Someone told us about Antipodean cuisine, Nutella pizzas, ‘Bedouin style breakfast’ and more in Putney. Intrigued, our Jack headed down and tried to try all of these things. In this he mainly succeeded, though it turns out he was a little late for breakfast…
Rating:
Cuisine
Australian / Modern European
Appeals To:
The expat Australian contingent: wandering the wilds of Wandsworth and South West London – in search of familiar accents and (probably?) familiar foods
Pizzaphiles and fans of ‘pizza variety’: looking for novel flavours, thin crusts and (generally) healthier pizza options
Those enamoured by the convenience that all day dining provides: brunch and breakfast ALL THE TIME (with an Australian twist?)
In A Word
DIY
“…that’s not a knife, that’s a spoon…”
Tasting Britain got invited to take a look at the fourth and largest of the Brew cafes, based in lovely Putney. Like all of the other UK ‘Brews’, it’s based in South West London. I think this one is the latest, opening in November 2014.
Semi-famous for brunch, things cooked in clay ovens, and an Australian take on eating out, Brew is the brainchild of Melbourne born chef Jason Wells. Like a true Australian, Jason is big into terraces and BBQs (no matter what the weather is doing)…
The Atmosphere
You’ll notice this quite quickly when you get a look at how Brew is laid out.
You enter via a sheltered outside terrace built with reclaimed timber and full of greenery (and blankets). Aesthetically, the approach is casual dining – as is the atmosphere, the mainly Australian staff were very laid back (contrary to some of the things I have read other people post online!).
It feels more like a cafe than a restaurant really (not that this is a bad thing), and the prices are a little steep for the area. It’s also pretty out of the way on lower Richmond Road – about halfway between Barnes and Putney and quite distant from the energy and atmosphere of Putney High Street.
Anyhow, Jason’s first trade was as a (master) butcher, and so (perhaps in tribute to this) in Brew you’ll find a little area called ‘the Butcher’s Shop’ – along with a dry ageing fridge full of carcasses. I am told that here you can get a steak cut to size (but not to take home).
Other stuff to note? Breakfast served as you lounge on ‘Bedouin-inspired’ double beds on the terrace, and a 150 year old olive tree (and no, I have no idea how they got it in there). Also vegemite jars hidden in various strategic places (i.e embedded in the floor, lol). Also a glass walled area called ‘Brew HQ’ full of flour and ingredients in large bags. It looks cool but I’m not quite sure what it does. I think it could be their office?
The Food
Baking is done onsite at Brew’s patisserie (and clay oven for bread) and they also offer unplugged live music on the weekends (I’m not sure where, I assume in the terrace somewhere). Their pizza menu is pretty intriguing, offering a range of wood fired options, including dessert pizzas (Nutella pizza anyone?). That said, these are a more restrained, Italian/thin crust style of pizza – not the more ‘generous’ style Australians are perhaps better known for.
Asides from pizza, the menu has a pretty large breakfast and brunch offering – and they also offer daily specials. Before setting up Brew in the UK, Jason travelled and cooked in a lot of different places, and I’m told that the menu is influenced quite strongly by the foods of Israel and New York (Israeli food? that’s one I’ve not seen yet!). And, talking of international food, you’ll find Brew in Australia and the US as well.
Starters
Cleopatra Soup with roasted tomato, coconut, red chili, toasted pide
Pretty good, so this was! The soup was sweet and hearty with some Thai influence perhaps…?
Heritage Beetroot Salad with roasted beetroot, goat’s curd, caramelised walnuts, apple dressing
Not so good: dry, watery – kinda like someone had sucked the taste out of it. You can probably blame salads like these for the reason that kids don’t eat their vegetables…
Sides
Oak Smoked Salmon, Buttered Spinach, Smoked Potato & Bacon Croquettes (with BBQ dipping sauce) – pictured left to right
From left to right then. The salmon was like any other salmon I’ve had, not memorable, not so bad. The same could be said of the spinach and the croquettes. Good, but nothing to really write home about.
Mains
Salt Beef Pizza coffee cured brisket, sauerkraut, bagel crisps & pickled relish
My buddy James ordered this pizza.This one feels like they’re shortchanging you on the topping – the ratio of the crust to topping is…ungenerous and, like that previous salad, much of the topping seems seriously devoid of flavour. Though I can say is that this is a fearless combination of toppings at the very least…
Hellfire Pizza chorizo, king prawn, hot guindilla peppers, chilli butter, lemon, rocket
It delivers on the promise of ‘heat’ (though it’s not too spicy.) Like the previous pizza, it seemed to suffer from a divorce of ‘topping’ and ‘base’ (and too little of the former). And at this pricepoint you really hope for more stuff to top that base….
Dessert
Nutella Pizza nutella, cherry & vanilla ice-cream
Mannnn this is a let down. The idea of a Nutella pizza with ice cream on the top sets some… expectations, right? This basically suffers from the same problem as the other pizzas – the topping (as you can probably see) isn’t really that substantial. So no, this wasn’t nearly as decadent as you would have hoped for. Again, not bad – but not what you’d have hoped for…
The Verdict
Real nice people, cool concept, cool decor/place, but to be brutally honest (and from my limited experience) the food under-delivers, especially at this price point, and in this area. It’s not bad, it’s it’s just not as good as it should be, and the standard of competition is too high around here for that to be acceptable.
Still, I would certainly return and try more non-pizza dishes, or after the next menu update, and see if the food’s is any better. The possibility is that we just caught them on a bad day for pizza, of course. After all, they’ve must have made it this far for a reason…
The Details
162-164 Lower Richmond Rd, London SW15 1LY