Counter

Vauxhall is one of those up and coming areas with a new station being built nearby. However it still lacks decent restaurants in the area, most of them being quite quiet and empty.
However with the introduction of Counter it added a bit of class to the area. It’s also gluten friendly which was perfect for my gluten intolerant friend as they had at least a one dish on each each course that was gluten free.
I loved the fact it was under the Vauxhall arches, rustic on the outside but had a really cool modern look inside. Seating were arranged as booths with the leather seats standing up high so you had a lot of privacy.
The lady who served us all evening was amazingly friendly. My friend may have crossed a few lines with his jokes but she went along with it and kept us entertained and feeling comfortable. Excellent service.
Food was a hit a hit and miss and I find it to be more for locals in the area who want a nicer place to hang out and catch up than to make travel arrangements here.
We started our evening with a cocktail and we both enjoyed the Aperol breeze. It was citrusy yet sweet from the passion purée with a slight bitter note from the vodka and grapefruit. Nice for light drinkers like me who knows nothing about alcohol.
Now the food we ordered included :
French cheese platter
It consisted of Brie, Camembert and silton served with a variety of crackers and baby gherkins. It was pretty average and the different coloured crackers were more novelty than for taste as they were all quite dry and hard.
Mussels in a creamy white wine sauce.
This was a starter dish. It was a shame the mussels were so small it couldn’t benefit the lovely garlicky sauce. Luckily there was a nice toasted sourdough to mop it up with.
Scallops
I was really surprised how fresh and plump these scallops were. Also loving the combination of the sweet touch of butternut squash purée and crisps, not only enhancing the flavour but texture too.
Chicken and Tarragon Terrine.
Really nice herby flavours coming out from this terrine. The meat was juicy, tender and mixed well the nice contrast of textures from the other ingredients. The apricot chutney added a nice zing to it and brought it together with the given sourdough.
Grilled tuna.
For a main my friend ordered the tuna being gluten free. It had so much potential being cooked perfectly, still fleshy, flakey and juicy. Sadly the tuna was too salty for anyone to really enjoy which was a real shame.
Cassoulet with confit duck
This was also over seasoned, drowning in salt. It was the most disappointing dish of the evening yet sounded so nice on the menu. The flavour was very one noted and lacked depth. The duck itself was slightly over cooked too making it a bit dry and tough round the edges.
Counter Burger
I wouldn’t have thought the most generic dish on the menu turned out to be the highlight dish out of the mains. Beautifully seasoned beef patty, very juicy and the bun managed to hold it all together. Cheese lovely and melted and the crispy bacon gave it extra flavour and depth. The fries were like ‘Mcdonalds’ fries and who’s not to like it.
Fried nac and cheese balls
These were nice and crispy but wouldn’t have been so memorable if it wasn’t for the lovely Chipotle mayo sauce it came with which had a nice sweet smokiness to it.
Lyonnaise Potato
These were nice and cooked really well with onions, slightly crisp on the outside and fluffy in the inside.
Oreo cheesecake
It definitely sounds nicer than it really was with it being described to be accompanied with crispy milk. It did arrive with a small glass of ‘chocolate’ milk that looked more like chocolate than it tasted. The ‘crispy’ in the description was just some crumbs of the Oreos topped in. Hardly crispy. The cake itself was dense and the base dry and hard. A bit of a let down.
Mississippi mud pie
This was gigantic and very gluttonous. The cake was very dense and although quite generic, I did enjoy the vanilla cream frosting on top. The brownie pieces were a bit forgettable though and didn’t need to be there.
Passion fruit crème brûlée
The gluten free dish in the section and probably the most enjoyable dessert out of the three. The flavours and consistency were very balanced, light, sweet, milky and creamy. I wouldn’t mind having more of this.
Counter did let us down a little bit but with its forever changing seasonal menu it does seem they have hope. There does seem to be creativity in the kitchen too and some potential seeing how well it succeeded in the starters. It’s still a great place for drinks and a sociable environment. Until something better comes along to Vauxhall I would still give this place another shot if I’m in the area.

