Sam's Brasserie & Bar

I must be an alcoholic. Recently, I seem to walk out of every restaurant thinking about the wine rather than the food.

I'd love to live in a world where, instead of three square meals a day, we all had three half-hour drinking sessions. Having a big breakfast really would define whether you get through the day; the Weetabix Driving Instructor advert would become instantly more interesting, hopefully fatal; and this article would have even more entertaining typos.

Sadly, this world is awash with health implications and funding shortages as it is, so my idea will never catch on – save in Scotland. Instead, I will have to satisfy myself by saying that the bottle of Portuguese Quinta da Falorca 2007 I quaffed at Sam's was utterly brilliant – light, fruity, moorish and well priced (£24) – and then move on to the food.

I don't know exactly why I didn't like Sam's Brasserie and Bar (what a start to a review). It's a lovely place to be on a showery Sunday afternoon. When the sun shines it bathes the whole restaurant in white light, and when it rains the windows can the rain, like a force field keeping you safe. And the service is excellent – homely, bright-eyed and smiling – something even AA Gill noted on his visit. He also wrote about the food, which is usually a good sign.

But it just wasn't that good. My starter was no more than a sum of its parts – mozzarella, mint, rocket, broad beans and chilli, drizzle with just a little too much olive oil but desperately under-seasoned, so much so that even the mozzarella seemed to lack flavour, despite the lumps being the size of a child's fist.

Being Sunday I had selected the roast, something I rarely do in restaurants for reasons that will become clear. To be fair, the roast pork was considerably more refined and thought out than the starter. Usually the word tower is not one I like to associate with food, despite Michelin chasers' obsessions with defying gravity. If they could invent soup towers they would. But here it worked. The gravy was evidently poured over the meat and veg before topping it with crackling, which meant the meat and cabbage was drowned gloriously in gravy, but with the crispy skin was still dry and crunchy. The creamed cabbage in particular was delicious, with a sweet tang that stopped the meal becoming a bland mess of stock and meat.

Unfortunately the potatoes was sub carvery-pub standard, and the meat a little too fatty. No doubt the pig led a good life, but I would guess that he rather took advantage of it. I see him supping cognac and debating politics like the end of Animal Farm, rather than rolling in mud and sleeping in a metal half-barrel.

London seems obsessed by the perfect roast. Time Out wastes a whole issue on it each year, and the main problem is that roasts need to be cooked with care, attention and, most importantly, lots of time – something commercial kitchens can rarely afford. Great roast potatoes are not hard to achieve when cooking for four, but cooking for 100 and they become nigh-on impossible. So a busy brasserie on a slightly chilly Sunday is not the time to go, and not when you are charged £15.50 for the privilege.

Something British restaurants really can do is a stick toffee pudding, and I can't help but order it whenever I see it. Partly because it's such a comforting bit of cooking, but also because it's like pizza. Even when it's awful, it's still pizza. It's still awesome. This one needed that comparison. It was hardly heated, and the ice cream on top, which should have been cream within moments, was still perky on top as I neared the end. But it was sticky, it was sweet, and it was delicious. It was everything you'd ask of a pudding. Except hot.

Ending a review when you are so undecided is impossible. It's one of those places where you could go and, if you ordered a different dish, have an entirely different experience. Maybe worse, probably better. All I can really say is, get the Portuguese wine. And get me some help.

Sam's is one of my all time favourite locals. I go there often as the relaxed but still very cool ambience is perfect for sipping amazing cocktails in their bar.
Food is incredible, honestly I am one of those people that once I found my favourite I always go for that. So I am a mussels fan and always have that at Sams, but I did have their bar snacks as well and loved it! Its perfect, tasty and great wine list to match!
Will not be looking around for another local! highly recommend it

Fab restaurant with great food and amazing cocktails! Will be back very soon

When you make one of those last minute bookings there’s little time to ponder expectations, so the fact that is was a beige encounter didn’t come as a huge disappointment. We found an urban style brasserie alongside a spacious bar area which was bucolically reminiscent of a pleasant barn conversion. The menu which seemingly offered so much promise didn’t quite accomplish. It also stays with you on the table during the meal here, aka a place mat.

A South American wine suited both our choices : A Rib-eye with fries and Cod with chorizo and chickpea broth laced with saffron aioli. This proved a powerful fish dish where chickpeas made a rare appearance – a relatively cheap component out-weighed by an abundance of chorizo – not so good for a fan of the chickpea, like me. Saffron was slightly overpowering too, so some tuning was required here and the fish was just of reasonable quality. A good steak with dressed watercress were joined with anaemic looking French fries which were passable matchsticks surprisingly both texturally and flavour-wise.

Standard was broadly equivalent to a Hotel du Vin. Sunday lunchtime may prove rather enjoyable with live Jazz, otherwise, I wouldn’t mind exploring the slightly less-ambitious sounding breakfast and brunch menus. Oh and service deserves mention turning out to be all it ought to be, and delivered with a smile.

