London House

Superb, in a word. A compact but well thought out menu, a very solid wine list (plus interesting spirits as well), and, by and large, well trained and welcoming staff (of which more later).
I went in a party of four, half expecting a repetition of the somewhat underwhelming Ivy Grill. My initial concerns were seemingly confirmed by the cocktail waitress not knowing what Zubrowka was, let alone being able to pronounce it… but as low points go, that wasn’t very low.
I started with lamb sweetbreads (, which were one of the most delectable fried foodstuffs I ‘ve ever eaten; I could have polished off a bucket load, rather than the polite little pile presented. Main was a perfect pork chop with truffled mash, and to finish, superb doughnuts with an exquisite banana dipping sauce.
Service was not rushed– we arrived at 7.15, and left at 11.30, on a Saturday (oh joy), and the stuff were in the main extremely attentive and, importantly, knowledgeable– really, truly, in this day and age, how many waiters can explain what kümmel is, without having to check? Three courses, apéritif, wine, and digestif came to about £100/​head, inclusive of service. I’d call that pretty good value.

Last month, I went on a quick vacation to the UK trying to cram as much as I physically could in 6 days abroad. Outside of visiting the usual sights, of course, I couldn’t help but try to experience some nice British cuisine while there. Personally, when I think of British chefs, I think Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal. Blumenthal was completely out of range for this trip — both in location and cost — but frankly my dining partner (my sister) wanted nothing to do with the menu. However, we did find a way to enjoy cuisine from the other two during the trip. First up was our Gordon Ramsay’s experience — out in Battersea (Southwest London essentially) at London House.
I’ll admit that I hate Gordon Ramsay the TV personality — too blowhard and bombastic for me. None of his shows ever kept my interest. However I totally respect his cooking acumen and was curious to see what one of his higher end spots would provide. One of his more recent opening in London, London House is described as a «relaxed, cosy restaurant and bar offering Modern European cooking». The space is definitely going for a more relaxed vibe — using leather banquettes, leather sofas, dim lighting and even a fireplace near the entrance. However, the cozy vibe was lacking due to the relatively empty space due to lack of patrons. Now I understand what we did go on a Thursday night but I still expected more of an ambience. As such, the room felt a little cold with staff moving around with little to do. Service was top notch throughout the night although given our waiter had only 2 tables to take care of while we were there, I would have been exceptionally surprised to experience the contrary.
Food-​wise, the modern European statement fit the menu. Not your standard British fare to be sure. Many interesting combinations to try out. We went with two starters to get the night going. The first one was a wild mushroom ragout on toast with quail egg and tarragon mayonnaise. I really enjoyed this dish — the earthy mushroom mixed with the creamy rich quail egg worked really well with the tarragon as well. Wonderful execution across the entire plate and a beautiful presentation.
Our second starter was shaved cauliflower salad with asiago cheese beignets. I never thought I would enjoy a salad of shaved cauliflower but here we are. Very fresh and I liked how the sharpness of the asiago cheese worked well with the vegetables here. Very nice once again.
The themes of strong execution and presentation continued through to the mains. First up, we had the braised lentils with caramelized leeks and pumpkin. A subtle dish but one with great flavour. The caramelized leeks were to die for and I loved the roasted pumpkin. Personally I want more of a protein for a main but my sister really took to this one.
On my end, I went with the pork belly with apple purée, pancetta compote and sage. Great combination of fattiness, sweetness and saltiness. The crispy skin on the pork belly was simply beautiful — such an amazing crunch without feeling like you just bit into a rock. My only real lament here was that I simply wanted more belly on the plate. Everything else was wonderful.
Desserts were solid as well. I went for the spiced pecan steamed pudding with mulled pear purée. I really enjoyed the soft chewy pudding. The nutty flavour mixed well with the more fruity pear purée. The other dessert was the chocolate tart with Jerusalem artichoke ice cream. While very skeptical of artichoke ice cream, I was quite impressed by it — it actually worked here! The tart was dark chocolate at its finest — tart in flavour but beautifully smooth in texture.
London House was a great experience in culinary technique — pretty much exactly what I had expected from a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. The food was enjoyable from end to end. My only disappointment was the overall vibe of the setting which, I’m guessing, had more to do with the night we went than everything else. For a chef who appears to pride himself on execution, it’s nice to know that Gordon can still set up a restaurant in that image. A spot worthy for my quick trip.
Cheers!

