I had been to the rather lively branch of The Lavender restaurant in Battersea, and enjoyed the ambience. So I expected something similar when I went to the Vauxhall branch. This visit was not recent, but it was one of my most memorable restaurant experiences.
We walked into a near empty bar in the middle of what felt like an industrial estate. It looked like the sort of place you go to by mistake and basically turn around and leave immediately. It looked shabby, one of the windows was boarded up. There were a couple of Bikers drinking in the corner and a girl standing by the bar dressed very much like a lady of the night!. However we had made a reservation for dinner, and were hungry, so we braved it out.
We were the only diners and our expectations were so low, we were absolutely shocked (jaw-dropingly shocked) when another biker type from the Kitchen delivered our food. Not because there was anything wrong with it, quite the opposite. The real shock was the presentation. It was totally out of keeping with the venue. I have been to top restaurants that can not deliver food that looked as good. It tasted good too.
This was a rare example where the food took precedence over the venue, which was really refreshing, and made us realise that you really should not judge by appearances.
Marks out of 10
Food 6.5
Service 5
Ambience – so odd I am not sure I can give a mark.
