Ransomes Dock

This is a brunch review.
The place is a bit too snooty and dingy for a Sunday Brunch if you ask me. The décor is a bit stale too. Maybe it’s better for dinner.
Onto the food. We asked for Eggs Royale, not on the menu but they said they could do it for us. 3 of them. All with the sauce on the side. Did they arrive with the sauce on the side? No, the sauce was on top.
The bakewell tart we had was very tasty though. Top marks for that one, especially the way it was served with a large dollop of clotted cream on the side :)
The place is pricey. For brunch you’re better off going to Butcher & Grill next door. Problem is, everyone in the area knows that and Butcher & Grill is always heaving!
At least there’s parking on-​site.

I should start by saying the nightmare that was this evening was not the restaurant’s fault. I had planned to go by bus but was coming from a friend in Lewisham and made the mistake of going by train. A simple enough journey — rendered complete fiasco by some kind of signal failure — what should have taken around half an hour took almost 3 hours. I ended up half jogging, half staggering (I am not very fit…) through Battersea Park, 95 minutes late to meet my friend for dinner, with no clue how to get to Ransome’s Dock.
When I finally arrived I was so flustered and hungry I could have been eating anything. A shame, as I realised afterwards I’d ordered a £19 main course — which, when it finally came around 9.30pm, I hoovered up like I hadn’t eaten for 12 hours. Which I hadn’t. It was, I think, poached sea trout with mash and green beans and samphire. It was OK, I guess, but way more expensive than I’d normally spend for what was a nicely cooked but rather plain sort of dish. For dessert — a piece of cheesecake, again OK but not the best I’d ever had. My friend’s chocolate tart was nicer. I had tried to get the waitress to recommend something but she had not been working there long and didn’t know any of the dishes. On the plus side, we sat outside. The bill was £30 each for 2 courses. I left, tried to run for a bus back to Islington and sanity, tripped and fell into the middle of the Battersea Bridge Road, almost got squashed by the bus, and ended with blood — and an almost hole — all over the knee of my brand new, designer trousers. I am NEVER going to Battersea again. It is jinxed. So sorry, Ransome’s Dock, but the food just wasn’t special enough to make up for my awful evening.

I ate here over ten years ago, and every couple of years since, and it has never disappointed. Really tasty starters sometimes with a bit of a middle eastern flavour to them. You get the feeling everyone here really cares about food. Reminds me of French bistros pre-​1980s, but really clean and without sawdust. And the famous wine list — I usually only drink red wine, but here I am always surprised and delighted by the whites. Considering this is London, it is amazing value.

This is as good a reason as any to head south of the Thames. The window tables have a good view of the old dock and the barges moored nearby. Although the menu is described as «modern European menu,» it has a lot of traditional British selections on it. Calf’s liver with smoked bacon, red onions, and bubble and squeak was cooked to perfection, as was the Welsh lamb saddle with wild mushroom sauce, spinach, and roasted potatoes. For dessert we had a chocolate mousse torte topped with blackcurrant preserves and almond cake topped with marinated figs and crème fraîche.
Our total tab, with service, was $ 80, a bit high for a neighborhood restaurant in Battersea, which might be why it was half empty on a Friday night. Annoyingly, they charge £1 per person for bread and butter. The wine list is very extensive, and prices by both the glass and the bottle are reasonable. We had a delicious bottle of South African sauvignon blanc for £19.

Ransome’s Dock is well hidden away and has a small cosy atmosphere. The menu is always bursting full with seasonal food, complete with the locality of the sourced main ingredients. Most of the products are all British and full of flavour. The wine list here is truly extensive, there is a vast collection on offer to suit everyone. Although the décor has a modernish bistro vibe to it, it can often attract an aging crowd, which sometimes leaves the restaurant lacking with atmoshphere. I think the food items to be over priced slightly, beleiving they can charge more for using products of quality. The staff are honest with their opinions and know the menu well.