A gorgeous spot for a weekend girly brunch! A little out of the way for me, but when a good friend decided to do a last minute Saturday brunch for her birthday I was more than happy to travel closer to her, and handily it’s right by Vauxhall station. It’s tucked into one of the railway arches but you soon forget that — they’ve done a great job in converting the place from essentially a windowless air raid shelter into a beautiful looking brasserie. Some clever mirrored walls and pretty lamp lighting goes a long way!
I could’ve happily ordered almost anything on the menu, but eventually went with the Baked Eggs which was a beautiful mix of pesto-​ey goodness with tomato, spinach and truffle mushrooms. I also instigated a second course (obviously) and we shared a couple of helpings of the blueberry pancakes between the seven of us. Delicious.
The five stars though are really dedicated to our waitress. She was attentive, friendly and most importantly of all in our case, patient! Of the seven at the table I think only two of us asked for a dish as it came on the menu. The other five were either gluten-​intolerant, dairy-​free, trying out sugar-​free, didn’t like mushrooms, didn’t like tomato, wanted a side that wasn’t on the menu, or some combination of the above. Not that there’s anything wrong with being specific about what you want to eat but it did become laughable after the fifth person asked to swap something out, plus I guess I just have a deep dislike for being awkward (is that a British thing?!). The waitress took it all in good humour though, even reassuring us that they’d had far worse (people swapping out avocado from the dish entitled Spiced Avocado, and so on). They also put candles onto one of the pancake helpings for the birthday girl which was very sweet — though sadly whilst they’d obeyed her dairy-​free wish to put the crème fraîche on the side, they’d then put a knob of butter on top. But when the waitress saw the faces around the table fall she swiftly said she’d replace it without the butter, and did so without charge (though I would’ve happily kept the buttery portion they probably chucked out too!).
We felt so well taken care of that we ended up sitting there chatting away happily for far longer than we’d intended. It was also combined with some confusion over the large poster of a naked man with strategically-​placed vodka bottle in the ladies’ loo — it didn’t really fit the rest of the setting and begs the question of what’s in the men’s! It was a lovely brunch stop though and reasonable value for the setting — mains were mostly in the £7−9 range. It would work nicely for a brunch date I think, with the brasserie feel putting it just a notch above casual on the swishness scale :)

This place gave me food poisoning. That’s probably enough info.
On the off chance you want to try it anyway: The service is slow and inattentive. Music is loud. The food actually tasted pretty good and was well presented. It was kinda sad that it was all coming up an hour later.

Counter is a modern brasserie style place, based in one of the arches of Vauxhall station (next to Dirty Burger). The restaurant is divided into two area: a restaurant at the front and a cocktail bar at the back. The decoration is modern with booths and marble tables and it also features some original paintings.
We started our meal with some cocktails, beers and a bread basket. The bread was really good but it could have been better if it was served with salted butter.
As a starter, my boyfriend and his friend ordered Counter’s special dish of the day: seared scallops served with braised Puy lentils and its sauce. And I ordered the asparagus served with a poached duck egg and broad beans.
My dish was very good, the poached egg was perfectly cooked with a runny yolk in the middle. It was served with cooked but crunchy asparagus (as I like) and broad beans. Seasoning was perfect.
Our friend had the lamb as a main. According to him, the lamb was delicious, not too fatty. Croquettes were crispy and perfectly cooked. Unfortunately the carrots were underdone. Overall he thought the dish was a bit overpriced as it was a small piece of lamb (£19).
I ordered the special dish of the day as a main (which made my friends very jealous as I had twice as many scallops as them), like their starter my scallops were perfectly cooked. I really liked the combination with the salad of Puy lentils and summer vegetables. The sauce was tasty but the dish will have been good even without.
My boyfriend had the Counter burger, maybe the only disappointment of this meal. The burger was too cooked and not juicy. The bun looks pretty nice but was very dry — maybe they need to ask advice from next door (Dirty Burger) to improve their recipe. Only good point, fries were pretty good.
Overall we had a great time at the Counter, some dishes were a bit pricey for the area but because the service and the food were good it makes it more acceptable.
The only advice I will give regarding my experience at the Counter is that if you want a great burger in Vauxhall, Counter won’t be the best place for it.

Suitably unimpressed. The things which I found difficult:
1) The quality of the food is fairly poor
2) The price of what you get versus the quality.
3) The menu reads excellently, but is let down by the execution. My friends skatewing was cooked well, but that was the only thing from our table that went down well.
4) As other people have mentioned, the music is extremely loud for a restaurant. I’m 23 and I didn’t understand it — could barely hear anything anyone was saying.
Would not recommend, however there are limited options in the area. Vauxhall remains at the bottom of the barrel for food in London (excluding dirty burger).

One of the best restaurants around in Vauxhall that adds a touch of modern class. The brasserie has a fun and pleasant interior with modern decorating and a friendly vibe. They usually have a show or a musician performing on the weekends over brunch. As a snack you must try the beetroot crisps and spicy mayonnaise. As a starter, the chicken terrine on sourdough bread is divine. I can recommend the burger, the butterfly chicken and lamb as all great main dishes that are delicious and filling. The Oreo cheesecake for dessert is a must try and so is the hazelnut chocolate pot. They also make excellent coffee here!

