Here is the ‘new’ disclaimer: PR guy for Brouge emailed me asking if I’d come and review Brouge in Richmond, he covered the costs of the meal, and I said sure, why not. Am I gonna be totally objective? Totally. If you don’t trust the opinion, forget the words and just drool over the food porn (yes, you can do that, its a foodblog) , scroll on, fellow eater, scroll on.

Remembering Leuven

When I think about Belgian food, I think soups, hearty stews, bread, tartare, more bread, frites, frites, frites and of course, mussels. I had spent a short summer in Leuven – a town near Brussels – years ago and I had great meals there. I can’t remember the names, nor could I recall the street names; I do remember eating in small restaurants that served genuine food.

I do not know many Belgian restaurants in London (in fact I can only think of Belgo). Brouge was an interesting proposition when I got the invite, and I must say, if nobody told me about this place, I wouldn’t have ventured all the way out to Richmond to try it out. They have two branches, I went to the newer branch; the original is somewhere in Twickenham.

It took me a while to find this place, it is a basement restaurant and the notoriously placed signage meant that I was running in circles before finally, looking down. Right then, time for some booze.

My evening kicked off with the ‘bat taster’ of eight different types of Belgian brew. I can’t remember what they all were, but it was an able selection of fruit beers, blondes, cloudy ones, and bitter ones. The Belgians do have great beer, and this bat taster was a great way to try em all, without having it all go to the head too quickly (unless if that’s what you want that is, in which case, go large.).

Salmon and Ribs

The menu was a little confusing: where’s the Belgian food? Honey ribs with spring onion, huh? Scottish poached salmon, double huh? Buffalo mozzarella and Kent tomatoes, triple bah. And to top it off: Brouge mezze of tomato salsa. The authenticity. Personally, I don’t really mind if the chef decides to stray from convention, I don’t have much against fusion (well….) , as long as it comes out tasting alright, I’ll look the other way. Although, I did struggle a litte with so many ‘global’ choices.

Scottish poached salmon & smoked salmon terrine topped with lemon prawns (£6). That’s a long moniker. With the restaurant looking much like a pub with a ‘Belgian’ kitchen attached, I’ll be honest and say that I wasn’t expecting michelin standard brilliance. The first taste of the terrine was smooth, creamy and the zing was surprisingly appetizing. The lightness of the dish made for a wonderful summer dish, and those juicy prawns were simply tasty. There’s isn’t much else to say about it to be honest; it was as advertised, and as expected.

Alright, the other starter on the night (mine) were the Honey Spiced Lambiek Beer Ribs with Chilli & Spring Onion (£6). The sauce was tart and with just the slightest hint of chilli, it was pudding on ribs. I could not see the Belgian side of this dish; As far as I can tell, this is barbecue chinese spare rib. Don’t get me wrong though, it was actually delish. The fragrance of the spring onions contrasted well with the honey sweetness, and the ribs were cooked until the soft meat effortless fell off the bone. Um ok, how can I describe this: Ah. Like the perfect chinese takeaway ribs.

Before you gourmetheads pick up on the oxymoron that is ‘good chinese takeaway’, I do believe that food needn’t be poncy to be delicious, and good chinese takeaway really does exist, shame they don’t deliver to SW7.

Moules and Duck

The starters were quite agreeable. Surprising. I can actually take this place seriously.

I just had to order one.

Mussels and Frites; lemongrass & basil scented cooked in coconut cream (£12). Scented? Pretty adventurous copywriting there. I immediately noticed the larger scottish mussels. I was told that they usually use the smaller Belgian ones, but were out of season during summer. Regardless, bigger shellfish is always welcomed. Let’s start with the frites: bit of mayonnaise with that, mm, yeah not bad at all, any restaurant can be proud of them. They are abit fatter than I’d expect them to be, but that’s just nitpicking. The lemongrass broth is quite abit punchy, and it carried distinctive green thai curry aroma. Thin and runny, but with sharp intensity, mussels are cooked well. Nothing offensive and a rather mild rendition, and ably does its job.

Right then, let’s move on to a serious dish. Confit Leg of Aylesbury Duck served with a Grape & Garlic Jus (£14)

At this point, I’m convinced that the Belgian tag is just another moniker. Maybe Anglo-Belgian or International Belgian, so far the kitchen has churned out rather respectable dishes. Ok to the duck. The sauce is a good balance of fruity against a subtle garlic palette, ok perhaps just abit too tarty. The mash on the side was altogether forgettable and for a confit, it wasn’t quite as melt in your mouth. The duck itself wasn’t brimming with flavour and for me, it was just a little uninteresting. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but it felt like it was cooked, then placed under running water, then plated up. Nothing wrong with it, nothing exciting about it; it was quintessentially average (if indeed something average, could be quintessential..) .

When in Richmond…

Not bad.

Taking into account the price point, and what I think they are gunning for, I think that Brouge is successful in what they’ve set out to do. It’s got chatty pub ambiance, the faux Belgian cuisine is entirely believable and I think the food – while a little manufactured and unexciting – gets the job. I opted to finish with the White Chocolate & Orange Pot served with Shortbread & Crushed Raspberries (£6). Decadent richness with delightful fruitiness (I’m a white chocolate fan), the syrupy sauce texture was abit heavy on the finish but it left me feeling satisfied.

I have to say, I had quite low expectations, but it came out rather well. Don’t go expecting glamour and glitz, you won’t find it; instead, what you will find are easy eating dishes to soothe rumbling tummies. If it was just a little closer to me, I would quite happily pop in on a weeknight after work, unbutton the top two, ruffle the hair abit (for effect) and settle down for a bat taster and some chinese/belgian honey ribs.

