The traffic is fast and the shops are shabby and the punters on the street are noisy and dress as if they’re about to go surfing, and the outside of the pub looks like a mess, and then, inside, is a dining-room.

It’s unassuming and bric-a-bracky; it’s surprisingly quiet; you can see the old-fashioned frontage of Putney School of Art and fancy yourself in the 1950s, except that if a pub had given you food this good back then you would have been more than bewildered; it would have been a Doctor Who moment.

I was with my schoolfriend L, who’s a vegetarian, I’m afraid, but that’s a step up from school when she didn’t eat anything except chewing gum. Or at least she periodically says, ‘I’m veggie,’ in an act of self-persuasion.

She had the crispy squid (£8) with tapenade, but it didn’t have that harsh, explosive quality that is sometimes a bit much, even on toast; rather it was a subtle introduction of bashed-up olives, whose flavours varied in intensity to give each mouthful an appealing harmony. The squid was really good – not too chewy, great texture, mild flavour and a nice crumb.

I had the goat’s cheese (£8), baked to an attractive deliquescence; it had a lactic, subtle taste, which was delicious against a zingy salad.

So far so gastro, though. It wasn’t until we had our main courses that it became clear how ambitious the cooking is, and how far it exceeds what you’d expect from the back of a pub, never mind that it was just an ordinary week night. I had lamb (£19), with pea purée and a salad of heritage tomatoes, which were raw, particoloured, gorgeous and juicy.

The meat came in three distinct cuts: grilled tongue, which was unexpected and glamorous; a braised piece of neck, which was rich and could have easily carried the whole plate on its own; and a cut of roast lamb, served pink. Impossible to say which was the most satisfying and lamby; I was leaping from one cut to the next, trying to decide, alive with enthusiasm.

L had the stone bass (£17), with saffron potatoes, which were gorgeous little waxy Cyprus affairs. I’m not a huge fan of saffron but putting my prejudice aside and listening to her: delicious. A deep-fried oyster roughed up the edges a bit, prevented its becoming too genteel. But it was still an oyster, so still the right side of sophisticated; it wasn’t like a side order of Spam.

My pud was even more Michelinish – a plank of strawberry parfait (£7), like a frozen mousse, whose flavour was great, even though I can’t really see why parfait was invented when ice cream exists (was it like a diet food of history? It certainly tastes less indulgent than its frozen peers).

Surrounding it was a salad of strawberries with a bit of black pepper and balsamic, but not so much that it tasted more fashion than delicious. It was the best fruit I’ve had all season, I think.

Then there was a strawberry coulis, and also a squidge of strawberry jam, plus a slice of lemon shortcake with the most beautiful, delicate crumb; you could almost see dust when you broke it.

L had the lychee, passion fruit and cherry sorbets (£4), and I wondered, when she ordered, whether she was still on a diet that she’d started 30 bloody years ago. No: she chose them because they sounded interesting, and interesting they were; my personal pet was the passion fruit, though she found it so tangy it was almost salty. She loved the cherry.

This place is a find.

 

Posted by chefhermes on March 11, 2011

Some time ago the blog started a new way to review restaurants called ‘Cheaper Eats’. The main objective was to demonstrate that it was possible to eat in Michelin star rated restaurants for around about £30 ish. But this then left a void, it only left us to review restaurants that had be recognised. So now the blog has introduced a new category called ‘One to watch’, these will be places that are recommended to the blog or places that we come across.

As many of you will know, we are fans of the social networking site Twitter, where the blog has made friends and acquaintances with various restaurateurs & chefs. The unfortunate thing about this state of affairs with chefs & twitter, is that there is a tiny percentage who seem to think that they are the next big thing or are disgruntled that they aren’t getting, what they perceive to be their share of the limelight. So when we came across Dom Robinson from the Prince of Wales pub in Putney he was quite a breath of fresh air. From the word go the blog will hold it’s hands up, some of us have been to the Prince of Wales before. It was some time ago and it was on the back of the recommendation of a local. That time it was just for drinks, and it was a rammed quiz night. Move the clock forward some considerable time and we were going to be in the area again. As we’d recently been exchanging messages & tweets with Mr Robinson, we told him that we’d be popping by for lunch. Now, as this is a bit of a grey area concerning reviewing restaurants. We NEVER ask for freebies (whether extra courses or meals) & we always try our best to be fair to the eateries we visit. However from time to time extras may appear, we take the view that the chef or owner is out to demonstrate their techniques or new dishes which would have been missed with the dishes chosen by us (or any reviewer come to think of it). They don’t in our case sway what we think of an establishment just because we may receive such extras.