A modern bar/​restaurant just next to Vauxhall station.
Great atmosphere, and loads of drinks to choose from.
Their Mac’n’Cheese Balls are worth the trip, but the ‘blackened chicken’ I had for my main was below par.
Will return when I’m in London again.

I’m not very picky but this was a very bad lunch.
Caesar salad: bagged lettuce with chicken still raw and awful tasting little fried fish.
Romaine gnocchi … Was an interesting idea but would have been better with a taste …
And everything like that … For a price way too high for the terrible quality of the food (£80 for 2).
First time in a long while that I walk out of a restaurant hungry cause I couldn’t eat what was on my plate !
Avoid, that’s a scam !

Great place for brunch right by the train. But don’t get it wrong — this is much more than a quick stop-​off. Come here for a nice date, a drunk or sober brunch, or for a good lunch or dinner. Prices are nice — we got out for two mains at £20 total.
The service was fast for weekend brunch, and the food was so tasty. Stuffed French toast with bacon on top was the perfect balance of sweet, salty, and filling. I can only dream of learning to cook French toast that perfectly in my lifetime.
The eggs benedict were standard — but in a good way. Very easy to make an overly rich sauce, a bad egg, a burnt bread or a poor filling and ruin it, but they didn’t. Well done.
Service was kind and fast — not sure why so many have complained. All o can come up with is that there are loads of very aggressive people in Vauxhall after a 12-​hour stint at the clubs.
Oh, and the chocolate muffin melted in my mouth. holy wow.
Last thing — the chips are solid gold. Remind me of the old Burger King chips before they had to change them for health reasons.
Worth your time, and won’t cost you much money. Enjoy! See my photos to see for yourself.

Counter is definitely bringing up the quality of establishments in the Vauxhall Cross area, which I hope will continue! Situated in one of the arches, it’s slim entrance is deceptive, as it goes all the way back into the arch, with a bar area followed by dining tables. Went for a work breakfast, when there were only a few other diners in. The stuffed french toast was huge! It was stuffed with banana, which had been cooked but still kept it’s flavour. The bacon was not crispy enough for my liking, and a bit too fatty, but was tasty. The flat white I had with it was great (it’s run by antipodeans so that was not a surprise!) A little on the expensive side, but well worth a visit, and a great addition to the area

Well, this was a surprise. Great to have a new venue in Vauxhall. I was expecting a simple bar/​diner, but actually the food is serious — really interesting and ambitious. a starter of Cromer crab was really strong crab flavour — lovely. Stuffed lamb breasts and lamb croquettes were a stunner for ‘lamb two ways’. Dessert was rhubarb mille feuille — good to see creative use of ingredients in season. Finished with wonderful Espresso Martini. It’s not cheap, but it is very good. We were just back on eurostar from France, and this was as good as anything we had on the other side of tLa Manche! Three course dinner for two with drinks £104. Go, before the chef moves on!

Counter is a newly opened bar right next to Vauxhall station. We came in here while I waited for the last train home and its proximity to the station definitely works in its favour.
The bar itself is pretty simply designed and modern. With a long bar edge with seats on opposite sides, it has a very modern feel to it. The background music was something that could be described as ‘ambient trip-​hop’ (whatever that means). It gave the impression of a minimalistic speak-​easy.
The drink range was sufficient, with a decent selection of London bottle beers. I went for the Brixton IPA (fruity and sweet incase you’re wondering). We were in at 11:30 on a Tuesday so obviously not very busy but the size hints at a large capacity.
I gave it 3 stars because of the price: although not unexpected, I was a little bit disappointed to pay £6 for a bottle.
I was also informed by my friend that between the outdoor sign and the menu there were 3 different fonts used and this annoyed her. I couldn’t tell the difference as I am not well-​read on typography. This seemed to bother her though, so if it was true, I suppose that’s something.
I would come back here when it’s a bit busier, but it is nothing spectacular that ‘stands out’.

Great atmosphere and cool décor. Very tasty smoothie when it arrived. Shame that the service is very slow — I was surrounded by staff in the middle of the afternoon and it took far too long for my drinks to arrive.
Well located right under the arches at Vauxhall station.

Great new venue for post work eats and cocktails in vaux. Interesting menus, and when my main was a little too interesting for me (gin soaked mackerel) they swiftly replaced with something else tasty.