.
The service is slow but friendly. The drinks are lacking in variety and the food is pricey but tasty and more varied than the drinks.
The best thing about Brunswick House is that literally everything you see, seating included, is for sale. The antiques range from tables and chairs to clocks to old movie poster and navigational instruments so you never know what you might find from one week to the next. The décor is changed around regularly which adds to a renewed experience when you visit.
The quietness makes this a perfect intimate venue for a romantic date or a private business meeting. It’s just a pity that it closes so early. That said, if there is a large enough crowd and money flowing through the till, they have been known to stay open a little longer than usual.
Like Marmite, you’ll either love it or hate it.

Vauxhall is one of the dullest areas in London. Even the runway to outer space outside the station does nothing to alleviate its unattractiveness, packed as it is between grey buildings, St George’s Wharf, convoluted roads and a supremely ugly roundabout.
But in amongst the gloom, there is a gem. You’ve probably unknowingly walked past it hundreds of times. It’s an old Georgian building which looks nondescript (bar the countless old signs nailed to the outside wall) but step inside and hello, it’s as if a Victorian West End theatre set up inside Aladdin’s Cave.
Pretty much everything you can see is for sale. From the wrought-​iron love seat in the garden to the gigantic wooden screens on the walls, poke around and there’ll be a price tag somewhere. It’s because Brunswick House is owned by Lassco, an architectural salvage company, and they’ve rather cannily turned their showroom into a restaurant. Despite the items presumably having been sourced from all over the country (or indeed the world), and across several centuries, they’re uncannily well put-​together, with not a chair out of place. The main room apparently used to be some sort of a music-​hall, since there’s a stage up front and a basic lighting rig above (which these days supports a selection of chandeliers and art deco lamps), plus the kitchen storeroom is hidden in the wings and from tantalising glimpses behind the velvet curtain, it looks remarkably like a prop cupboard. Even the ladies’ loos are cool, with two mismatched sinks (one positively child-​sized) perched underneath a gigantic gilt mirror. Yet despite the quirkiness and the old-​school vibe, they’d shelled out on one of those super-​fast airblade hand driers. I love it when people keep things looking good without sacrificing practicality. Yes! BHC proves it can be done.
With all this upon which to feast my eyes, I was half expecting comparatively sub-​par food, but the clue was in the bathroom: they don’t cut corners here. The menu is short, but my friends and I had three of the four mains on offer and each one was divine. It’s modern British; creative, delicious and memorable. One person had wine (which came served in a tumbler — about the only reference to it being a café that I could find) and we all shared a pudding, which included peanut brittle so I was in seventh heaven.
To top it all off, our waitress was truly lovely. She took the time to chat and talk about the place, which just makes the biggest difference to a night. In the end our bill was £20 each which considering the quality of the food and the service was an absolute bargain. I honestly couldn’t find a single fault. Apparently the menu changes regularly — and presumably so does the décor. Sounds to me like a bloody good reason to make the Brunswick House Café a regular haunt.

A little gem worth the effort. Incredible vintage furniture and feel. Staff really lovely. We only had a starter but was delicious — particularly the goats curd and mix of fresh and slow roasted tomatoes.

I love coming here, it is a very attractive building and the atmosphere is welcoming and eccentric.
The food and wine are great quality and more interesting than the normal fare you get.
The cocktails are delcious and lethal.
The staff are lovely and enthusiastic.
I dropped one star as service is often slow and it is a little pricey.

Wonderful location, in one of my favourite buildings in London; after eating you must take a nosy round the treasure chest of an architectural salvage shop next door.
The kitchen is very small and the frequently changing menu resultantly short and often slightly odd; lunch was very heavy on the meat last time I visited.
The standard of food has always been very high but the service is often quite slow and there are often things that have run out.
I get the feeling they just aren’t quite set up to deal with busy days which there will be a lot of come summer, especially now they’ve got a liquor license, the garden out front is one of the most atmospheric places I can imagine to while away a sunny summer evening.
Would mostly recommend for lazy brunches with a newspaper or chilled evenings chatting with a couple of mates.