We came here to celebrate a birthday and were will taken care of by all three staff, a special tip of the hat to the manager Paul who took the time to talk with us and make sure we were well taken care of. I didn’t see anyone mention this in any of the other reviews but this is a Gordon Ramsay restaurant, obviously he’s not the one preparing the food but the standards and quality are what I expected. Thanks again Paul, and I look forward to another visit the next time I’m in London.

Brilliant.
We went here after the Italian across the road failed, utterly (see separate review).
The staff made us immediately feel welcome: coats taken, escorted to seat, quick order of champagne and sparkling water etc etc.
Food wise, the menu is seasonal, varied and interesting. It obviously changes daily.
For starters, we chose the crab tortellini (light, tasty and near perfect) and asparagus (seemingly a touch underdone, but actually very good).
For mains, we had lamb saddle (great) and beef with stuffed gnocchi (this was one of the best courses we have tasted– very very good).
The cheese was fantastic, the wine wonderful. The bill? About £150 which is a touch steep, but actually well worth it.
Go. It is very good indeed.

So three months ago, as the taxi was driving me away from my empty beloved Battersea flat, we drove around the corner and say WHAT? I lived just around the corner from the cool façade of London House for 2 years as it sat vacant, and as I’m leaving Battersea to move back to the Lone Star State, hey there’s a Ramsay joint moving in?! UNFAIR!
Luckily, I come back to the UK regularly with work and was able to stop in with my good friend Erica U. Three course set menu, and it was delicious. Service was stellar, including the adorable fella who must be front of house management telling me all about the history of the building, and how Gordon Ramsay was not a fan of the notion of putting the old dance floor back in complete with the piranhas of the ‘60s-‘70s London House nightclub days.
I had the braised pig head croquette with quail eggs, hake with cauliflower, brown shrimp and mash, and finished with the chocolate tart. The braised meat in the croquette was so tender, and the croquette itself wasn’t greasy at all despite being fried. It had pickled carrots and beets as well which cut the richness really nicely. As for the hake, they poured a little dill butter sauce over and it was amazing. The whole dish was light, but yet so fantastic and the mash was super buttery and smooth.
The only downsides to the whole experience was a couple fairly large bones in my hake, and a dessert that while good, wasn’t anything special. If I still lived around the corner from London House, my waistline would be in even more trouble than it is.

From the warm welcome to the sad to leave exit, it was a great experience!
I had the asparagus starter which had (I think) raw onion and a cold cream sauce that I loved so much I lapped it up with the bread that was kept in a most ingenious way. The bread was kept warm with what I’m guessing was oven warmed beans at the bottom of the burlap sack it came in. Nifty idea, and it did it’s job.
For a main my pal Elite Unilocaler Nava had the hake with cauliflower purée which will be the next thing I order when I go here again. I will most def be returning.
I had the lamb entrée which was cooked to perfect. Only thing was that it was a meat overload. The dauphinois potatoes had an inner later of carrot and shredded lamb which was tasty but it felt a tad out of balance because I really needed the potato bit for the lamb. But honestly, it was tasty.
The dessert. The menu had some really interesting options but one had too little fruit, and the other seemed to creamy (already had clotted cream that day) so I went for the chocolate with Lavander and honey comb ice cream. The ice cream was great. The chocolate was dark (I’m not too into dark) but overall I just wasn’t impressed.
The drinks were good. I had a strawberry Mocktail that was interesting looking.
Overall. Great restaurant and can’t wait to dine here again.

Great value — our food was sensational and reasonable at £35 for the three course set menu. Very happy to have this place in Battersea Square, which unfortunately generally lacks a bit of buzz. The taster Martinis are very cool. The décor and design of the restaurant are very well thought out. Can’t wait to go back.

I love how they’ve decorated London House, it makes you want to get a bit over dressed and settle in to do some world righting over three too many. This is good value fine dining and not massively my thing but fun to try, beware of racking up a big bill with the wine, we definitely did but it was delicious. The mixologist is clearly a master but we were overly adventurous with the cocktail list and didn’t love ours though several friends have raved about theirs so might have to pop in and try again, dammit. The biggest tick is the staff, they are impeccably trained, friendly and just really really good, I can’t believe what a difference this makes but it really does. Definitely a Battersea treat.