Platform

Have been here twice now for dinner…and both times have been hugely impressed. The menu is fast changing and full of interesting dishes; I got chatting with the waitress about the meat cuts that were on offer and she told me that the menu is dictated by what is fresh and delivered from their partner farm down in Devon – and they send the whole carcass up to the kitchen, not just the popular cuts. They don't bombard you with this information – I'm not sure I would have really found out about the farm etc unless I'd asked – but the staff are well informed and hugely polite, and more than happy to tell you about the “Platform story” if you do ask. I quite like this modest approach to what is a great concept. I think more restaurants should source their food like this, and will be back again soon no doubt, not just to support Platform in their approach, but to enjoy some of the wonderfully delicious dishes that are on offer.

Being a local, I've observed Platform being built from the start with keen curiosity and am glad to say, I am even keener now that it's open and I've visited it twice since. Platform offers an escape from the busy and bustling Tooley St and walking into the vast building, you already feel as if you are happily distanced from the local humdrum of workers. The service, menu and atmosphere also serve to magnify that feeling.

Quite simply, it is fuss free and full of style and substance, with a great deal of care taken over interiors including the reclaimed and recycled furniture. What it delivers, is that cosy pub feeling we all seek from a local but cleverly mixing it with contemporary interiors seen across London bars. Though largely wooden, the décor is very much an eclectic mix of materials including a giant mirror ball, which strange though it is, doesn’t seem tacky.

The all day concept also works well, with satisfying breakfast dishes (the veggie breakfast and the eggs florentine are particularly tasty and good value), a daily changing menu of staple dishes using ingredients fresh from the farm of the co-owner and a variety of wines (including by the glass) from both new and established vineyards. Service is also genuinely friendly and courteous, a rare find these days.

Perfect for a local, working lunch, after work drink, Sunday brunch…just perfect.

I really wanted to like this place. I like the venue, I like the location, I like the atmosphere, I like the drinks and most of all I like the concept. I still like everything apart from the food. The dinner menu on the day was a bland and uninspiring mix of pies, a couple of fish dishes, lamb and burger. Pub Grub. By the time we arrived at 7.30pm there was no Fish Pie or Dauphinoise potatoes? So Pork Pie and Chips arrived. The Pork Pie was bland and lacked any moisture, my Fish was passable, but not for £17, everything needed seasoning. The provenance of fresh, seasonal, organic food is of course interesting, but it needs to be cooked with imagination and flair and the daring we were promised, otherwise Platform will eventually just become a late night drinking destination witha side line in organic snacks or a venue for large private parties. As a restaurant it just doesn't work yet.