SAM’S BRASSERIE REVIEW
By Emma Wood

Welcome to 2010, the snow has finally gone and with Valentine’s Day round the corner, we’re all on the lookout for the perfect restaurant to spend with our loved ones.
I have discovered a very unique award winning restaurant which ticks all boxes for every occasion, be it with a large group of friends or an intimate evening with your partner. The restaurant is owned by Sam Harrison and co owned by Rebecca Mascarenhas and celebrity chef Rick Stein. Stein holds an OBE for his services to Cornish tourism and Sam Harrison was his manager at his Padstow seafood restaurant in Cornwall for four years. To watch an exclusive interview with Stein and Harrison, visit www.caterersear­ch.com/harrisons.

Sam’s Brasserie and bar, set in the centre of Chiswick in West London is where I dined recently and my latest recommendation. Tucked away in a pretty passage off Chiswick High Road, nearby landmarks include Tabard theatre and Chiswick House and the nearest tube stations are Chiswick Park Station (8 minutes away) and Turnham Green Tube station (9 minutes away.) Sam’s Brasserie won the Best Value Restaurant 2008 in the Evening Standard Awards and it certainly is very reasonably prized for a restaurant of this calibre in London.

As we were shown to our seats by our Italian waiter, Antonio, I took a moment to absorb the ambience and surroundings. The restaurant was a former paper factory and it retains its very unique and sophisticated style with its airy industrial space, all exposed brickwork, pipes on the ceiling and concrete floors whist at the same time holding a brasserie feel of banquettes and wooden tables. It is a very spacious split-level restaurant that seats up to 100 people and is trendy, modern with a lively, upbeat, bustling feel and was full of apprecative diners.

Our waiter brought us a range of three breads whist we pondered our paper place mat menus. Incidentally, the menu is dated as some dishes are changed daily.
The alcohol is very cheap and the bar serves a wide range of alcoholic beverages including Czech beer on tap, ales, spirits, champagne, and red, white or rose wine to accompany your meal including Rick Stein’s own wines from Australia. The wine list is outstanding, ranging from £14.50-£155. We had a bottle of French red Chateau de Chanas 2007 which was exquisite.

The menu focuses primarily on modern British brasserie food and the restaurant opens for breakfast through to late evening dining and drinks. At the weekends, breakfasts and brunches are served from 9am. There is a brasserie and set lunch/evening menu and daily soups and fish specials. There is a separate bar food menu for less formal dining, while the Sunday lunch and children’s menu also make it a perfect family restaurant.

To start with, I ordered chicken liver pate and toast with salad and glorious grape chutney. I also sampled the mozzarella and vine-ripened tomatoes which were equally devine.

For my main course, I opted for confit duck with sweet potato mash, curly kale and orange jus with a side dish of broccoli and pine nuts. The meal was exciting and bursting with flavour. The duck just fell of the bone and was cooked to perfection.
I also sampled the Rib-Eye steak with a splash of béarnaise sauce (also available with pepper corn sauce) and if you appreciate your steak, trust me, this steak was wonderful.

For dessert, we ordered panettone bread and butter pudding with custard and a chocolate surprise with vanilla ice cream, but we were curious as to what the passion fruit treat with raspberry marsh mellow was. To our surprise, our waiter brought us not 1 pudding, but 2 each, so I got to try 3 puddings in one night, result! All three were amazing, but as recommended by Antonio, the waiter, the chocolate ball with gooey chocolate was out of this world and I’d go so far as to say the best pudding I’ve ever had.
I finished the night of nicely with a pot of fresh mint tea and sat back in my chair content with a lovely meal.

The menus at Sam’s feature everything from light salads to more hearty meals and typical dishes on the a la carte menu include a range of fish and vegetarian dishes with puddings to die for such as pistachio pannacotta with griottines cherries and chocolate nemesis cake with a milk chocolate parfait and mint cream.

Live jazz takes place in the bar every first and third Sunday evening of the month from 7-9 pm and features some of London’s leading artists. Acts to watch out for in 2010 include Elisa Caleb who recently released her debut album.
Younee who performed with the legendary Bob James with be performing on Sunday 7th February and Louise Golbey who performed at Glastonbury last year will be there on Sunday 7th March. Keep up to date with all the jazz artists performing at Sam’s by going on twitter at www.twitter.com/samsjazz.

Following the success of this restaurant which opened back in August 2005, Sam Harrison and duo team Rebecca Mascarenhas and Rick Stein went on to run Harrison’s restaurant in Balham back in 2007 which is also worth a visit. (5 minute walk from Balham station, southwest London.)

I would like to thank the restaurant manager Shelley Windell and all of her team at Sam’s for giving us a wonderful dining experience. Our waiter, Antonio was second to none and the service was impeccable. Full compliments go to the head chef, Ian Leckie who has turned simple cooking with good ingredients into the superb mouth watering dishes.

Sam’s Brasserie, 11, Barley Mow Passage, Chiswick, London. W4 4PH To reserve a table…call 020 8987 0555 (booking advised.) Check out their website at www.samsbrasserie.co.uk