Having stumbled upon this place completely by accident on the walk home we ventured into a restaurant resembling Aladdin’s cave — full of curios, interesting signs, ladders from the national portrait gallery and lots of chandeliers– although light is provided by a scattering of candles. The atmosphere in here is great — if you like laid back and quirky and attracts a really mixed crowd.
The good:
The portions are small but well executed. The lamb was £9.60 for a small plate was seriously delicious… we could have eaten twice as much.
Well thought out vegetables dishes, interesting combinations of flavours… in some ways reminiscent of Petersham Nurseries.
A helpful waitress who was happy to discuss the history of the place (opened by the son of the owner of a local deli having been approached by lassco’s who liked their food philosophy)
Great wine and a classy list of cocktails
The bad:
It would have been nice to have been given a description of how the menu worked (the small potions were a surprise) and what to choose together. e.g. I wouldn’t have taken the bread had I known the goats cheese came on a big hunk of it.
In contrast to the mains, desserts were a bit poor. The prune and almond tart was dry and flavourless and a frozen rhubarb terrine was full of ice crystals like it had spent months in the deep freeze. The tasty compote that went with it saved it from being entirely inedible.
The music… which became gradually more intrusive as the evening went on (more club than restaurant.)
The ugly:
The chef (the owner?) is not receptive to constructive criticism. His dismissive, supercilious attitude left us with a sour taste as we paid the bill… which was a real shame as we were looking forward to going back with friends.

This is a delightful place for lunch — huge, endearingly shambolic interior, great mix of furniture and chandeliers and the odd doric column — it’s hugely welcoming in a way that the generic chains could never be.
Menu is short but tempting, food is extremely good, well made, tasty, great quality and very reasonably priced. It changes daily but today there was mac & cheese, mortadella and emmanthal on sourdough, rare roast beef with green sauce on duck fat toast and, the stand out favourite for me, boiled old spot bacon, scrambled egg with a little apple relish, a tease of rocket all of it underpinned with a slice of toasted sourdough. They make a great coffee.
Service is friendly but all over the shop. Our waitress somehow forgot to ask for our coffe three times — not maliciously or calculatedly, just — ooh, sorry sorry– forgot. It’s really uneven and leaves the punter feeling uncertain and vaguely annoyed to the point where you think twice about going. If you didn’t have lots of time — they are really slow — and were feeling a bit stressed you wouldn’t go here.

One of the more characterful places around Vauxhall Cross, this provides a nice alternative to Starbucks /​Pret /​Aqua Brasserie /​Young’s Riverside, all of which are, to put it simply, a bit samey, and don’t do enough to stand out.
Tucked away in the Lassco architectural salvage shop, the café provides a decent selection of coffees, nibbles, and bites to eat, with tables in a little outside patio, or inside, practically in the Lassco shop itself. All the tables, chairs, and accoutrements in the shop are for sale, and if you look closely, you’ll find a price tag that will either leave you pleasantly surprised (£30 for my chair), or mortified (£800 for the table).
The place is still fresh and still learning — my initial shock at a lack of Sunday brunch (pastries only) — seems to have been placated by the introduction of a Sunday brunch menu (yay!). Definitely worth a visit for the unique ambience, great coffees and nibbles.
Edit: The café is now open until 22:00 Thu — Sun, offering cocktails.

This new café is in a Grade II listed mansion from 1758. The building is mostly an architectural reclamation shop (Lassco), with the lovely café using all sorts of old garden furniture. There is outside space nestling in amongst garden statuary and flowers, with a barnlike interior presumably where the coach was garaged for inclement days. They do breakfast, & lunch Tue to Fri, and afternoon tea Tue Sat, with Sat also offering brunch. Breakfast offers muesli, yogourt and stewed fruit (£2.80), bacon roll (£3.20), croissant, butter and jam (£2.20) or Portuguese pastries (£1) (this is Little Portugal, after all). Lunch includes Muffeletta (£3.80), rare roast beef rocket & horseradish bun (£4.60), etc etc. Afternoon tea has seed cake (£1.40), scone, cream and jam (£1.80) or cucumber sandwich (£2.40). Good range of tea, too. Try it.
UPDATE MARCH ’12 Hey, they now do dinner, from 6pm to 9ish. Different ‘Modern European’ menu every night a sample is uploaded as a photo. The dining room is an utterly quirky space, with no two chairs or tables alike, and the ceiling hanging with assorted light fittings for sale. We had a delectable dinner a deux. My venison ‘osso bucco’ with saffron risotto was superb, as was pear tarte tatin. So I’ve upped the stars to 4 can’t wait to try them again.