Putney’s restaurant cup may runneth over, but the locals clearly feel there’s room for one more. Particularly if it’s date night, because at the back of this new brasserie is an area dedicated to tables pour deux. Here, tapas and small plates are the food of love, with influences flitting from the UK to Italy.
Croquetas were as creamy and hammy as you’d find anywhere, while crispy squid came piled high with a fine aioli. The cod brandade, though, was a little over-fishy; the morcilla (a Spanish black pudding) balls with apple compote divisively earthy.
As for the small plates, forks clashed over the beetroot risotto with mascarpone, though the licorice and artichoke cream base with a dish of scallops was more of a head-scratcher. On the waitress’s insistence, I revisited the menu for beef cheek with cheese polenta, thin slices of meat in a thick gravy accompanied by four cheesy cubes – perfection and a worthy finish to the evening. For a first foray into the business, owner George Herbert, Lord Porchester and heir to Highclere (that’s Downton Abbey to you), hasn’t done too badly at all.