Brawn

I have been to Brawn a few times now. The food always delivers. The wine list is great, a really knowledgable and passionate sommelier who can talk you through and recommend some interesting bottles (The Slovenian Orange Wine is amazing...who knew eh?) The small style dishes, which change seasonally are always interesting and pack real flavour. There is also a lunch time offer which is great. The atmosphere is great, very local but without being exclusive. I often take friends and clients there as it never fails to impress. I would recommend to all!

The pork scratchings are amazing too....it is worth a visit for them alone!
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Glenn
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, February 15, 2013

I've heard lots of thing about Brawn since it opened and I finally managed to make my way east and find out for myself what all the hype was about. I can honestly say that I was not disappointed at all. Everything from the atmosphere to the beautiful friendly staff was just spot on. The must have is their amazing buffalo mozzarella which I believe is made in house. I will be back soon!
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Belle Black
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Monday, March 05, 2012

We had a late booking here on Saturday night. Positives: staff very obliging when we were running extremely late, and they held our table for us with no problems. Restaurant had a nice feel to to it - very lively. Negatives: very difficult to find (okay, maybe not so much if you're from that locale - but we're not, and a good map on the website would have helped). Food very average. I absolutely love Terroirs but the cooking here seems no match. A lot of the (nicer-sounding) options had sold out by the time we arrived (which was, of course, our fault), and what we did order was very underwhelming: some salame (fine in itself, but how good can salame be?), quail (quite bland, as was the aubergine accompaniment) and cod with chickpeas (hard, undercooked chickpeas in a lovely broth, with okay-ish cod). We finished with cheese: three tiny morsels for £10. Pricing overall is too high, I feel. Doubt we'd return.
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whipped - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Monday, February 27, 2012

Brawn is now perhaps becoming too successful for its own good. The menu is still interesting but hasn't changed much since the restaurant opened almost two years ago. The service is average although you can see that some waiters (unfortunately not all) are trying hard to please. It's a shame because it's a good formula and a good location. Overall, could do much better.
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C. Chapron
6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Sunday, February 05, 2012

What a gem of a place. The Maldon Oysters were sensational. Great atmosphere, friendly service and given the obvious quality of the ingredients, very keenly priced. Worth the five pound taxi from liverpool street.
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9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, October 27, 2011

I am in love with this restaurant - I always want to eat and drink everythng I see in there and it always lives up to expectations. Go.
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eat my sauce - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, September 01, 2011

I can't speak highly enough of the quality of the food and wine on our lunch visit. We had the most amazing pork scratchings I've ever seen or tasted and an array of delightful dishes including the eponymous brawn, and plenty else besides. Service was friendly, prompt and very knowledgable. The wine list is totally alternative and excellent for it. Well worth the trip from the City.
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Iain McNaught
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Ohhh this was really disappointing :( I love Terroirs and have returned there a lot but Brawn just isnt for me. I guess the first thing would be to ensure you sit in the rear dining area, it has more atmosphere. We were sat in the front where the decor is 'minimalist scandi' i.e. white walls and a couple of pics on the walls. That works in Fernandez & Well's because they are small places but in here it just felt cold.

Anyway, the food was good, too much cold selection for my liking (which reeks of 'early in the day prep n stick it in the fridge til later') but good all the same. Clams, Jesus jamon & quails eggs good, chicken a bit bland and dry. The brawn comes recommended but it was disappointing for me and quite tasteless.

Brawn wouldve been better if it werent so expensive, basically u can go to Terroirs for the same money and get muuch better value!

The staff are quite sweet.
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Gospodja - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Am I missing sumfin here? Local restaurant? How? Do locals eat there? Me and my pack came straight from the square mile only to see similar banker faces looking "for something trendy and cool". Hats off to Les Caves de Pyrene for opening a restaurant in a run down area (low rent) next to the pot of gold that is the city. Trust me locals don't eat here.

We went expecting another Terroirs (which is a great place coz food is delicious and great value; the wines extremely affordable, its owned by great wine importers) but were disappointed as it seemed at Brawn the margin they save on distribution has not been passed on to the clients, as seems to be the case in Terroirs....shame. And our wine was not natural or biodynamic! Sold to us as "cloudy gamey" it clearly stated it contained sulphites (most good wines do) and tasted like ribena. The second bottle was much better though.

Food - again, if you've been to Terroirs you can't help but have huge expectations and if these are not met it results in clear disappointment. On paper it's great, the "Brawn terrine" made of pig's head bits (cheeks etc) a "must have" but served too cold and lacking flavour it was more Jell-O than gourmet. The chicken was nice, Waitrose also do one for £5.49 if you don't want to spend £20. There were some good bits of course but overall impression was bad. The worst thing was the bill - £171 for 3, you've got to be kidding. Wonder how the east end neighbours can afford this "local" spot?

OK food - overpriced.
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6 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, June 15, 2011

We came for the Sunday set lunch with high expectations, we'd had this place recommended. Sorry to say this meal was almost inedible. The roast chicken and potatoes and oversalted carrots and chard brought me straight back to boarding school. And it wasn't the good type of nostalgia. How do you screw up a roast potato??

I won't harp on about the messed up order, these things happen on a busy day. But the reality is that we hardly touched our meals, no-one asked us if there was anything wrong, and a quick glance around the restaurant showed we weren't the only ones poking at our meals.

And for £87? Guys, you are not St Johns, stop pretending.
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still hungry
3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Sunday, April 17, 2011