Jay Rayner reviews

Sunday, January 08, 2012 - The menu is completely fluent in modern British, which is to say: food from all over the shop put together in sensible combinations. A plate of thinly sliced smoked venison, for example, with fresh figs alongside properly dressed rocket leaves is a thoroughly pretty plateful; crisp-shelled fritters of salt cod are a little dense but only because they haven't been bulked up with potato. No matter: the tarragon mayonnaise helps them on their way. Prices are noticeably ungrasping: 14 quid isn't much money for a complex dish of partridge breast with confited leg, creamed Brussels sprouts, chestnuts and a generous handful of girolles.

Sunday, December 05, 2010 - When the frittura di pesce Portofino for two arrived it was so large, so volumous, that I became suspicious I had been rumbled and they had decided to deep fry the entirety of the day's catch just for me. Then I saw exactly the same dish being heaved on to another table - a pile of golden, lightly battered king prawns, knotted squid tentacles and sizable scallops, leaving the plate almost greaseless...The same was true of ribbons of good tagliolini in a ripe tomato sauce with a hint of chilli and the contents of half a lobster at under 17 quid, the whole rested prettily on the emptied shell. Calves' liver, with the smokey char of a proper grill, came in an unfinishable trio of thick slices with a butter and sage sauce, and rare as requested.

Sunday, February 22, 2009 - Looking down from the ground-floor gallery, the first thing you see is the restaurant area, hemmed in by clever slate-grey curving walls that make it an organic part of the building. For the real joy, though, you have to wander beneath the gallery, where there's a bakery, patisserie, chocolatier, wine shop, cheese shop and charcuterie… But all of this would be worthless if the brasserie was not up to snuff. Happily it is. The menu is long, and all the salads and pasta or rice dishes are offered in starter portions as well as main-course size. This has to be a smart move. Smarter still is the fact that it exceeds expectations.