The Gist of It

Brouge official site
5 Hill St TW9 1SX 020 8332 0055
£30 for three courses and a drink.
Verdict: For weeknights, great place to grab something simply hearty that tastes good.

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Oh gosh, yet another long bus journey into the unknown, this time, into the heart of Southwest London. After a weekend hiatus, I found myself in this little known Austrian café for a charity dinner.

Oh and I paid for this one, just in case you were wondering.

You all know Paula right? She chips in with the wine recommendations for my fortnightly newsletter, and she had organised a charity dinner at café strudel for Classic FM. Nice things have been said about this place, and at £45 for three courses, it was the appropriate opportunity – and excuse – to go out of my way to try this place. It is a 25 minutes bus ride from Hammersmith (bus 33).

I’ll start by saying that the décor is very charming. I didn’t bring enough lenses to capture a wide angle shot, but it felt like I was sitting in a 19th century Austrian caff ( if indeed they had cafes way back when ) , I remember the brass chandeliers, brass framed mirrors, all the white table cloths and brass coloured wooden chairs and thumping feet on wooden floorboards, the incandescent lights gave the restaurant a throwback shimmering quality, and for a moment, I completely believed that I was having a Germanic supper.

Naked Turtle.

I’ll admit, I always feel uncomfortable sitting on a table with strangers, I never really know how to break the ice and I think I say ‘OK’ too much, oh how I dread the empty silence when the conversation goes flat.

Gulp, yeah, so what’s for dinner?

Thankfully, I was sat on a table with four lovely ladies, who knew the local area well. They had pointed out a great little place I need to get myself down to called ‘The Naked Turtle’, a restaurant with that sort of name surely has to be visited!

And so, it came time to raise our glasses, oh here’s the everyman punter in me, ordering a huge pint mug/half stein worth of Whitbeer (yeargh!) while the rest of the restaurant raised their much more distinguished champagne flutes. It raised a few eyebrows ( I love it everytime I get the ‘Hah, you have much to learn youngling’ look), I do know my etiquette, but hey, sometimes, it feels nice to just do what you feel is right.

Ahhh… damn that’s good beer. Dinner time.

And we eat.

I had a quick look at the menu and this ‘review’ won’t quite be representative of the actual food. For one, the price of a three course dinner sneaks it at the £22 – £30 range, instead of £45, and the full ala carte was not present in the charity dinner selection. The exclusion of some very interesting sounding dishes such as Ox Tongue Carpaccio; Chilled cucumber and vodka soup; “Himmel und Erde” Rosti, which describes a pan-fried rib eye with paprika as well as monkfish with grapefruit sauce. Oh yummy, yummy. The most expensive main course is £17.50; and I’ll have to come back to Café Strudel for a proper feasting…. If I can find the will to get on that bus again that is.

Right then, so it’s a special menu for a charity dinner. Starters: Chicken liver parfait, with rhubarb chutney

Oh my gosh, the pate is luxurious. It is naturally smooth, and it carried a big bodied texture that was akin to a chunk of butter, or like really good olive oil reformed into a block of melting goodness. The mature flavours ran rampant and I was really enjoying the rich, smooth butteriness of the dish, simply divine, and a cut above ‘normal’ pate. On its own, the intensity is completely overkill; so much so that even the tang of the acidic rhubarb compote could hardly dent the robustness of the parfait. Spreading over brioche helped things along, and I think you need to be a fan of pate and appreciate big (and sometimes overpowering) flavours to enjoy this one, and in that respect I really enjoy it, it tasted valid, genuine and like something that was properly made in a kitchen somewhere in Auld Europe.

But if you’re into subtle flavours, this one will be much too much.

For Mains: Pan Fried Chicken Supreme, fine green beans, rosemary & garlic roast new potatoes, sour cherries & Jus Gras.

Quite a windy description of what was roast chicken and potatoes. Not that I have anything against chicken, but I try to avoid ordering chicken when I’m out ‘reviewing’ because well, chicken mostly, tastes like chicken. But since the other choice was stuffed bell pepper, ah, there was no other choice. Right then, I was looking for smoothness, softness, rich roast qualities and juiciness, and also a fragrant quality from the chicken; all good poultry should tick all these boxes. And I am glad to say that this particular dish ticked most of it. Let me start with the sour cherries, the fruity acidity lifted the entire palatte from the doldrums and it was accompanied by fragrant hits of vanilla. I appreciated the roastness of the chicken and it was indeed quite juicy. Not as smooth and soft as I would have liked it to be, and the chicken itself tasted no better than what mum can achieve in her electric oven (I kid you not, that thing really is electric). That’s not to say it wasn’t good, it was good – warm and hearty it did the job. A well cooked dish of roast chicken, with a berry flavoured gravy.

Worth a return

Unfortunately, the dinner ran into the middle of the night, and I had my apfelstrudel to takeaway as I was running the risk of missing the last bus to take me to the last train of the night. I had the strudel the next morning, and surprisingly, it still tasted quite robust.

Yes, on the limited preview from this charity dinner alone, I’m convinced that cafe strudel is actually a pretty able local eatery, and I suspect that I would really enjoy this place if it were closer to Kensington than Brentford. Perhaps a compliment to the restaurant is the fact that I am eager to return to the restaurant for a full dinner service.

But not before I come to a truce with the bus service.

The Gist of It

Cafe Strudel official site
429 Upper Richmond Rd SW14 7
(020) 8487 9800
£25 to £30 for three courses ; this charity dinner was £45 for three courses
Verdict: Not bad at all, if you live in the area, I think you probably already know its a great local eatery, serving very able Austrian food. 

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