Bumpkin
our comments
When we first squeeze through the door at Bumpkin - things don’t look good for us. The phone is ringing off the hook, the staff look frazzled and the queue for a table looks more like a rugby scrum than the tidy, orderly queue that we English usually excel at.
We shuffle nervously wondering if it would be quicker to book a Streetcar and drive to the countryside rather than visit the urban ‘country brasserie’ better known as Bumpkin and try and get a table for Sunday lunch.
All is quickly forgotten however when we are shown to our table by the charming Antipodean manager and presented with the menu. The list is short but sweet, ticks all the right boxes and reads like a script from an episode of River Cottage. Rib of beef, leg of lamb and belly of pork are all listed with their breed and place of origin and are of reassuringly sound pedigree. Also on offer are roast free-range chicken, organic salmon and a vegetarian pie of mushroom, spinach and Stinking Bishop cheese.
Mains come well rounded out with a large selection of side dishes including roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese, buttered turnips and seasonal greens. We eye the shrinking queue at the door, settle back into our seats and flip through the wine list happy in the knowledge that some roast backcountry heritage breed will soon be making its way to us on plates.
The wine list is approachable but thorough and broken into user-friendly categories like ‘simple and elegant’ and ‘rich and succulent’. The main draw however is the whisky selection which is unapolagetically serious and includes full coverage of all the regions of Scottish whisky along with tasting notes and background of each area. Among the more impressive offerings are a 36 year old Longmorn and a 36 year old Springbank.
We contemplate stealing the menu to use as whisky cheat notes when a complimentary snack of chicken liver parfait diverts our attention. Arriving on a bamboo chopping board with slices of country bread, the parfait makes for a nice start to the meal and is smooth and unctuous. The rustic presentation fits the decor of Bumpkin with its tea towel serviettes, wobbly wooden tables and cozy leather nooks perfectly.
Soon after our mains of rib of Scotch beef and roast belly of Gloucester Old Spot pork arrive. The beef is a meltingly tender medium rare and comes with a puffy Yorkshire pudding eager to soak up the accompanying gravy. The pork has its trademark armour of crunchy crackling and a dollop of sweet, homemade apple sauce.
Earthenware casserole dishes filled with seasonal vegetables from Secrett’s farm and a dish of cauliflower cheese spiked with sharp cheddar are set on the table and quickly devoured along with our mains. The staff check in on us to see that we are enjoying everything and ruffle the hair on the children at a nearby table. Clad in shirts reading ‘country girl’ and ‘country boy’, the servers are low key and efficient enough to keep things moving but are sufficiently relaxed to update a nearby table on the latest football score en route to and from the open kitchen.
Finally we move on to the puddings - a treacle tart with cinnamon ice cream and a plate of cheese and crackers. The tart is nice and gooey with a buttery crust and goes well with the homemade ice cream. The cheese board is a generous selection of British cheeses served with a spicy piccalilli.
While the food at Bumpkin is essentially the kind of traditional British home cooking that we used to go to our Grannie’s house for, most of us are far too useless and lazy to ever make this kind of food for ourselves. At £24, the Sunday lunch at Bumpkin is a bargain and lets us buy our way out of our own slackness by ensuring that our beef and pork are rare breed and our chicken is free-range. And with summer roadworks and petrol prices being what they are - it is a lot more fun than a gruelling and expensive trek down the M4.
J.K. - June 2008
your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne
The cab driver who picked me up at the end of the night said "What are you doing round here love, it's rough!." I'm not really familiar with Westbourne Park, but if that's the case, I'm not sure where Bumpkin are sourcing their clientele....
Happily for me work was paying because this was not a cheap eat by any means. The price conscious shoud escue the weird desert menu (which involved the word basil) and stick to the very pleasing cocktail list. As in the rest of yuppie London, this was totally overpriced but also very inventive and stack full of great flavours such as the lime, mint and cucumber sloe gin and vodka cranberry champers over fruit suprise.
