Monday 31 October 2011

Everyone needs a bit of Brawn...

There are some places that you mean to go to but for some reason you never get round to.  You think about booking a table but then get distracted by somewhere else, forget about it for a while then read something which reminds you that you really need to try the place out.  For me, Brawn is one of those places.  I have been meaning to go for literally years but always seem to get distracted.  And so, with it being the Fashionista's birthday, I decided that a dinner at Brawn was on the cards.

Then came the distractions... Viajante called to say that a space had freed up on the same night, I politely declined and remained focused.  Then we couldn't get a table until nine so decided to go to Jose for a couple of bites to eat and were almost way laid by the quite incredible tapas - we fought through and stuck to our plan.

And so we arrived at Brawn having battled through to find that, despite having booked four days previous, my name was not on the list.  Disappointing.  No matter though, a couple of spaces freed up at the bar and so we decided to sit there. 

The atmosphere is friendly, the decor clean and inviting, and the menu a mixture of French and Spanish.  We started with some pork scratchings (Crooked Well, - if you are reading,  this is how it should be done), a glass each of manzanilla and amontillado sherry, followed by another little taster of cured (Spanish?) sausage.  All delicious.



We continued the tapas theme by getting some Brawn (we had to try it) and hand chopped Tuscan style beef and then snails with bacon and garlic.

Brawn, for those not in the know, is traditionally a terrine made from the meat of a head of a pig (not normally including the brain etc).  It may not sound good but in this case it was delicious.  Tasty meat terrine (no jelly - which for me is a plus) seasoned well.

The beef was great, coarsely cut with a good helping of sea salt and chopped fresh rosemary served with toast- I really really enjoyed this.


The snails were an afterthought and it retrospect maybe we didn't need them.  In any case, they were a bit disappointing- the bacon had made them a little salty.

Following Jose was always going to be hard, and my expectations were sky high given the reviews and Brawn's incredible sister restaurant, Terroirs.  Brawn was good in some parts,  its just that I am not sure that it was as great as its been made out to be.  In saying that I would go back just to have another taste of that beef...
Brawn on Urbanspoon

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