More than roast-and-three-veg
Tom Kerridge has worked in the kitchens of some interesting places including The Capital Hotel , Stephen Bull , Rhodes In The Square and, most recently, Odette's . At the beginning of this year, in partnership with restaurant manager Sarah Bradley, he opened BELLAMYS DINING ROOM in Vauxhall with the stated aim of providing the best of British food.
The phrase suggests a roast-and-three-veg approach, which is completely belied by the intricate, thoughtful dishes on the short menu with choices as un-John Bullish as duck confit and foie gras terrine and an assembly of breast of corn-fed chicken with lobster and smoked chicken faggot and cured bacon which required a leap of faith in ordering. It is not so much British food as restaurant food, now fairly commonplace in Britain.
Both the aforementioned dishes were skilfully prepared. Cubes of sweet wine jelly and a puddle of apple purée countered the richness of the slab of duck terrine. No fishiness was evident in the chicken dish but smokiness added allure to a plateful that was dispatched with great enthusiasm.
My first course of steamed scallops with asparagus and chive butter was a gentle, subtle dish, an apt lead-in to roasted pigeon with Armagnac-soaked raisins, celeriac purée and fondant potato. The starch on starch of the vegetable accompaniment was peculiarly delicious.
Vegetarians are well catered for with a first course of tarte fine of beetroot and horse-radish with hazelnuts and baby spinach and an enlightened main course of twice-baked carrot soufflé with spring vegetables and ginger and anise broth, the sort of dish that currently might even tempt a dedicated carnivore away from ribeye of beef with bone marrow, braised field mushrooms and caramelised onions. I mean what was going on in the field where those mushrooms grew?
We shared a dessert of iced nougat surrounded with fresh orange segments and leaves of mint, a nice balance of indulgence and purity. Presumably storage problems explain the brevity of the wine list, since a supermarket sweep could provide more scope and variety than is on offer, but the Minervois, Esprit d'Automne, Domaine Borie de Maurel 1999 showed a nice complexity for £16.
On a Wednesday evening, Bellamys Dining Room was not exactly thronged but it hides its light under the bushel that is the Vauxhall section of Kennington Lane. A perfectly comfortable but somewhat subfusc interior also draws little attention to itself. But the restaurant is well worth seeking out, particularly if you live in those parts. Apparently the catering arm of Bellamys does a lively take-away trade with the sinister ministries on the river.
Bellamys Dining Room
332 Kennington Lane, Vauxhall, SE11
