The Restaurant

Went on Tuesday and had a lovely meal as always in this little restaurant. Agree with comments below that needs more customers - so get down there people! You will be given a seasonal menu, with good food and a friendly service. We love coming here. We will be back soon to try out the £10 Sunday BBQ that they have just started.
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Emma
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 8
Thursday, June 26, 2008

great food and very personal
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, May 22, 2008

A bitterly cold Easter Saturday and no will to cook meant we had to trawl the net looking for somewhere we hadn't been to.

"Have you got a table for two?" we asked at 7.35. By 8.15 we were sitting in an otherwise empty restaurant looking at a short but solid menu.

Helen claimed the carrot and coriander soup was better than she'd tasted in a long time and my chilli and chorizo risotto tasted satisfying and deep without owing much to any Italian heritage.

A sea bass was fresh and fleshy with sides of proper brocolli and proper mash. A guinea fowl came with just-right vegetables. All finished off with a bread and butter pudding that looked the business. I was too full to taste.

All this with a decent bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape and a bottle of fizzy water came to a shade under £60. I thought it was fantastic value.

The downsides? No other customers, so the kitchen was slow and the dining room was cold. A Herbie Hancock CD on repeat could drive me to violence and a papier-maché sheep near the cloakroom was a bit scary.

On the plus side, the food was honest, well-cooked and well-presented. The short menu changes each month so we have good reason to go back again.

Ophelia who served us and Michael who came out of the kitchen are lovely people and we could easily have sat and talked for another hour.

The Restaurant will be better for more customers and on last night's showing certainly deserves them.
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Jes - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 10
Sunday, March 23, 2008

The Restaurant in Nunhead is a real find ! Small and friendly fine dining in this hidden corner of south east London. In case you are a first timer, it is the green shop front with heart lights in the window just on Nunhead Grove, opp. the butchers and bus stop.

The layout is clean and contemporary - watch out for the indoor gravel near the toilets if you've had a bit too much fine wine.

The service is very professional- attentive but not over bearing.

The menu has about 4 starter choices - 2 veggie ; 5-6 main courses, again 2 veggie and 3-4 desserts so you are bound to find something suitable without having to spend hours ploughing through complex options.

We had truffle risotto (shared starter); steak and veg gratin as mains and a divine (shared) chocolate pudding ; water and wine all for under £60 total.

The menu changes monthly I think so it is well worth returning when you are able to get a table.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Sunday, February 24, 2008

We just moved into the area and The Restaurant appealed to us straight away - peeking in from the outside a few weeks ago it looked cosy, cute and understated - exactly what you would expect from a neighbourhood restaurant so we decided to check it out with friends last Saturday.

Walking in we were greeted by a friendly waiter. We were the only ones there (probably due to the fact it was the first Saturday after NYE) but it still felt very cosy and warm, almost as if we were having a dinner party at someone else's house.

As for food, we had starters of prawns and scallops which were both equally nice. For mains we had salmon, prawns and wild mushroom risotto. Portions were more than adequate and the food again was nice. We didnt really have room for dessert but decided to try anyway. My friend and I shared the chocolate pudding which was absolutely devine, our husbands went for breadpudding which was again, nice. In summary food is 'nice' but not 'excellent', service is very good, it's cosy, friendly and great value for money so it suits us perfectly fine for a neighbourhood restaurant.
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bubblensqueek - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Ate at The Restaurant for the first time last night. Being keen on food, both in terms of eating out and cooking my own, and regularly using some of London's michelin starred establishments I was keen to see what this low-key place had to offer. I was not disappointed. The decor was simple and fresh with clean white lines and a no-nonsense table arrangement. Service was friendly, inoffensive but perhaps, at a push, too laid back. We had to remind our waitress to bring the drinks menu and our side orders but I think she was the chef's daughter, not a professional, so we can ovelook that... The menu consisted of a around five choices of starter, main and pudding with a cheese board and coffee to round off. I chose a lamb shank that was refreshingly generous in size and my fiance chose sirloin steak in Madeira sauce. Both were clearly of sound origin as the taste and texture were a joy. Each was cooked well - my partner particularly appreciated the steak being cooked to her specification and not the chef's. With a decent wine selection pitched at sensible prices the package as a whole was formidable. The only downside of note was the lack of atmosphere. We visited on a wet Thursday night and there were not many punters in. Nunhead high street doesn't have much to offer on miserable February nights and this explained how quiet the place was. Afterwards Michael, the chef, came out of his kitchen with liqueurs on the house and spent half an hour chatting about his business, his menus and his ideas for the future. He told us that the weekend is usually full but the weekdays are a graveyard shift. Shame, this place deserves to survive. As The Restaurant is set in a part of London not associated with agreeable eating experiences - Dixie Chicken anyone? - this place is a real treasure. For those who want to see Peckham and Nunhead on the map for the right reasons I advise you to support this lovely place. We certainly will be back.
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Matt R
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Friday, February 23, 2007

The sort of place that puts as a smile on your face... great food, refreshing decor and lovely atmosphere.

The food is exquisite and well turned out.

Good wine list, and excellent value.

Only 15 mins walk from East Dulwich, and two great pubs near by in the Old Nunshead and the Rye.

Wonderful place to be with mates.
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Ade
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, October 27, 2006

I just wanted to add my own words of glowing endorsement for this great little restaurant. I've just had a delicious meal - the risotto with sun-dried tomatoes and chillis was just perfect. The menu is simple and quite varied; all items very reasonably priced. Also the quality and presentation are consistently good. It has a lovely family-run atmosphere (not surprisingly as it IS run by a couple).

I will be sampling the Tuesday night meal with discussion package soon and also like the sound of the planned live jazz music on Sundays.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 9
Sunday, April 16, 2006

I went to the Cultural Review Evening at The Restaurant for the first time, and what a great evening it was. The theme of the evening was to discuss events that had happened at the Telegraph Hill Festival, but other films and art exhibitions were discussed too. The food was excellent too - I had the mushroom risotto, followed by an amazing bread pudding and the host of the evening kept the dialogue flowing between everyone. The evening was really entertaining as it felt like I was at a dinner party . It is a great concept to have this kind of event in a restaurant, because it also encourages people who want to eat out on their own to be be able to socialise with the other diners. I went on my own and had a great time.
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Tracey
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, March 29, 2006

We had a great time last week, the Christmas menu caters for veggies. Its refreshing to have such a nice place on ones door step.

Mary

Nunhead local
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Mary Benson
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, December 20, 2005