Food was of the "hearty" British variety and very tasty...pies, roasts, flavoursome meat and two veg type creations with the odd "sea bream with la la la" thrown in. The decor, like the food, tends towards "decadent cosy" with its floral motif cushions, over-bearing wall paper and heavy use of red and gold colour scheme. The whole ensemble recalls a tarted up gastro version of a cosy country pub on a rainy sunday afternoon in November.
The service is friendly enough, if a little slow, and the Kiwi manager who took my booking/sourced my lost umbrella/was in charge of low fi drum and bass music selection was really very personable.
A good night all round.
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Cat Coles - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating 
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Thursday, August 21, 2008
My question to the london-eating official comments is: How on earth is £24 good value for two courses? I've heard of food price inflation but hadn't realised things had got so bad...
We went for Sunday lunch at Bumpkin, where you can choose from a good range of roast joints, as well as a tempting sounding vegetarian pie and fish option, in this case salmon.
For this price, a simple roast dinner ought to be done to perfection, and while Bumpkin managed to hit most of the nails on the head, there were a few notable stubbed thumbs. For example, roast potatoes that were not crispy and sticky enough (although you could put that down to personal preference) , and pork that was unfortunately riddled with gristle.
It was also hard to see where the money had been spent on the cheese option on the dessert menu: three slivers of underwhelming cheese were accompanied by the same apple sauce as came with the roast pork!
And how come the table of two next to us were spotted enjoying a larger plate of appetisers than our table of 8 were given?
On the plus side, service was rapid and friendly, the wine list was approachable and wide ranging, and the food was generally very good, especially the exceedingly cheesy and moreish cauliflower cheese. Clean plates all round from our party were reward for the chef's efforts. The other two puddings (chocolate pudding and strawberries with chantilly cream and pastry) were also gleefully devoured.
Overall we enjoyed our time at Bumpkin, although I'm not sure I'd rush back. I also sense that others are feeling that, in this new age of tightening wallets, £24 is rather a lot for what you get - it was curiously quiet for such a supposedly popular and happening place.
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Forth Bridge
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Monday, August 11, 2008
Far too pricey for food that is so very average. Nice looking place and the service is very chummy but really, I couldn't see the point of returning when there are far more superior places for us to eat. My mussels were particularly disappointing as the marinere sauce was essentially totally flavorless cream. Plus I have had a better steak in a Wetherspoons. Need to up their game.
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ems - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating 
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 3
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Walked by Bumpkin the week it opened and was excited about the decor, the atmosphere. Was looking forward to a nice country/gastro pub dinner. I was about 40% right. The bartender (or his assistant) was inept - we had to clarify drinks to him three times for each drink. The waitstaff appeared to be harried and not very well trained. They had limited knowledge of the offerings - we were told to read the specials on the board. The chicken pate appetiser was excellent to be sure - though not sure whether it was prepared on the premises, or bought and put into the small ceramic pot. The pork belly was, in a word, insulting. Fat, gristle, covered with a plasticy hard-top that had long since crackled - there isn't enough lipstick in the world to put on that pig. My date had the half-chicken, which was a large portion, but very simply done. Their rotisserie was working constantly, so I believe this is their specialty (but we had to guess this - the waitstaff didn't tell us. The side dishes appeared to be, as mentioned in an earlier review, microwaved or pre-prepared and heated - bad. The dessert - a moussy chocolate tort(?) - was definitely excellent, but I suspect it too was brought in. In all, the atmosphere is the best part of Bumpkin. The food was underwhelming and uninspired. Definitely not worth the 120 or so paid for a night out. Next time, actually make the effort and go to the country.
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Giovani from Bayswater
Overall rating 
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Thursday, October 04, 2007
It's funny isn't it, how some people can have a horrible time and others fab in the same restaurant? I eat out a lot, and I don't know the owner. And I'm with Catriona on this one. Bumpkin is really not that expensive – starters at £4-£9, mains at £12-20 and so on, and it's darn good grub with a very seasonal menu, which I appreciate. The decor is really funky, and my pork belly was absolutely gorgeous, melt-in-mouth meat and crunchy top. Some fat yes, but it's pork belly, you know? Chicken was a bit greasy, true, and wine list is average. However I really like this place. I don't know anyone who's had a truly bad time here and I know a few Hill-billies.