One of our last exchanges with Mr Robinson prior to our visit was about the plans for the future. He was sadly losing a Sous chef (Benitorrence) who was offto Australia and that weekend was his leaving party. But with every cloud there is a silver lining. The Prince ofWales had recruited a new Head chef in the form of a young charming bearded chap called Mick Goeman from Brett Graham’s starred pub ‘The Harwood Arms’. Now this is the reason the blog mentions the ‘extras’. Visiting somewhere with the objective of doing a review on a Sunday lunch is going to limit how much flair & skill a chef can display. Yes, it is possible to get it horribly wrong, but really? How hard is it?

After arriving ‘sarf” of the river on a sunny but chilly Sunday lunchtime, we gathered in the bar for a quick beverage & then moved through to the main dining area.Seated at a corner table were we had a slight view of the hotplate & the boys hard at work. A quick glance around the room was telling, although there was the occasional more mature couple, but the majority were the 20 & 30 somethings having a Sunday catch up with friends and so on. The front of house staff are efficient but friendly in a relaxed manner, a difficult trick to pull off but one would imagine is made easier with the confidence of a quality product to sell.

First up was a selection of breads, a brown soda and a quality white served with a proper English style bright yellow butter again oozing quality. Shortly after this, an extra course arrived. A Venison dish comprising of carpaccio and little crisp panko coated fritters of braised haunch, parmentiere potatoes, the ubiquitous micro herbs and a slight smattering of a sweet balsamic vinegar. If this had been ordered as a starter you wouldn’t be disappointed, with so many components to balance it could have gone horribly wrong. But it was a triumph, hot & cold, sweet & rich, soft & crispy, the pre starter had it all and just showed that if you treat excellent ingredients with respect they will reward you.

As it was a Sunday, one of us ordered a traditional Sunday roast of Pork shoulder with broccoli, roast potatoes & caramelised apples. While the other went a bit ‘off piste’, & ordered what we’d suspect is a dish made for sharing.A Selection of Spanish delicacies, consisting of Iberico ham, Salchichon, Smoked beef, red wine poached pear, Manchego, Lavender honey, extra virgin olive oil & toasted croutes. Yet again it proves that the sourcing of ingredients is paramount to a successful food operation, all the Spanish delicacies weren’t just some of the best around but served at room temperature to let the meats fully express themselves. The roast Pork was excellent, flavoursome and, all be it from a tiny piece of fatty grizzle (but then it was shoulder), a truly worthy Sunday roast joint. The accompanying roast potatoes, broccoli & caramelised apples where all there for a reason and wereprime examples of what they could be.

After the mains were cleared, the Head chef Mick appeared tableside to introduce himself. We chatted briefly and clearly his enthusiasm is evident yet balanced with an antipodean relaxed mood, he offered us a parkin pre-dessert which we had to unfortunately decline for dietary reasons. To round off the meal, we settled for a hot chocolate fondant with salted almonds & burnt honey ice cream. A definite welcome departure from the usual milk or pistachio ice cream, again this was a dish balanced in flavours & textures, not too rich yet luxurious.

With a final bill coming in at around £50 for two including 4 bottled beers, a bottle of water & gratuity it’s a great way to have a nice lazy Sunday lunch. The signs are promising for the Prince of Wales team, the young front of house staff are knowledgeable, enthusiastic & proud of their pub. Whilst the kitchen delivers well sourced produce treated with respect in an unfussy style. Without a doubt in our minds the Prince of Wales will achieve great things over the coming years and comes highly recommended.