Bistro on Tooley Street

We’re meting up with a small gang at Cecil’s, a “speakeasy” hidden away near the railway arches off Tooley Street.  The place has a good sense of style and specialises in cocktails. It is really a “performance venue”, but tonight there’s nothing on, so it’s fairly quiet and there’s little sense of the atmosphere which may accompany livelier evenings.  We arrive later than the other three who are well into their cocktails and whisky, and take-away Chinese nibbles from around the corner.  But as there’s no real food here, we soon decide to move on.


I’ve often passed Brigade and thought it looked interesting, so I lead the way there. Fortunately there is a table for 5 available immediately.  On closer inspection the menu is a little limited with a number of classic English dishes and a small number of more interesting ones on the specials board. A orders the wine from an extensive list – a Spy Valley NZ Sauvignon Blanc (£36) and St Hallett Garden of Eden Shiraz from Barossa Valley (£33). The waitress takes an age, and then arrives with the wrong red. A second attempt also goes wrong, but eventually a more senior waitress manages to come up with the right thing.  It’s only then we realise that this is a semi-charitable venture with a group called Beyond Food Foundation, giving apprentices to vulnerable young adults – so some inexperience is to be expected.

I have a ham and egg croquette off the specials menu – interesting if a little heavy. Other starters chosen are scotch eggs with beetroot picalilli, crackling Cornish mackerel with pomegranate seeds and maunka honey. All are very much enjoyed.

My main course is the slow cooked lamb rump with white haricot beans – delicious and very tender.  B has roast salmon and crushed potatoes (also good), while others had shepherd’s pie, beef carpaccio and liver and bacon. As you can see not exactly ground-breaking stuff, but all were well executed and tasty.

We share a couple of desserts between us.  A very interesting, sharp dandelion and burdock jelly with sherbet meringue and lime sorbet is a revelation while the bitter chocolate tart does what is says on the tin.

After the initial confusion on the wine, service has been fine. The décor is pretty basic and you probably wouldn’t consider it a suitable venue for a smart dinner. A  was celebrating and generously picked up the bill, so I don’t know how much it cost. Mains were in the range £16 to £20, so if you chose more reasonably priced wines (of which there were several) you could probably get away with a good value meal.