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Jane
Overall rating 
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, September 24, 2007
I don't know where the bad reviewers on this website came from. I have eaten inBumpkin at least 5 times and each time it was truly exceptional!! I have been there on a Snday more than in the wek and it is quite simply the best roast dinner in London and very affordably priced. It is crowded downstairs and the only critique is the Wagamama style dining tables but suffice to book ahead and get a table upstairs and fanny's your aunt!! The staff are all gorgeous and extremely accommodating. I eat in a ot of restaurants and believe me this is the best for Sunday lunch !
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Catriona Shannon
Overall rating 
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, July 13, 2007
Chose Bumpkin after a client raved about their pies. Ive eaten at some great establishments, La trompette etc etc. This alas is very poor. The decor, surroundings and even our waiter was very nice but the food very poor for the price. The starters were reasonable and around 8 pounds. The wine was ok and the list not too bad. The main course was awful. Pork belly that was basically fat with some carrots. Side dishes straight from the microwave. My mother had the fish and at 24 quid we were expecting great things but it was terrible, dry and bland. Im a genuine critic and hate writing bad things as ive obviously wasted my money. 171 for 3 including 8 quid for a irish coffee that was priced at 5. When we brought this up they told us we have a special 'Monkey shoulder'....... I never ordered it. A white russian cost us 9. Extremely pricey, very poor food sorry to say. I should have stuck to the pie..... Definatley not for recommendation
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Nick Crispin
Overall rating 
Food 2 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Looking for something to eat late the other week - popped into this place.
The food was at best average and vastly overpriced. The Chicken was greasy - the Macroni cheese went unfinished and had someone complaining about his stomuch - the pea risotto had no surprises and was bargain at £12 for some frozen peas in risotto rice - some parmazan could of worked failing that a tablespoon of salt.
Upon testing the House wine to discover it tasted like vinegar and saying - 'ew that is digusting' - said with a bit of comic jest but entirely genuine - the reply was - 'well you picked it!' Sorry I was unaware that to actually get palattable wine you have to go up the menu.
the next wine up the list was about £30 so I wasn't exactly filled with confidence,
SO a waste of money and a waste of time but we went ahead anyway.
Then the manager was sniggering at us from behind the counter for what ever reason and stopped everytime she was caught.
So served poor food | charged over the odds for what it is | possibly insulted behind our backs.
I left with a smile on my face knowing the internet existed.
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A normal punter
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Whoever has written the apparently "good" reviews below either (a) works at the restaurant (b) is friedly with, or is, the manager or (c) has never been to a good quality restaurant.
The food is average, nothing more. The service is awful, if you even get a waiter or waitress that can converse in English. And, if you are unlucky enough to be sitting next to the open plan kitchen, you won't leave without your clothes and hair smelling of cooking. Oh, and to cap it all off, you'll be presented with a bill that you'd expect at Le Gavroche.
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Steve Everett
Overall rating 
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Three of us went to Bumpkin last night and had a very enjoyable time.
The downstairs brasserie is more lively, with more tables packed tighter together than the upstairs restaurant (which was where we were). However you can't book downstairs - so get there early if you want to sit there.
There are lots of mentions below of poor service, so I was intrigued to see what it would be like. We had a table booked for 7pm but I was a little bit early and, as the kitchen is open and the place was virtually empty, I got to see them before most customers had arrived. I found them chatting happily, getting on with each other, and seeming attentive and friendly. We were treated well by our waitress, who was perhaps a little firm but still perfectly nice.
The menu is limited, with about six choices for starters and mains. The food was very nice, though. My lamb was superb, though the sauteed potatoes were perhaps a little overdone (ie slightly burnt). The pea and bacon side made a nice change, quite hearty. Portions were pretty decently large, too. For desserts I had pavlova, a dish hard to get wrong but done very nicely here nonetheless. My companion's custard and apple crumble was described as delicious.
Our only shock was the bill, which ended up being £35 each - for mains, dessert and a bottle and half of wine between three. Quite pricey but still, good traditional food in a nice, quite buzzy venue.
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Pete
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Monday, May 14, 2007
