Sharmila on Food

Harwood Arms, Fulham

I won’t labour this post too much, as many have already talked about the Harwood Arms.  Thankfully, I don’t have to go on too much as this was a really great lunch - good company, comfortable setting and great food.  I will most definitely be back.  Even though it’s in Fulham.  I can safely say I rarely do West London - my heart belongs to SE all the way.

Some wonderful soda (or was it rye?) bread got things off to a good start.  This was alongside some of the great totano from The Flour Station (at least that is what my ex-Flour Station employee dining companions asserted it was).  The bread didn’t last long.

We all then dove in and shared a few venison scotch eggs.  As many have said before, these are super good.  Brilliant runny yolk, well flavoured meat and crisp, grease free breadcrumbs.

Not content with just a bar snack, I also plumped for a starter of grilled ox tongue with cauliflower cheese croquette and a little punchy salad on the side.  This was just great.  The ox tongue was meltingly tender and rich.  Many around the table went for the crispy ham hock and pigs ears - the swift troughing down of starters would indicate this was also well liked.

Alongside this, we had a lovely bottle of Gruner Veltner.  I still can’t get enough of Alsace wines.  I would drink them all the time if I could (well, maybe not all the time).

For mains, I had to go for the fallow deer t-bone, considering game is what the Harwood Arms is particularly known for.  This was a seriously tasty piece of meat.  It was also a big piece of meat.  I definitely held back from finishing so I could definitely have a pudding. We eased ourselves on the way to drunkenness with a nice bottle of Portugese red.

I’m glad I saved some space for pudding.  Sticky toffee and date ice cream, caramelised brown bread and lemon curd and caramel.  Oh god, just writing it down makes me want it again.  This was everything you would want in a pud.  I am a sucker for anything caramel (whereas chocolate desserts leave me cold), and sticky toffee pudding is something I will invariably go for if it’s on a menu.  I lapped this up.  It was damn good.

All in all, a great meal.  Each course was comforting, tasty with little touches that definitely raised it above your standard gastropub fare.  Hell, it was so good I would even venture out West again.  Maybe.

Details:

Harwood Arms

27 Walham Grove
London SW6 1QR
020 7386 1847

Nearest transport: Fulham Broadway (District Line)

Price: medium to high (we ended up paying around £50 each, but we drank a lot of wine)