11-13 Thames Road
Strand on the Green
W4 3PL
020 8994 4164
Christmas Eve (yes, the early enthusiasm is waning somewhat - yours too I guess). A dog walk and pub lunch. It's as much a part of our Christmas as the annual visit to St Michael & All Angels and the Boxing Day Olympics. And a rare visit for the blog to Strand on the Green, almost the Western end of the W4 postcode.
The Bell & Crown was licensed in 1751, although pub historians think it probably had an earlier name. Many believe the name stems from the practice of ringing a bell to alert bootleggers and smugglers that the 'crown' (or tax man) was coming. Rumour has it that a ghost used to cause havoc at the bar - turning on the beer pumps in the middle of the night (I have a feeling that ghost may have moved to our house judging from the state our kitchen is often in when we return home from one of these visits). The pub was acquired by Fuller, Smith & Turner in 1814 and rebuilt in 1907. Two hundred years later it's still serving Fuller's finest ales. So I started with a pint of Pride and Master WEST4URANTS had a pint of the Bengal Lancer, an IPA "inspired by India Pale Ales of times gone by".
The boys kept it simple, with the fish and chips, or Frontier Battered Cod, to give it its formal title. I think those cod would be pleased to know their batter was made from Fuller's small batch new-wave craft lager; nobody wants to be battered in Carling.
The menu is short on classic pub grub so the girls were forced to deviate - one crab, tarragon and chilli risotto and two roasted beetroot and squash salads, with tarragon pesto, feta, lentils and toasted pumpkin seeds. They were happy enough.
Bellies filled, dog rested, we set off on the long walk back home. Seems a long time ago now.....
Food (for 5): £66.50
Drink: £8.70
Total: £85.00
76-77 South Parade
W4 5LF
020 8742 2121
When we lived in St Albans Avenue, we'd often go down to Riso, our local Italian on South Parade. The highlight of one birthday dinner was when one of our friends leaned back a little too far on his chair and toppled over backwards taking a large pot plant with him - children take note. (This is where we find out if he reads the blog).
Le Vacherin took over the site in 2004 and soon after we visited with friends who were able to sit in their chairs properly. At the end of the evening the chef came out to say hello and offer us a free drink (I think because we were the very last to leave by a long way but still very forward-thinking of him). He could not have been more different from the stereotypical Albert Roux lookalike we were expecting. Malcolm John arrived in Chiswick from St Vincent, via Croydon and Positano. He became head chef at Danielli's (which became Gravy, which became Chella, which became La Mancha, which became Brew - keeping up?) before opening his own traditional French bistro on South Parade.
John soon started earning rave reviews from even better restaurant critics than us. Giles Coren and AA Gill were early fans, the latter describing the signature baked vacherin as "a duck-heart-stopping dish of unctuous splendour and, on its own, worth finding Chiswick for."
We've been several times over the last decade, and for our most recent visit we were joined by locals who can count one of London's top chefs amongst their own circle of friends (i.e. they know what they're talking about when it comes to eating - and drinking).
In the interests of the blog we all had different starters, although we probably needn't have bothered because I'm not going to describe them all for you. Marine Le Pen would surely have stood up and sung La Marseillaise in honour of the girls' starters - six escargots for Mrs Local Friend and a red wine poached pear and roquefort salad for Mrs WEST4URANTS. The boys choices were more Graeme Le Saux (in that they just sounded a bit French) - a game and pistachio terrine for me and a Jerusalem artichoke velouté with shredded smoked duck and black truffle for him.
But we redeemed ourselves by going all in for the baked vacherin for main course (purely for the blog of course). Vacherin Mont d'Or is a soft, rich, seasonal cow's milk cheese from the Jura region. It is produced when the cows come down from the mountain pastures for winter (between 15 August and 15 March) and sold from 10 September to 10 May. The restaurant serves the cheese straight from the oven with pickled vegetables, celeriac rémoulade and bayonne ham. It is every bit as good as AA Gill described.
The girls went for the pumpkin ravioli with trompette mushrooms and toasted pine nuts and a supreme of hake with garlic aioli (is there any other type?) and artichoke barigoule (whatever that is). Although absolutely stuffed, we sacrificed our stomachs for our art, and shared a delicious tarte tatin with vanilla ice-cream.
This truly is the finest French restaurant North of the Chiswick High Road.
Food (for 2): £65.15
Drink: £49.00
Total: £127.60
