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    You are here: Home / Places to Stay in England / London / Brigade Bar & Bistro

    Brigade Bar & Bistro

    19 September 2013 - By Michelle Minnaar
    This post may contain affiliate links.

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    Brigade Bar & Bistro, located not far from Borough Market, is all about serving good food and helping the homeless.

    Mushroom on Sourdough Toast with Duck Egg

    Most of us have good intentions. Most of us want to do good deeds. But alas, most of us have our own set of problems and get so wrapped up in them that we forget about the rest of the world. That’s why charity campaigns are so successful, playing on our guilty conscience. Images of children in far away places looking downright unhappy magically make us want to open our wallets and empty them into the kitty.

    Cornish Crackling Mackerel Salad

    It all makes me a bit uncomfortable though. Maybe I’ve read one too many news article about a charity scandal where the fat cats put the money in their pockets. There is no guarantee that my fiver will end up as a million mosquito nets saving a gazillion people from malaria. If I had my way, rather than just handing over the money I would buy a tonne of dog food and take it to the RSPCA myself, knowing that only the dogs will gain from my contribution. Have I done it yet? Nope, refer to third sentence of the second paragraph on this page.

    Colston Bassett Eccles Cakes

    Charity starts at home. Instead of sending money to Timbuktu I would rather want to see it making a difference locally. This is where Brigade comes in. Every time you eat at this restaurant you’re helping homeless people create a new future for themselves. They receive shelter and can participate in cooking apprenticeships that will pave the way to a sustainable future for them. And what do you get? An ease of conscience and a good meal!

    Admittedly, this time round I didn’t get to try all the dishes so if you want to know my dining companions’ opinions on the food they had, head to the bottom of the post and check out their blogs for their reviews. For starters they had:

    • New Forest Wild Mushrooms On Sourdough Toast with a Fried Duck Egg (£8.95)
    • Scotch Eggs with Beetroot Piccalilli, Fennel, Green Apple Slaw (£8.95)
    • Colston Basset Eccles Cakes with Cranberry and Rosehip Ketchup (£6.95)
    • Cornish Crackling Mackerel Salad with Pomegranate and Manuka Honey Dressing (£8.95)

    Whole Scallop Shell on Samphire

    The Baked British Seafood turned out to be seafood enclosed in a scallop shell sealed off with pastry which then baked in the oven, served on top of buttered samphire. Five stars for imagination and taste but it proved to be poor value for £11.95, which essentially turned out to be one scallop, three tiny mussels, two cockles and a bit of leek.

    Scallops, mussels and cockles with samphire

    For a main course the others had:

    • Ravioli of Lobster and Salmon with Lemon and Sage Dressing (£19.95)
    • Pork Belly Toad in the Hole with Buttered Cabbage, Pear Cider Onion Gravy (£16.95)

    Lobster Ravioli

    Pork Belly Toad In The Hole

    My Poached Fillet of Beef with Figs, Wild Mushrooms and Radish (£29.95) was spectacular. I particularly loved the roasted fig with hazelnuts on top of the meat.

    Beef Fillet with Roasted Fig and Hazelnuts

    One of the highlights for all of us were the side dishes. Even some of London’s top restaurants’ side order menus would put a cow to sleep, offering potatoes a dozen ways and then for good measure add boiled up greens and a green salad. It’s boring!

    Not at Brigade though. We almost ended up ordering everything, which all turned out delicious:

    • Roasted Butternut Squash, Aubergine, Chilli Oil (£2.95)
    • Deep Fried Broccoli, Rustic Tomato and White Bean Stew (£2.95)
    • Roasted Beetroot with Cumin Seeds and Honey (£2.95)
    • Sautéed Chard with Hazelnut Butter (£3.25)
    • Tossed Autumn Salad, Chive and Mustard Dressing (£3.25)

    Who knew cumin and beetroot worked so well together? Oh, and the deep fried broccoli? A revelation with the tangy tomato and bean sauce.

    Autumn Salad with Chive & Mustard Dressing

    Broccoli Tempura with Tomato & Bean Stew

    This is arguably the best Bakewell Pudding (£6.95) the world. I will show you how to make it at home shortly.

    Bakewell Pudding

    Chocolate and rose are a bit of an odd combination but people seemed to like the parfait.

    Chocolate & Rose Parfait

    My favourites of the cheeseboard (£10.95) were the Stinking Bishop and Colston Bassett Stilton.

    Brigade's British Cheeseboard

    All in all a great meal!

    Quick Overview
    Food

    7/10: Considering that most of the chefs are still in training the food is remarkably good.

    Value

    7/10: Other than the Baked British Seafood glitch the rest of the food was good value for money.

    Service

    7/10: Wrong cooked steak was served to me and in turn another diner had mine.

    Toilets

    7/10: All good.

    Ambience

    9/10: Fun to watch the open plan kitchen at work.

    Recommend

    7/10: If you’re in the area come and enjoy the food and contribute to a good cause.

    Brigade
    The Fire Station
    139 Tooley Street
    London
    SE1 2HZ

    P.S. I was a guest of Brigade.

     

    More recipes you may enjoy

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    Comments

    1. Fiona Maclean

      September 28, 2013 at 11:12 am

      lovely to see you again michelle and thank you for the invite. Hopefully my review will be up this weekend!!!

      Reply
    2. Ella Expera

      October 11, 2019 at 12:23 am

      Absolutely delicious!

      Reply

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