Battlefield Rest

This place is a wee south side treasure! My other half literally stays a stones throw from the famous Battlefield Rest, but we had only ever visited once before for lunch. Recently, after 4 years of «we should really go back to the Battlefield Rest», we finally got our act together and visited again!
Much like All Bar One in the city centre, it doesn’t matter what time you pass the Battlefield Rest, it’s always full! I passed by around 5.30pm on my way to my boyfriends and it was completely empty but by the time we arrived at 6.30pm for our reservation about a quarter of the tables were already full! If you have a big party or want to guarantee your table, I’d really recommend booking in advance! The interior of the Rest is very quaint and very intimate (i.e. tables close together). Nicely lit with lots of lamps and candles, they atmosphere is a mixture of romantic and familial, like you’re having dinner in someone else’s house rather than a restaurant!
The Rest offer a lot of different menus depending on the time of day. They have very reasonable lunch and pre-​theatre deals that are worth having a look at. For our long awaited return we decided to treat ourselves, splashing out on the a la Carte menu! For starter we both had the Crepes Piemontese, a lovely little crêpe filled with spinach, ricotta, peppers and sun-​dried tomatoes with olive and tomato crostini on the side. It was gorgeous! Big enough to be filling, but small enough not to fill me up before my main.
For my main I had the Pappardelle Ortica alla Verdura, or nettle leaf pasta with veggies to you and me! It was a generous portion of pasta with fresh asparagus, sun-​dried tomato, mushrooms, olives, nettle leaves and parmesan tossed in garlic and oil. I could have eaten it twice! I was even mean enough to not offer my dining partner any to try, it was just so good! He had Chicken Montanara, which is chicken breast stuffed with goat’s cheese, spinach, sun-​dried tomatoes and red onion, then wrapped in parma ham with a white wine sauce, and potatoes and veggies on the side. He enjoyed his, but thought the goat’s cheese was just a little overpowering for his tastes.
We (stupidly) passed up on desserts because we were too polite to admit we actually wanted some, and boy did we regret that because they sounded so good! Guess we’ll just have to go back again, but we certainly won’t be leaving it another 4 years!
Our dinner, with soft drinks, came to around £40, so it wasn’t a cheap meal, but it could have been if we opted for the pre-​theatre menu. But to be honest, the service, atmosphere and food were all great so personally I think that was reasonable for the whole experience.