Here at Townfish, we are big fans of Darwin & Wallace venues; their clean design and varied menu have been winning over Londoners in all corners of our city. It was with some excitement when we visited No 11 Pimlico Road to check out their new seasonal menu update.
The venue has that kind of clean, simple, Nordic design that is just impossible to dislike. There are heavy doses of white, natural wood and appealing foliage that just puts you at ease as soon as you arrive. Even though it’s a hybrid between a bar and a restaurant, service was remarkably attentive; when you expect they might have given all their attention to the customers queuing for their drinks by the bar first.
The new menu updates stood up brightly when you consider there are some rather standard options like crab cakes and mini sausages: we tried the sticky brisket taco and the quinoa, feta and pea rolls. The former had thin tortillas with very strong smoky, intense flavours from the well-marinated brisket which came with paprika aioli. The latter was an extremely well-thought-out creation which will be a favourite for their vegetarian and flexitarian guests alike. Despite reviewing hundreds of restaurants, I’ve certainly never seen a quinoa, feta and pea spring roll dish. It was filling, it was tasty and most importantly, it left you wanting to come back soon for more.
I’ve tried their pan-fry cod dish before, but somehow this time, it was slightly disappointing. Firstly, it tasted and smelt very fishy; something that could easily have got rid of with some lemon or lime over the fish prior to cooking. It also tastes rather dry and could have done with more of the promised creamy leek and less of the lentils.
However, the trusty halloumi and courgette burger did not disappoint. Fried halloumi is always a crowd-pleaser that is hard to mess up and the addition of courgettes gave the burger a refreshing kick, which was only enhanced further with the mint and cucumber labneh.
The restaurant is particularly vegetarian-friendly; for desserts, we opted for the healthy-sounding coconut chia pudding. It was relatively light compared to the other offerings and came with poached pear and coconut yoghurt.
They have a refreshing selection of cocktails from you to choose from such as pineapple and sage mojito, gooseberry smash and grapefruit rickey.
baldwin@townfish.com